Let There Be Light......Honeydukes and Lighting a Dolls House.

I have never really got on with dolls house lighting, it is fiddly, frustrating and flipping expensive to my mind. Despite having a number of houses it has always been a bit of a challenge and I have never really planned it very well which is part of the problem I suppose. In recent times I have settled for LED strips which are much easier to install and the odd battery light.

When planning Honeydukes I decided it needed a plan and as I had designed the house from scratch there was no excuses.

The first floor is completely removable and here is my basic wiring plan for the shop floor ceiling lights. Putting in ceiling lights is a whole new ball game for me and to do it properly you have to route out a channel for the wires so they will sit under the flooring.

I have a Dremel with a router attachment which to be honest seemed to have a life of its own but somehow I managed to carve out the necessary channels for the five ceiling lights. 

I pulled all the wires through and then have held them in place with masking tape to keep them flat.

The lights in place also have a tiny bit of tacky wax to hold them flat to the ceiling. Not sure if this is the best way to do this as tacky wax can dry out but I couldn't think of any better way.

 The lights are from my favourite light suppliers Small World Products. I buy most of my lighting supplies from them as I am a terrible creature of habit and I like their whole system.

 This is the Power Centre that is part of their wiring system and is the easiest of lighting supplies I have discovered after much frustration and swearing. I know that real dolls house makers swear by the copper tape system which is incredibly neat and tidy but this system, while not tidy, is simple. 

 The Power Centre is screwed to the back of the house and you attach each wire within it own slot. All you need is a small screwdriver to tighten each slot. This centre will power 50 bulbs and a whole lot more LED's which is more than enough for me. The website explains it a whole lot better than me! Obviously you still have the problem of the wiring at the back of your house and I know there are lots of ways to hide all this but I have enough trouble finishing my projects as it is so tidying up the wiring will be a very long term plan!

One big rule......check each light as you attach the wiring that way you don't install all your lights and then discover one doesn't work, it can be a right pain to work out which wire belongs to which light once they are all in their slots. Oh, and you have to use a 12v power source which connects the power to the centre. 

 Ta dah!! Here they are in all their wonderful glory, so pleased with the look. Just what I wanted for Honeydukes, all bold and brassy.

What a great day it's been. The sun has been shining, for the first time this year I played tennis without freezing my backside off and the lights are fab-u-lous. What more can a girl ask for?