I know I’m not the only one with a childhood dollhouse sitting around collecting dust, but now I have proof. While visiting my in-laws over the holidays, I got the chance to poke around my sister-in-laws old dollhouse. And although it was in need of some serious repair, it was a thing of beauty. I have to admit, I had dollhouse envy.

Exploring the rooms was not unlike walking through a haunted house. The walls were crumbling, the lights hanging broken from the ceiling, the spiders making homes in the corners. But it still full of so much character.

I now must have a weather vane for my own dollhouse.

We also pulled out all her furniture and laid it out on the pool table to drool over. My favorite is this bear skin rug. So cute, I must make one for myself.

I mentioned in my last post I got the chance to visit a real dollhouse store. It was like I’d died and gone to heaven. The shop was absolutely cluttered. But it was stuffed full of these tiny miniature scenes. I could have spent hours in this small room.

I was happy when I saw she had a shelf full of “House of Miniature” kits, at 50%. It was such a trip down memory lane. These were the kits my dad used to mail order for us when we were kids. The company is long out of business, but you can still find the kits online and in shop like this.  I bought a dinning room table (which might be too large for the kitchen, but I don’t care), and for chairs.

PS: Yes, that is a photo in the background of my studly husband when he was a kid.

PPS: When I showed him the picture of the miniature garage scene, he said, I WANT IT. Make it! This is why I love my husband.

I made a trip to Joann’s after work to pick up fabric and other goodies for the master bedroom.  And I made the mistake of wandering into the button aisle. Oh. My. Goodness. That is a dangerous place to go if you happen to be in the middle of redoing a dollhouse.  Seriously, do you know all the different things you can do on a miniature scale with cool buttons? Do you?! ‘Cause I didn’t until that moment, when my brain exploded with all of the possibilities. Buttons! Who knew?

I may, or may not have given an impassioned speach about the beauty of buttons to a complete stranger who was just looking for a button for her coat.  *cough*

Anyways, behold the goodies.

I have a pretty good idea now of the direction I want to go with the bedroom. I got the paint on the walls (side note: gold is almost as bad as red for the number of coats you must paint before you get a true solid color), the floor completed, the map wallpaper “gilded” and up, AND the headboard for the bed done!

Yes, that is a vintage map of London on the wall. I coated the paper with gold and sparkles, to match the color of the walls. You can see the effect a little better here in this image with flash.

Why yes, Mr. Figure Man, that IS a glorious ceiling.

The ceiling is white, rag scrapbook paper, that has an amazing pattern and texture to it. I also used it for the back of the headboard.

The clear button that Mr. Figure Man is holding is going to become the light on the wall above the headboard, I just have to add a few dozen more beads to it. I just have to say it one last time… BUTTONS!

I’ve just started working on the master bedroom, but it isn’t even ready for any pictures yet. But I wanted to share the images that I’ve collected as inspiration. I’m going with an over the top rich gold and purple theme for the bedroom. Who wouldn’t want floor to ceiling gold walls if you could have them?!

A long ways to go to get this ready…

Oooo, I just love it when things start to come together. The kitchen is half way done. The walls are painted and tiled, the ceiling is done. I used pop sickle sticks that I white washed, to create the effect of a bare wood ceiling. I love how it turned out.

I also made the pantry units on either side of the window out of popsicle sticks.  I still have to make two more baskets, but the wine rack is ready to be filled!

There are loads of things I need to make to stock the kitchen, but I did get some roses done, made out of clay.

Remaining to do in the kitchen: the oven and sink. A few more shelves on the rightside wall. And I need to track down or make a kitchen table and chair set, so the Darlings have a place to eat.

I’m just falling in love with my dollhouse all over again as it is starting to take shape. I can’t wait to get started on the little details that go inside it.

And in conclusion, I give you another random shot of the nursery ceiling.