As a little girl, one of my dreams was to have a dollhouse. I adored miniatures and even owned one of those four-story Barbie townhouses with the plastic Grecian columns. It was hideous, let me tell you. Later on I bought a plywood dollhouse kit from Michael's, but furnishing it was beyond my 11-year-old budget. It wasn't until I was in my mid-twenties that I finally got a dollhouse I am truly proud to call my own. Of course, now it's a bit embarrassing to admit that I'm a 29-year-old that owns a dollhouse, but there is nothing wrong with being an adult who plays with toys. Besides, dollhouses are hip -- or so says the New York Times.
My dollhouse has changed a bit since I put it together two years ago:
I really want to redecorate the living room to give it a modernist vibe and add a bed and proper 1:6 scale bookshelf to the bedroom/study. While browsing on Etsy, I found the magic of Smidge House:
I really, really love the mixture of oranges and greens in the first photo. I do love complementary hues! I am thinking of using Dr. Edna's office from "Mad Men" for my color palette inspiration:
I'm going to wait a bit before I start the redecorating since I tend to change my mind a bit. For those of you who are wondering if my dolls get any say in what their home is going to look like -- the answer is no! I spent Saturday afternoon carefully dusting every floor of the triplex. The girls spend absolutely no time on housekeeping, which is ridiculous. They do own a 1:6 scale Swiffer and broom, you know. They have no excuse!!!
I think it's adorable that you have a dollhouse (and the dollhouse itself is, too!). I used to have a pink Barbie dollhouse I shared with my sister - we made much of the furniture ourselves and added a basement, a shed and another floor because we didn't like the all-pink design of the original!
ReplyDeletepoet: What a great idea, I should have added a basement and shed to my Barbie townhouse! (Of course, now it's about two decades too late). The pink definitely drove me crazy.
ReplyDeletei love dollhouses too! i keep wishing i could bring my childhood one to my nyc apartment, but right now there's really no place to put it. i had a 'precious places' house- remember those things where the dolls had magnets, and you were supposed to move them around with a magnetized key? that was my favorite thing. i love that you have a dollhouse now! and i am off to browse that etsy mini-furniture shop. ~joelle
ReplyDeletejoelle: I'd totally forgotten about Precious Places! I can vaguely recall TV commercials for them. They remind me of Polly Pockets. The late 1980s/early 1990s were an exciting time to be a kid!
ReplyDeleteWow you have so many dolls! Are those mini-blythes, or are they full-sized ones? I'm afraid I'm not very up to date and only glean partial knowledge from doll-lover friends... *_*
ReplyDeleteI find it cute that they live in a bookshelf. It reminds me of the polly pocket houses. XDD
And I don't suppose sticking some awesome-patterned wrapping paper to 'wallpaper' your dollhouse walls would work?
So cute. I don't own any dolls but they are so adorable I'm thinking of hopping on the Blythe trend (maybe??)
ReplyDeleteren: The ones on the sofa are petite Blythes, the doll in the blue dress is a Dal and the rest are regular size Blythes. The bottom two rooms are actually papered with wrapping paper I purchased at Eslite... I keep my eye out every time I go there, but patterns are usually a bit too big for the dollhouse (or The Triplex, as I like to call it).
ReplyDeleteDiana: Thanks! Blythes are so much fun... "meeting" other Blythe collectors on the Internet (esp. Flickr) has been a great experience for me.
Thanks so much for mentioning my shop on your awesome blog! :) I have terrible commitment issues when it comes to decorating too, lol.
ReplyDeleteYour dolls all have such incredible style-- I love their clothes! They really should pitch in and help clean the place though! ;)
smidge girl
Most excellent! Love that it 's part of your shelving.
ReplyDeleteI am trying to get some spooky miniatures done for halloween for my tiny abode but when it comes to making 16th scale scary things I seem to suck beyond belief..
Love your current furnishings but I can understand why you're tempted with the others.. those sofas especially!
Ha ha I am an old lady that still has the wonderful dollhouse Mom somehow managed to get me for my 11th birthday. If I can find room on my "girly room" I want to set it all back up again.
ReplyDeleteMom loved dolls and played with them until she passed away. Never get so old, that you get too old to play. =) Or to put it another way, you are never too old to play with dolls and dollhouses (or whatever makes your heart sing).
Coming back to tell you I've tagged you with 10 questions about your style and inspiration!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
poet
seamstress-stories.blogspot.com
Catherine!
ReplyDeleteThere is absolutely nothing wrong with a grown woman owning a dollhouse! I've loved dollhouses forever. When I was a little girl my mom and I built one together using one of those awesome balsa wood Victorian kits. I still visit it whenever I'm visiting my folks.
We sewed curtains and tablecloths and tiny pillows for my little dolls. Such a lovely time.I remember swooning over the tiny forks and grand pianos and chandeliers at the hobby store.
Dollhouses are pure magic. Yours is lovely. Thanks for sharing.
xoxo!
Gina