A Dolls House

February 11, 2014

I stumbled upon a rather dilapidated dismantled dolls house in a dusty cardboard box in the op-shop the other day.  Water damaged, dirty and unloved it really spoke to me.  It almost begged me to bring it home and breathe some life into it.

I've been dreaming of a lovely dollhouse for our little girl for a while, but I had something larger and more beautiful in mind.  You know, an heirloom which could be played with forever and passed down to the next generation.  But the more I stood there and looked at this poor old house, the more I wanted to rescue it.

After some thinking I began to see possibilities, but the magic happened when I changed my thinking from me into we.  Perhaps we could do this project together as a family.  Together we can sand and paint, choose colours, sew, make furniture...

Suddenly this house became alive in my mind.

So I bought it.
The investment was $2.50 and we are hoping to renovate it without spending a cent.

Here begins the journey of our little dollhouse.  A rather modest, very inexpensive dollhouse that I hope will provide many happy memories.  Did you have a dollhouse as a child?  What was the thing you remember most about it?

xx

Linking up with The Op Shop Showoff,  The Nifty ThriftyCoastal CharmMagpie Monday and Sirthiftalot.






9 comments:

  1. Ahh I can't wait to see how this turns out.

    I had a dolls house as a kid that my dad made me. He spent hours and hours toiling away in the garage, making little stairs, wallpapering it, hooking it up with mains supply so it had lights and presented it to me one Christmas. I recently got it back from my folks house, and I'm so lucky to still have it!

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  2. Good luck with your house. I have mine from childhood and bought a second one at a garage sale about a year ago (I've posted about both of them). There is a lot of DIY info on the web for doll houses.

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  3. What a great find!! I can tell you that yes a large heirloom is special and we are lucky to own a massive one that Mikes father made before he passed away, but its so large that we have nowhere to put it, and currently only a piece of it gets played with, which is more than enough! And making this your own together will make it a treasured heirloom alone.
    I can imagine your little girl will get just as much enjoyment from this as she would any other :)) I look forward to seeing the journey of it's transformation....how fun!

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  4. This might see more play than a heirloom one. Can't wait to see how you restore this. LOVE those wooden screws!

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  5. I know we had one as kids but can't remember the details, it likely got passed on to younger relatives when we out grew it. I gave our daughter one for her 3 rd Xmas, not a lovely old one but a new one I got cheaply in a closing down sale . It is probably the toy she has played with most and if I had known that, I would have invested either my money or preferably time in something a little more special. An heirloom one would be nice but doing one up together equally special , I look forward to seeing yours all put together. Lots of lovely inspiration to be found on pinterest - I hope you have fun doing it.

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  6. I was given a metal dollhouse in the 1950s and still treasure it. It currently resides in my basement and I have no intentions of selling it. Playing with a dollhouse opens up an imaginary world, one that can expand to include just about anything one's heart desires. I'm so thankful to have had it.

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  7. Cannot wait to see it take shape! My Grandpa made me one when I was little and my mum made all the furniture and accessories inside. I loved it. But it was huge and eventually with all the moving it was gifted to another family once I "outgrew" it x

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  8. What a delightful project to involve the whole family. I bought a basic kitset from Ashford which I then painted and decorated for my nieces when they were very little - but I was selfish and did the whole thing myself ;p. Looking forward to seeing your progress

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  9. oh it's going to be lovely I can already see it! thanks for linking up and I can't wait to see the finished product

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