How To Use Paper Printables For Dollhouse Flooring

The dollhouse that I’m renovating had a bunch of different types of flooring in it, and I’m going to be trying out some things to see what works and how to use different materials in it, too.

For this marble floor, I used printable paper that I designed based on vintage marbled paper. It’s available in my Etsy shop, along with some other designs that are similar but in lighter tones.

photo of the printable paper flooring fit inside the dollhouse room — Marbled paper printable flooring.

Some of the links in this article are affiliate links that pay me a small commission if they’re used to purchase something.

How to use paper printables for dollhouse flooring.

Start by getting printable paper that has the right scale and design that you’re looking for. If you have a pattern that’s really large, it might not look right inside your dollhouse.

Printable dollhouse flooring paper — Printable paper for dollhouse flooring.

The paper that I used is in my Etsy shop here: ClayPaperScissors. It’s not technically designed for a dollhouse floor, but the pattern is small enough that it looks fine in my 1:12 scale house. I also have the lighter version of these marbled patterns here: Lighter marbled paper printables.

These are designed to print out on regular letter sized paper, 8.5″ x11″. The pattern isn’t seamless, but it’s varied enough that it isn’t noticeable when you put the edges together.

removing the flooring from the dollhouse room — Removing the flooring from the dollhouse room.

Next, you’re going to remove the original flooring if you haven’t done that yet. I was lucky because the flooring that came in this room already had a cardboard template that it was attached to, so I just had to slide it out, then remove the extra printed flooring that had been glued on.

Removing the original flooring from the cardboard template.

Using a cardboard template to glue your flooring to is an easy way to work in the corners that are in the back of the room. Since most dollhouses aren’t perfectly square, using a template is the best way to fit the flooring into the room without having to try to cut it out to fit small areas in the back.

For a photo tutorial about making a template for dollhouse walls, click here.

Paper cutter to trim the paper edges — Trimming the edges off of the paper.

I trimmed the edges off of the paper and got it ready to glue onto the template. This room took three pieces of 8.5″x11″ paper, but it was almost exactly 11″ wide so I didn’t have to trim much off of it once the edges were cut off.

Glue to attach the printable flooring — Glue the printable paper to the floor template.

I used regular glue to glue the paper to the template, but you can use double-sided tape if you don’t want it to be totally attached.

For an article about what to use for dollhouse flooring, click here.

glue the paper onto the template — Gluing the printable paper onto the floor template.

I glued the paper onto the floor template, and I wasn’t gentle about it. I probably should have spread the glue out thinner, but I just plopped a bunch of dots of it onto the template and then glued the paper on.

Line the edges up to butt up against each other…Like I said above, this pattern doesn’t line up exactly with itself to repeat the pattern seamlessly, but there’s so much going on with it, it’s not really noticeable.

Bubble where the glue was too thick on the paper. — Wrinkle on the paper where the glue was too thick.

This is why you should probably spread the glue out thinner than I did…There were a few spots where the paper absorbed moisture from the glue and wrinkled a little because it was thick in that spot.

For this marbled pattern though, it didn’t matter because the pattern disguised it, and I was able to flatten that area out by pressing it to spread the glue out a little.

I used regular printer paper, too, which is thinner and is going to be more likely to wrinkle like that. If you used cardstock to print on, this probably would be as likely to happen.

To see how I made dollhouse throw rugs from craft foam, click here.

Trim the extra paper from the template. — Cut off the extra paper.

Turn the template over and trim off any extra paper using regular scissors.

See more free dollhouse printables in my templates and printables section.

Sliding the completed floor back into the dollhouse room. — Slide the floor back into the dollhouse room.

When the floor is ready, slide it back into the dollhouse. Press it into any corners or nooks that need to be a little more fitted, and as long as your template was shaped right it should fit perfectly.

You can use double-sided tape to attach it, or just put the template in then secure the floor by adding baseboards around the edges.

This is the finished floor. If you look really closely you can probably see where the seams are, but the pattern really does hide them.

Remember that if you’re using a repeating pattern like tiles or bricks on the floor, you’ll have to be a little more careful and have extra pieces of the printable paper available to take the repeats into account.

The good thing about using printables is that you’ll be able to print as many as you need, and if you mess something up you can just print out some more to work with!

How to use paper printables for dollhouse flooring.

Recent Posts