Dana Miller, of House*Tweaking, shares how she created a unique and special gift for her daughter.
I've always had a thing for houses. When I was a child, my grandpa built me a custom dollhouse and I was constantly rearranging the furniture and tweaking room layouts. I don't remember playing with the dolls that much. As I grew older, I turned to pencil and paper and started drawing house plans complete with floor plans and furniture arrangements. Houses are in my blood. So it should come as no surprise that I selfishly hope this gene passes onto my children. And what better way to foster it than with a dollhouse?
But I have a few stipulations when it comes to dollhouses. (Eeek! I'm that mom.) I like 'em gender neutral and, well, neutral. No garish color schemes, please. Dollhouses with these traits appeal to boys and girls, young and old alike and look good when left out, too. It's difficult to get a modern dollhouse that meets these specifications without completely starting from scratch or spending a crazy amount of money.
My solution? Tweak an off-the-shelf version into something special.
I ordered this dollhouse , this kitchen and this bathroom then used leftover (free!) paint from our own home's renovation to create a neutral color scheme. I carefully painted the roof, front door, shutters, cabinet doors, and anything else that was blue or orange. Most of the paint had a built in primer which negated extra steps. I found it helpful to tape off the teeny furniture before painting. I covered the bathroom pieces in plastic wrap to give some of the fixtures a "brass" finish with gold spray paint. I even stained the floor boards for a realistic touch. It was tedious work but totally rewarding. If only real home improvement projects went as quickly!
Above are the front and back views of my finished product.
The kitchen is my favorite. It looks a lot like our real kitchen and my son immediately picked up on it. He thinks it's so cool that the dollhouse somewhat resembles our real life house.
I painted the bathroom pieces white and added gold accents. Every dollhouse should have a gold toilet lid! That's one of the great things about dollhouses—you can incorporate totally outrageous and impractical ideas. It's all about using your imagination.
A great feature about this dollhouse, which doesn't come through well in the description, is its versatility. The stairs, terrace, door, windows, and partitions are easy to move, meaning kids can experiment with different arrangements should boredom strike.
I'm giving the dollhouse to my daughter for Christmas. We, I mean, she will have fun filling it up and discovering all of its possibilities. And, yes, this is my attempt to instill a love for the Scandinavian aesthetic in her! Haha.
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