Where Have All the Dollhouses Gone?

I've gotten rid of some of my dollhouses. Bought with hopes for future fun, several of them looked different once I came out of my buyer's fog. ;-) I'd mentioned in a previous post that I was having second thoughts about the first house I bought, the one I called My 1970s Dollhouse:

It was made of old particle board, was heavy, and wasn't to scale. It was more of a child's dollhouse and needed redecorating. I decided to donate it to a charitable organization, along with this one:

It was also a child's play dollhouse. I found it in pieces at a thrift store for $5. Once I got it home, I realized it wasn't the antique dollhouse I had imagined, so I cleaned it and put it together, and took a couple of photos of it in the back of my truck before I hauled it away for donation along with the 1970s dollhouse.

The third dollhouse I want to mention is the one that also was a 1970s dollhouse, but I called it My Shabby Chic Cottage. Again, I had high hopes for this one. It had "good bones." It was a to-scale dollhouse miniature collector's house with siding, hardwood floors, and a beautiful staircase. The problems for me were that it was heavy, it took up a lot of space, and it needed a lot of work (mostly wallpaper removal). I also didn't care for the fact that the rooms were really deep from front to back of the house.

Finally, after hemming and hawing about what to do with it, I decided to sell it. I sold it last weekend to a mom who wanted to work on it with her daughter. I sold it for what I paid for it, but I kept all the furniture and family (also kept all of that from the 1970s dollhouse too!). So, I feel I've come out ahead. The furniture and families are worth more than what I spent on all of the houses, and I know I'll use more of the furniture (besides what I've already used in Dad's Dollhouse) in future projects.

Now I have two dollhouses left. There's Dad's Dollhouse (did you notice the new link at the top of my blog that takes you to a page with ALL of the Dad's Dollhouse posts?), and there's also my new Shabby Chic Cottage, the one I won from Tam toum's giveaway. I like that this house is compact and lightweight. Next post I'll show you some work I've been doing on it. Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

I Changed My Mind

I changed my mind about the 1970s dollhouse. Remember, that's the first one I bought recently, for $30, including a bunch of furniture and a family? I've decided that old 1970s particle board isn't my favorite, and the fact that it is not to scale is not my favorite either.

What do you think? This one...?

I got some nice pieces of furniture with the house that I'm now using in my Dad's Dollhouse, including a grandfather clock, a rolltop desk, a full-length mirror, a gold fireplace set, and an old-style wall telephone. I also got some other lovely furniture plus a dollhouse family circa 1978. The other great thing is that the house has roof shingles that will work perfectly on the bare spots of my newer shabby chic dollhouse (the one with the siding, hardwood floors, and stairway).

So, sorry old house, but once I get all the shingles I need from you, it's off to a charity for you! :-( It makes me feel bad, but over the last few weeks, I haven't felt inspired to work on the 1970s house. What keeps coming up for me is the phrase, "You can't make a purse from a sow's ear." Meaning, if I put a lot of work into it, it still won't look that great anyway--it's never going to amount to anything.

I've never liked old-style particle board, not since I bought a six-foot by 4 foot shelf kit that was made from it. It was pretty funny, really! It was for my first apartment after completing school. I didn't realize how heavy particle board was until I had to try to get the box of six-foot pieces into my second-floor apartment. I had to move the box end-over end up the stairs, because I could not lift it! And once the kit was finished, if the shelf had fallen on someone, that definitely would have been the end for them--yikes!

Of course, the house is not built to scale either! The doors and windows would always be too big, and I could never buy things to fit them....

...or this one?

So, I'm feeling a little guilty about using the 1970s dollhouse for its parts before giving it away, but I do feel really excited about moving forward on my shabby chic dollhouse. Dad's Dollhouse is almost finished, so soon I'll be able to start work on the shabby chic house with the teashop and probably ladies hat shop on the lower level. Woohoo! I can't wait to begin! :-) Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

New Dollhouses: My 1970s Dollhouse

I recently had the good luck to find and purchase a couple of used dollhouses. The first one was listed on Craig's List, a web site for buying and selling items locally. This house turned out to be a child's dollhouse from 1978 with two shoeboxes full of dollhouse furniture and accessories included.

Minuses:
1) Not a 1/12 scale dollhouse. It's just a little bit bigger, like my Dad's dollhouse.
2) No front door, no windows, and no stairway.
3) Made from particle board instead of hardwood.

Pluses:
1) Unfinished inside, so I can finish it to my liking.
2) Includes two boxes of 1970s dollhouse furniture and accessories worth much more than what I paid for everything.
3) Lightweight and not too big--good size for a simple project.
4) Price. I got it for $30!

As you can see, the outside is pretty clean. There are just a few missing shingles that I'll have to replace. The yellow shutters are cute. I'll add a front door to it.

Inside, I plan to do a white basecoat all over, except in the children's bedroom, which is already wallpapered in a fabulous funky 1970s red and white gingham paper.

After the basecoat, I'll wallpaper the inside of the house with funky 1970s-style wallpapers and cover the floors with colorful matching felt. I even found a brown fuzzy felt that looks like shag carpeting! Super fun!

The furniture and accessories that came with the house are great! I've moved a few of the pieces into my Dad's dollhouse. The rest of the pieces are so 1970s fun and funky!

The kitchen has a ceiling lamp from that era (currently sitting on the table in the picture below), a cute radio on the counter, and a metal painted dish set in the cabinet.

The livingroom has a modern-style fireplace, the bookcase with books that I always wanted as a child (yes, the same exact model!) with separate blocks of wooden books that slip into each shelf of the bookcase, and my favorite find (which actually came with the second dollhouse I'll tell you about later), this 1970s stereo turntable with record and disco record album sleeve. Isn't it cute?!

As you can see, there is a miniature family (mom, dad, two older kids, and one baby) from 1978 too! When I complete the house, I may sell it to someone who appreciates vintage retro style or who has a child who would enjoy playing with it. I'm really looking forward to decorating the walls and floors of this dollhouse in the style of that era. Maybe it takes me back to my childhood a little bit! Fun! ;-)

So that is the grand tour of the first dollhouse I bought, which I'm calling the 1970s house. Next, I'll show you the second dollhouse I bought and tell you what I intend to do with it. More fun! Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer