Lighting a dollhouse is one of the best things you can do to a dollhouse to really bring it to life.  There is something magical about seeing all the rooms of a dollhouse lit up.  When the lights are showing through the window it adds a sense of realism to the house and really changes the entire look and feel of the dollhouse.   Adding lights in the rooms of a dollhouse serve the same function as they do in a full size house.  They illuminate dark corners and accentuate and enhance the furniture and items in each room.

Adding working lights to a dollhouse is not difficult.  However, like other areas of building and decorating a dollhouse, it is a skill that requires planning, patience, detailed work, and specific tools.  There are two common methods of lighting a dollhouse, tapewire and round wire.  Each method has its pros and cons, along with varying degrees of difficulty.  The tapewire method is easier, but more expensive, more time consuming, and more troublesome.  The roundwire method is not as expensive, is quicker to do, and not as troublesome, but it is slightly harder and requires special tools. 

This article focuses on the most common methods of lighting a dollhouse.  Within the article, the pros and cons of each method will be presented along with additional information to help you decide what type of dollhouse lighting method you want to to use when lighting your dollhouse.

The Tapewire Method

The tapewire method of lighting a dollhouse is perhaps the most common method used today.  This method utilizes copper tape as the main method of conducting electricity with the individual lights wired into the tape using brads.  The tape is attached to a transformer using a lead in wire and junction splice.  The transformer then gets plugged into an outlet to supply electricity.
 

Pros & Cons of Tapewire

Some of the Pros of using tapewire are:

• Easier to install then roundwire

• No special tools needed such as soldering

• Very easy to add additional lights after the house is completed

• No wires to hide.

Some of the Cons of using tapewire:

• Tapewire is more expensive.  You have to use a large amount of copper tape (depending on the size of the house, several rolls even.

• You have to buy the eyelets/brads, and possibly a brad holder for putting the brads in place.

• Troubleshooting nonworking lights can be very difficult.

• The tapewire can be visible through the wallpaper/paint

• Over time, or with moving the dollhouse, the brads can come loose causing flickering lights or shorts in the lights.

• More labor intensive then round wire lighting.

• Could be frustrating working with tiny brads and wires.

The Roundwire Method

There are three ways to use roundwire to light a dollhouse.  The first method, which we call the roundwire socket (or power) strip method is the easier then the second method, which we call the roundwire hybrid method.

The Socket Strip Method

This method uses the existing wire that comes with all dollhouse lights and plugs the lights directly into a socket strip.  The socket strip is attached to a transformer which plugs into the outlet to provide electrical power to the powerstrip and dollhouse.

To use this method, you drill a small hole in the back of the wall and grooves in the floors or ceilings to run the wires to the power strip.  This method is best for front opening dollhouses since you can attach the powerstrip to the back of the house and run all the wires through the back of each room to the power strip.

Click the picture to the right to learn how to light a dollhouse using the Socket Strip Method.

Pros & Cons of Socket Strip Method. 

Pros of the Socket Strip Method.

• Requires only one tool - a miniature drill or Dremel with drill bit.

• Very inexpensive.

• Very easy and quick to install lights.

• Very easy to troubleshoot and replace non-working lights.

• Not labor intensive.

• Most durable method - no connections to break or come loose.

Some of the Cons of using the Socket Strip Method.

• Very difficult to use in open back dollhouses.

• Sometimes wires on the lights are not long enough.

• The socket strip has to be attached somewhere to the dollhouse.

• Have to buy the socket strip

• Plugs can get pulled and knocked out of socket strip

The Roundwire Hybrid Method

Although the roundwire hybrid method is a less popular method, it is much less expensive and far more durable.  This method uses tapewire to conduct the electricity.  The individual wires from the lights are soldered into the tapewire to provide the connection. The tapewire is connected to a junction splice which connects to a lead in wire, and transformer the same way as with the tapewire method mentioned above.

Click the picture to the left to learn how to light a dollhouse using the roundwire hybrid method.

Pros & Cons of Round Wire

Pros the roundwire hybrid method are:

• Less expensive than the tapewire method.

• Easy to troubleshoot and replace non-working lights.

• Wires are easy to hide.

• Not as frustrating as as tapewire method.

• More durable with no brads or connections to come loose through movement of dollhouse or over time.

Some of the Cons of using roundwire are:

• Special tools are required.

• Somewhat harder to install then tapewire.

• Wires have to be hidden.

• Not as easy to add more lights after the house is fully decorated

Light a Front Opening (Hinged) Dollhouse

If you have a front-opening dollhouse and want to add lights to the front of it, this tutorial is for you!  It's simpler then you think and only requires a few extra steps.

The method of lighting that you chose should be a method that you feel comfortable working with.  When deciding on a method, take into consideration various factors such as skill level, amount of time and patience to devote to lighting the dollhouse, tools required, budget, and whether there will be more lights added on in the future.