The arched front door

Although the plan was to make the inside of the Mini House echo the interior of No 1. Heatherside Corner, the outside was never going to look the same. For a start, we don't have an ornate wooden veranda on either level, or bay and dormer windows.

The real deal

We do have an arched oak front door though, which is something the Mini House did not possess.

In fact, its front door was a little odd. While most of the external fittings were obviously part of the original kit, its previous owner had gone "off roading" when it came to the front door. It was half the size it should have been, and only the most vertically challenged Bender would have been able to walk upright through it.  So it had to go.

I'm not blessed with an aptitude for carpentry. So armed with my Bosh multi tool and a sense of purpose, but with a slight feeling of dread that if I got this bit wrong I would ruin the whole of the front of the house, I made a bigger hole.

With my rudimentary woodworking skills holding me back somewhat, I had hoped that I would be able to buy an arched front door kit. But it became apparent from searching the various dolls house forums, that unless I wanted a large glass-free ledge and brace church door, I was out of luck.

Without the necessary skills to whittle one from scratch, I settled for the next best thing. Divine inspiration, you could call it. I bought a gothic church window kit instead.  This gave me the frame (cut down as the door frame) and the internal surround (which became the surround of the actual door).

Together with some window struts left over from the first patio door kit I bought (which went wrong at an early stage and fell apart), and an off-cut of ply, I have made a slightly wonky, but reasonable stab at an arched door.

The addition of two glass bullseyes was supposed to finish it off, but I'm not entirely happy with them at the moment. I really need a way of making the glass look more "Flemish", as they stick out like two sore thumbs, but as yet have no ideas how to go about it.

Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

My slightly wonky version of the real thing with a large amount of artistic license thrown in for good measure