Dollhouse: 01 / by Kate Brightbill

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I have always loved dollhouses. I don't think I've met a little girl who doesn't, actually. We had a pretty one when we were kids, and that house got more love than any other toy in our life, except maybe my favorite teddy bear. Every day I would move furniture, and play make-believe with my little toys. 

My dad is a contractor... a very talented contractor who adores his grandchildren. A couple of Christmases ago, he spent who-knows-how-many hours making the most gorgeous dollhouse for my girls. I asked him to keep the inside bare so that I could make it beautiful WITH the girls, so we got hardwood floors and white walls. It's basically amazing. 

I realized the girls were a bit small to play with it gently for any extended period of time when they first got it... Maggie took a pen to the exterior and got in big trouble pretty quickly, so it was a hands-off thing for awhile. Lately they've been gravitating toward it more and more {and not in a destructive way anymore!}, so it's time to spruce up the interior and make it awesome. YES. I'm so excited. Today we got started. 

Wallpaper. I love white for walls in my home, but I love wallpaper for a dollhouse. It's easily mod-podged in there, and removes for a new paper so easily! I don't have a razor-blade even though I've told myself a million times how much I could really use one, so my edges are imperfectly done with a pair of scissors. No biggie! 

Wallpapering a Dollhouse | StyleSmaller
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I folded creases into my paper {it's this one from Paper-Source}, cut along the creases and hoped for the best. I measured all three walls before mod-podging any in, and then with the window, I just used my finger to indent a tiny bit around the edges, then a scissor to cut more exactly once it was off the wall.

For furniture, we've had this starter set since we got the house, and I got some chair ornaments from CB2 {for like $1 each} at their after-Christmas sale that are the perfect modern dollhouse chairs- the white one in the corner being one of them. Hoping they have more this year and I'll scoop up extra. :)

We used a little candleholder from my shop {to which Maggie also added her artistic flavor with a pen, so it was a good one to keep!} as a plant holder, and we cut a tiny leaf from a fake plant to fill the planter. Sophie and I worked together to make an art piece for the wall with markers, then "framed" with a brown marker on a larger rectangle.

We're down bedding, lighting and floor coverings, but it'll come in time... kind of like my bedroom- one piece at a time, patience is a virtue and all that... 

Have I mentioned how fun little girls are? I mean, I totally transported myself back to 1987 for the morning and it was fun for all! SO, this is dollhouse post 01, and hopefully there will be numbers to follow while we work on it. Dollhouses make me feel like I can decorate as fancy as Emily Henderson but with the tiniest budget ever. I can totally see it being addicting. ;)

Ps. A million years ago I made a vine with the dollhouse in its bare state, and here it is! Pardon the terribly shaky videography, HA:

xoxo.