A Dollhouse for Lucy

I have always had a bit of an obsession with anything miniature. When I was little, I loved to play with dollhouses and Barbies, and I even had an extensive mini tea set collection. I have no idea how that collection got started, but before I knew it, my dad had to build shelves to house dozens of tea sets. Even now, I love miniature things, like my vintage red truck and seasonal mini signs (you can download them for free here).

My 3yo Lucy loves to pretend so I thought it was time for her to have her own dollhouse. In all reality, she's probably too young for the kind of dollhouse I ended up making for her, but I don't care because I think I had more fun making it than she does playing with it. Here she is in all her glory.

I briefly thought of making a dollhouse from scratch, but I thought it might be better if I started with the framework that I could just renovate. I loved doing this so much that I think I need to go through the whole process now. This is the multi-level Melissa and Doug dollhouse that you can buy here. I thought this was the best quality for the price. Here is what it looked like before I got my hands on it.

It's a cute dollhouse, but I wasn't digging all the pink and purple. Before I assembled the dollhouse, I spray painted the interior and exterior walls with Rustoleum Chalked Linen White (I used the regular paint for touchups later). I painted the roof and window frames with Anita's Acrylic Rainy Day Gray paint. The doors and shutters (made from popsicle sticks and wood glue) are painted with black craft paint. The porch, balconies, and flower boxes (made from strips of balsa wood) were stained with Old Barn Milk Paint Weathered Stain.

After completing the outside, it was time to work on the floors while the dollhouse was still in pieces. For the floors, I used popsicle sticks, lots and lots of popsicle sticks. I used a paper cutter to cut off the rounded edges and Mod Podge to glue the boards down. Once the floor was completely glued down, I stained it with Old Barn Milk Paint Weathered Stain. The floors are a little uneven, but I like the authenticity of it.

The bathroom floors are more popsicle sticks that I dry brushed with the rainy day gray paint. The kitchen floor is probably my favorite because I really wish I had the cement tile somewhere in my house. For now, I'll have to be satisfied with having it in the dollhouse. That floor is square pieces of balsa wood that I bought in a package. I glued 'em down and painted 'em white. I found a stencil I liked and cut it out onto black vinyl using my Silhouette Cameo. Then I just stuck the vinyl right onto the tiles.

To make it look a bit more polished inside, I used strips of balsa wood to frame the windows and doors. Some of the furniture came with the dollhouse, but I just repainted it or repurposed it. For example, I used the dining table and a chair to create the kid desk on the top floor. The couch and chair in the living room came with the dollhouse, but I painted them and created cushions from cardboard, batting, and a drop cloth I already had on hand. For the coffee table, I broke off the base of the coffee table that came with the dollhouse and glued on mini dowels I found at Hobby Lobby.

For the upstairs kid room, I used scrapbook paper as wallpaper (you can see my Michael's didn't have enough of the paper so I have a blank spot on the right wall until they get more in stock). I bought the gold picture frames and Michael's and found a couple cute images to frame.

The bed mimics the same house bed Lucy has in her room that I made. The bedding is made from fur fabric I found at Hobby Lobby, and all the pillows in the house are just made from felt, stuffing, and hot glue (praise God for hot glue!).

For the study area, I painted a mini white frame pink and added a cork board. It has a little desk lamp made from wood pieces I painted black and brass tubing. I painted a mini flower pot gold and filled it with colored pencils (toothpicks cut and colored with Sharpies).

For the bathroom, I repurposed a dresser than came with the dollhouse into a modern vanity. The drawers became the sinks after I spray painted them with a glossy white. The faucets are brass tubing that I cut and shaped. The towels are just baby washcloths I cut up. I used scrapbook paper as the wallpaper. The mirror is a craft mirror from Hobby Lobby with a black paper doily as the backing.

I found the bathtub on Etsy listed as a soap dish. I cut a popsicle stick to use as a tray to hold a vial filled with real bath salts and a book. The light is just a battery-operated tea light with a couple strands of gold Mardi Gras beads I had on hand.

For the master bedroom, I mimicked the shiplap headboard that we have in our bedroom with popsicle sticks. The bedside tables were made with wood craft pieces found at Hobby Lobby that U glued together and painted. The lamps are wood craft pieces painted, and the shades are just mini spools wrapped with paper. The flower collage above the bed is paper flowers that I hot glued to the wall.

For the kitchen, I bought the dining table and cabinets through Etsy, I stained the table with the same stain I used throughout the house. The cabinets originally had pink countertops, but I used granite-look contact paper to cover them up.

I added floating shelves made from balsa wood and popsicle sticks that are hot glued to the wall. The shelves hold pots, pans, and plates I bought from Hobby Lobby, and I made canisters from mini wooden spools and small beads.

In the living room, I created a fireplace from a picture frame I cut in half on my miter saw. I used more of the cork to create bricks. I just painted them white and used a black marker to draw the lines. I think the cork does a good job of showing the real texture of bricks. I used my scroll saw the cut the rounded opening. The artwork above the fireplace are botanical prints I sized down and glued to wood discs.