Building A Doll House

Hello!

How are you?

It's been a long time. 

We are getting started with the addition project out in East Texas. These things take a long time. 

The plans are done! 

Bill has had contractors out to see the project but to get started we had to move the propane tank and the shed. The propane tank is moved and the shed is cleaned out. Bill needs to disconnect the electrical and clear the spot where it will go. I think that will be done this weekend and then the shed can be moved. 

I'll update the progress as it gets going. 

In the meantime, I've been keeping busy and distracting myself from change.  

I'm less than two weeks away from 65. I'll have to say that this milestone birthday is an odd one. I've descended into some of my childhood loves. Several years ago, I bought a doll house kit at Hobby Lobby and stored it in the closet under the stairs. I had the urge to start building it in December to sit under the Christmas tree. Who has time in December to build a doll house? Not I. 

On Christmas clearance, I found this kit for $7.50 at the thrift store. I figured it would be a good warm up before I built the bigger doll house with more complicated pieces. 

I built the church on a rare Texas snow day. It was fiddly but fun. I'll finish the rest before the holidays. 

I unearthed the Orchid Dollhouse Kit from beneath the stairs and began to put it together. It is made by Greenleaf. It retails for $35.00. 

The exterior color is Sea Salt by Sherwin Williams. The trim is a Dixie Bell white. The shingles came in the kit. 

The kit provided more gingerbread than I put on because it looked simpler this way.   

Window boxes are on the list of improvements. 

 Wallpapering the walls before assembling the house is best. It caused me to have to plan it all out at the onset. 

Everything coordinates with the exterior paint color. 

Some of the wallpaper is scrapbook paper. The bedroom paper was in a set from Hobby Lobby. 

In order to have a kitchen, I needed to ditch the staircase. 

Get a look at the tiny copper pot and the cake. So cute. 

Most of the furnishings in the house came from Hobby Lobby or eBay. I made the refrigerator. It was very difficult and it looks terrible. A new one is on the way in the mail.  I had the accessories or got them from Hobby Lobby. 

The living room has the furniture from eBay. I spray painted some of it to get that mix of white and wood that I like. The couch and chair cushions were red. I recovered them with green calico. 

The piano is a different scale but it is too cute. 

Have a seat and grab a cup of tea and a book. 

The bathroom is a cutie. I love the fixtures from Hobby Lobby. 

I've redecorated the bedroom four times. I didn't like the first paper once I saw that the floral was on a barn wood background. I tried another lighter green paper over the barnwood paper but it showed every imperfection. I stripped off both and painted the room Sea Salt in a third attempt. In the end this red paper hides the imperfections and gives it a cottage look. Trust me when I say to wallpaper before assembling the house. 

A little nursery is tucked in the dormer. 

The bedroom set may look like plastic but it is wood. 

The room needed a sewing machine. 

The little crib was my mothers. There is a matching high chair in the corner of the kitchen. 

I've had the little porcelain dog since childhood. I believe the neighbor across the street gave it to me. 

The plant was a jewelry fixing. I snipped off the ring that would attach it to a chain. 

As soon as I hit publish, I'm off to make some art. 

Hobby Lobby only had coastal which isn't my favorite. 

This was not the easiest kit to put together. The reviews confirm that. The tabs needed quite a bit of adjusting with an Exacto knife. The instructions weren't clear. The windows were definitely a head scratcher. 

There are miniature groups on Facebook which I joined. There are also accounts on Instagram and YouTube. 

This was so much fun. I'm trying to decide if another doll house is in my future. The next one would have a formal dining room and kid's room. 

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you will pop back in. 

Katie