Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Completed Renovation #7: Before and After



Yes, believe it or not this is the same house after a 1 week long restoration process. It arrived damaged, filthy, and neglected. After washing, polishing, replacing parts, painting parts and putting it all together it's another successful restoration. Insider tip: for photographing it for the resale, I do not use any long screws, I carry it into position by holding the base plates and leave the screws in a zip lock baggie (see in photo). They are not necessary to set the house up for display. Though I did use one piece of tape to hold the center piece white roof rafter together since it almost always bows outward. On this reno the pieces were white enough that I did not have to use any bleaching between cleaning and polishing.

House for Sale 

This house is clean. 

Nice rear. 

Squeaky clean! 
When out, I am always looking for suitable replacement parts for the house. I found this bathmat that has the exact same pattern of the front double doors and side panels. I think, to make upgraded custom replacement doors, one could cut to size, paint and affix to card board or some other strong yet thin material. 





Some will arrive to you this bad, definitely making a thorough shower necessary.  This tends to be what shows up on Craigslist, usually $80, and at least 2 hours drive time each way. Where do I sign, lol. 

Before and after. =-) 
Plan on this arriving from Ebay or Craigslist houses. They have been in the attic/garage/basement or outside for 20-30 years. I actually enjoy the whole restorative process since there is such contrast between the before and the after. My houses emerge from this process sparkling white and complete.=-) 

Make no mistake, when you order online, you will likely get a dirty, filthy house that to be cleaned properly, will need about an hour in the shower with a toothbrush and a good spray nozzle. Cleaning it first is the only way to have a minty finished product. 


It wil taken 2 cans of this to get the job done. (flat white spray can paint)

2 comments:

  1. Hi there. I have this very A frame Barbie house that I have kept since I was a kid. I am in the process of putting it back together and would like to know where I can go to sell it. I have ALL the furniture, food, dishes etc and even some clothes. The overall condition is pretty darn good, just would need to do the finishing touches I have seen on your blog.

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  2. There are several places to sell. Ebay can be a hassle and shipping these days is about $70-$90 which most do not want to pay, so maybe Craigslist, local flea markets, or consign at an antique store. Those places would save you the trouble of having to disassemble and ship.

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