Country Lane Dollhouse Kit: Painting the Exterior, Trim & Details
With the house body assembled and dried overnight, it’s time for the part that actually starts making the Country Lane feel like a real house: paint.
What You’ll Need
- Sherwin Williams Dumpling
- FolkArt Greenscape Matte
- FolkArt Ivory White
- FolkArt Coffee Bean
- Minwax Early American stain
Shop my Amazon Storefront for more dollhouse tools and supplies.
Watch the full Country Lane Dollhouse Build
Choosing the Palette
I wanted an off-white house with a pop of color, and this sage green ended up being exactly the shade I was looking for. Here’s the full palette and where each color landed:
- Sherwin Williams Dumpling: house body and gingerbread eave trim
- FolkArt Greenscape Matte: shutters (this is the pop of color)
- FolkArt Ivory White: window and door frames (also used on the chimney cap)
- FolkArt Coffee Bean: chimney stacks
- Minwax Early American stain: roof shingles
The Painting Process
The house body took 2 coats of Dumpling after the original coat of primer. The trim pieces took about 3 coats, but keep in mind I like to apply paint in thin layers, so that’s a personal preference more than a requirement. If you’re using thicker coats or are using a different brand of paint, you may need fewer or more passes.
My biggest recommendation: paint everything at the same time if you have the space for it. Setting up once and knocking out every piece in one session is a lot more efficient than going back for round two later.
A Quick Note on the Roof Shingles
I ran into an unexpected hiccup when I dyed my shingles using the plastic bag method. The color looked different, lighter than I expected after it dried and was applied to the roof. I was able to fix it by re-staining the roof the exact same color after the shingles were already adhered.
The lesson here: don’t ever feel stuck with a stain color once it’s applied. One of the best things about building a dollhouse is that you can almost always make changes. I’ll walk through the full shingle staining process, including this fix, in the Roof & Shingles post.
For the full picture of this build, check out my Country Lane Dollhouse Kit Review & Build Guide and the Country Lane FAQ.
Build alongside us in Lina’s Dollhouse Collective
If this build feels lonely, that is exactly what the Collective is for. Lina’s Dollhouse Collective is the Facebook group where we share ideas, put the free tools to work as part of our process, and cheer each other on through every glued finger and crooked shingle.
Inside the group you can ask the questions you do not want to post publicly, show off a build at any stage (the messy ones too), and pick up tricks the rest of us learned the hard way. We talk scale, paint, wiring, sourcing, kits, scratch builds, and yes, snack recommendations for long glue-drying breaks.
Bring your tools. Bring your scale ruler, your color palette, and your scale conversions. Bring your wins and your roadblocks. We will meet you there.
Join the Collective
Stay up to date & receive the latest posts in your inbox.
Privacy Policy