Thread: Did you have a dolls house?

looking forward to seeing pics. bob

some tips for the finishing.
one mistake we made was to paint the MDF before we glued the purchased sash windows and shutters.
these are always falling off
for the wall paper inside i got an old obsolete wallpaper pattern book,
could use it for borders and mix and match.

for lino in the bathoom and kitchen used vynal dinner mats and heavy fablic ones for carpets and rugs and old pressed pictur frames for decorative architraves and skirting boards.

Astrid

tou can buy scale wall paper ,carpets ,skirting , cornice,bull nose corragated iron for verandas , lighting kits ,fireplaces ,anything you can buy for your own house you can buy for a dolls house , i have even bought brooms ,newspapers,bottles dishes . bob

Originally Posted by celeste

Let me know if you would like me to post some pictures.

Celeste

Yes please Celeste.

HH.

If you are doing a lot you can get a dolls house router bit set that works with a dremel or one of the clones - You can replicate skirtings and most grown up woodwork with them. They are not expensive as the bits are just HSS and quite small. However, you do need a router table for the tool - you can make your own or buy a dremel one which is about $100 I think.

OK so I didn't have a dolls house when I was younger but I did have 3 sisters and no bros if you know what I mean ... and I do have 2 daughters (and no sons)

One w/e many years ago my lovely wife (that's the correct term in this forum isn't it?) decided that my daughters would appreciate a dolls house. Well I thought they'd appreciate helping me ... so they did ... at about the ages of about 6 and 3. Sanding, painting etc. Well it didn't quite turn out the way I had planned given the help but it has been and is still well loved and played with every week (was every day for years). This was created from recycled Nokia phone crates (cost about $6 for the wood) and about $4 for new hinges ... all paint and varnish was from "stock".

Had to fit a Barbie standing up and lying down and be two storeys ... that was the only requirements.

I think the only rule is ... Make it practical

Looks are good and if you can do both good on you but always the above rule first.

Oh and if they can be involved in the design and construction process it's even better

I made the doors bi-fold so as it wouldn't take up too much room with the doors open ... they work a treat.

and a couple of pics

Built this one earlier this year. Measures approximately 750mm square and about 700mm high. Has timber veneer floor upstairs and a split slate floor downstairs, a stair case with turned balusters and a removable roof. The roof is covered with 5600 hand split shingles. Two wall panels are removable for 'play'. Windows were hand made and fitted with 1.5mm perspex sheet. Took about 100 hours to build.
Jim

Hey Jim how much does a dolls house like that sell for if you don't mind me asking? It's fantastic by the way.

HH.

HH, It sold for $2500.
Jim

We used to live in an old two storey pub, 1860's vintage. When I made a doll's house for my kids, I made the facade as a 12:1 repro of the pub and then foreshortened the side dimensions to make the inside access easy. If your house is suitable you might think about doing similar.

The only thing I've noticed all these dolls houses - which look great, by the way - are missing is a shed!
Where on earth do Barbie, Skipper and Ken keep the tools??

A little girl needs a doll house she can actually PLAY in/with, with sturdy fittings and furnishings, and dolls that are to scale.
Those beautiful minature homes are best saved for more grown-up girls and women. You would be constantly monitoring her play with the latter to make sure she didn't break anything, and I'm sure that would reduce her pleasure in the doll-house. I'm a grannny, and I still drool over miniature houses, so there's plenty of time to make her one of those! Just my two cents worth.

Originally Posted by Ron Dunn

My 3yo daughter saw a dolls house at Big-W today, and was greatly taken by it. Frankly, I thought it was rubbish - paper and plastic - but at least I got the idea to make one for Christmas.

I'm looking for ideas on what makes a good dolls house from a little girl's perspective. If you had a dolls house, I'd be delighted to hear what you loved about it so I can take those ideas into account in my design.

If you want ideas on how t omake a dolls house go to the blog I started recently called http://dollshousedolls.blogspot.com A local carpenter built the dolls house "Wilshire Manor" from a pattern I had kept since 1986. I had owned this dollshouse, but had sold it in my antique shop. I made an e book of the pattern which you can buy for 5.00 and the profits go to a charity for the blind. REMEMBER, windows must go up and down, doors must open, and a stairway is esential if it is 2 storey.
This reminded me of the dolls house my father had made for me, and the hours of pleasure and the fun of creating everything for the house.
I also had another 2 dolls houses in the garage and a dolls house horse stable, plus unopened boxes of dollshouse "stuff" since I had moved 6 years ago. I even had the dolls I had made in the image of each of my children, and the horse, and furniture...all to 1/12 scale.
These have been re positioned and photographed / videod and storylines written for "Stories from a Dolls house" which I hope to publish one day.
I had been very ill and I have to say, that the "playing with my dollshouses" has been very rewarding. I especially enjoyed making a chookhouse and gardens, plus a duck pond with a little tortoise, dusks and geese etc.(using paper mache and DAS- air dryed clay)
While a dolls house cannot cure an illness, it certainly can be absorbing and creative.
as well as that, it takes one mind off pain etc.
Mega