Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Playing with the dollhouse - reno time

I found this dollhouse at a thrift store a few years ago for only $5.00. It was the second dollhouse I bought and it started my dollhouse fever and this blog. At that time I went to the local dollhouse store and spent more than $145 on wallpaper and supplies. I had fun working on the inside and I blogged about the house here back in 2009.
This spring I felt like doing something creative so I brought the house in from the garage and repaired one corner of the roof. I painted the outside of the house and the roof.  I had three windows and a door that I had made from House of Miniature  kits.  I had a few pleasant evenings painting those and installing them in the house. They improved it immensely.

I found some fake flowers at the dollar store and discovered that I could unravel them from their wire stems to make perfect mini flowers. I filled the flower boxes and even made little floral trees for each side of the front door.

I added a decorative fence and, viola, and old beat-up dollhouse had new life.





I hand-painted the shutters and was quite pleased with the effect.

I had wallpapered the four main rooms of the house back in 2009, but the attic was bare. I put in a small dividing wall and made the attic into a nursery and a bathroom with new wallpaper.



The maid just took a pie out of the oven.

I added 1950s tin pieces (stove, sink, fridge and Hoosier cupboard) to the kitchen. The red table and chairs are also Strombecker.

I used the same Strombecker furniture in the living room, bedroom and dining room that I had in the house six years ago. I love the way this vintage furniture looks in the house and the scale is perfect.



The Schoenhut shower is so cute.



The wooden furniture in the nursery and bathroom was made by Schoenhut in the 1920s, but the chaise lounge is Wisconsin furniture.

 I made the leafy plants out of masking tape over floral wire and then painted the leaves. That was fun. I plan to make more.

I am very pleased with my upgraded house. I think it looks great now and I had such fun doing it!

14 comments:

  1. It does look great! I love the garden area in front and the vintage furniture is perfect for each room.

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  2. A lovely little house and so full of fond memories for you! I think your updates are lovely1
    Teresa

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    1. Thanks Teresa. I'm glad I got it finished. It had been waiting for upgrades for years.

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  3. Very cute! That bathroom looks so much like my Grandmother's old bathroom..same shade of pink. :)

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    1. You just don't see pink bathrooms anymore. Or turquoise. They were great colors.

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  4. I love these rags to riches stories and your little $5 house has a brand new lease on life! Lots of flavor and vintage atmosphere from top to bottom :D

    elizabeth

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    1. That's exactly what this house is - rags to riches. As they say, one man's garbage is someone else's cute dollhouse. lol

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  5. Hello Shale,
    What fun. It looks beautiful! Well done.
    Big hug,
    Giac

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    1. Thanks Giac. My renos don't compare to your lovely manor, but I had fun and I am really enjoying the house now. I can't wait to see your next updates. Hugs.

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  6. I think your use of not only period furniture but the people was a great idea. I think the kitchen is my favorite room but they all look nice!

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    1. Thanks! I love the kitchen too. The cherry wallpaper and black and white floor make it pop.

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  7. The shutters rock and the Schoenhut gives it such a nice vintage feel. C

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    1. Thanks CM. I was amazed at how well the shutters turned out. It encourages me to paint more things.

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