Doll house lighting is much easier than most people think. Many new collectors are daunted by the task but there are many dolls house wiring kits that make the job very easy and even a novice can light a dolls house.
You should start planning your doll house lighting even before you build your house. The reason for this is your dolls house will look it's best if you can disguise the wires that run to the electric lights by cutting grooves in the floor's of your dolls house to run the wires along and this is easiest to do while the dolls house is unbuilt.
Step one when you get your dolls house should be to start planning your doll house lighting.
Step 1 Decide on the location of all the lights in your dolls house. Will they be on the ceiling, walls, free standing or table lights? You don't have to purchase all the lights at this point but you need to decide on the quantity you will be using and where they will be situated. The quantity of lights you use determines what transformer and socket board you use for your doll house lighting.
Step 2 One you have decided on the lights for your dolls house you are ready to get your transformer and wiring. To determine what transformer you need count up the number of bulbs that will be used in your dolls house lighting. Remember that this is the number of bulbs and not the number of lights, so a three armed tulip light will count as three bulbs.
Step 3 Once you have your socket board it is time to decide where it will be positioned. This is the heart of your doll house lighting system and should be placed somewhere that is easily accessible. For front opening dolls houses the best place is on the back of the house positioned centrally and at the bottom. Once you have done this stick your socket board to the doll house, most boards have adhesive tape attached but you could use double sided tape.
Step 4 Once you have drilled your holes you need to position your lights. If you are using a ceiling roses remember to put these in place first you can stick these down with wood or PVA glue.
Before you can run the wire from the lights through their respective holes and to the socket board you will have to remove the plug. To do this pull out the two pins with a pair of pliers and pull on the wire, the plug should slip off. You can now feed the wire through the holes and along the wire grooves.
Next stick the light in place using its adhesive pad, never use glue. You should also hold the wire in place along its route to the back of the house using masking tape.
Step 5 Plug each light into the socket board and tidy up the wires by masking taping them to the back of the house.
