Dolls House

Oxo cube boxes are a perfect size for kitchen units. If you have a printer you can print floorboards and wallpapers so having more variety.
Very well washed and worn handkerchiefs are perfect for curtains because of the soft gather.

What a lovely project. I have no advice, never having had a doll's house, but have fun and I hope you get lots of advice.

There are lots of printables on the internet boxes and tinned foods etc. I noticed though that a lot of them are vintage style, which was frustrating for me because I was doing a modern house, maybe of use to you though?

When I was renovating a dolls' house I found a marvellous site called Jennifer's printables. It has wallpaper you can print and things like grocery packets, magazines and so on.

There are quite a lot of free sites on the Internet that have minatures you can print, but you will also have to trawl through some that ask for subscriptions to find the free sites.

Most British dolls' houses are on a 1:12 scale, but many of the continental ones are either sligthly smaller or even larger.

Making furniture etc to scale will make the house look more realistic to an adult - children need more robust furnishings and room to move them and the dolls around.

If the house is for your own enjoyment then you can furnish it exactly as you want. I have supplemented dolls' house furniture that I had kept since I was a child and some I have bought in charity shops with things like washing-machines and dryers made out of the small cardboard boxes things like eye drops are supplied in.

I use small LED fairy lights that run off two AA batteries to light up my dolls' houses.

If you want modern tins of food, boxes of soap powder most companies adverts on the Internet contain photos you can save to your own computer and scale down to dolls' house size.

I can send you directions for making a dolls' house vacuum cleaner if you PM me your e-mail address.

In my experience the hardest thing is to find suitable dolls!

Have fun!

The doll's house scale seems to be one inch to one foot.

There are picture frames available into which one can insert a picture.

There are framed pictures available. One of them is the Mona Lisa.

I am hoping to make a scale model art gallery to doll's house scale using some of those frames to insert scale versions of my own artwork.

In another thread a lady posted the following link.

LINK > www.boredpanda.com/quarantine-gerbil-art-gallery/

Of the four paintings of which pastiche versions were made, I only knew of three of the originals - I did not know of the one by Klimt, but I have since looked it up.

I have a doll house and decorated it in the same style as the house I lived in at the time, with similar furniture and carpets.

Look online at pictures of other dollhouses to get an idea of the style you like first.

I keep meaning to go to see Queen Mary's dolls house, this has reminded me to look into going.

I made my own dolls with pipe cleaners and beads. Not exactly realism but good enough!

Ooh what a lovely project, perfect for the long winter evenings.

When my husband retired I bought him a dolls house kit to build for our eldest granddaughter. That was 15 years ago and he still hasn't finished it! It had to be dismantled and packed away when we moved and has stayed in boxes ever since I have built the kitchen and bathroom for it and various items of furniture which I hope have survived storage, maybe one day they'll get into the house.

It's a very addictive pastime once you get started. It can also be expensive, especially if you buy scaled materials etc from specialist shops. A lot will depend on how authentic you want to be re period, scale, finish etc. As others have said a lot of accessories and decor materials are downloadable and printable. Do lots of research regarding adhesives etc as some may be cheaper and work initially but then deteriorate after a few years later and spoil all your hard work. Making your own furniture is great fun and you'll find yourself viewing everyday objects and waste materials in a whole new way!

Tools.....? Think small. Dental tools, bent nose tweezers, sharp pointed scissors, a good ruler, a 1/12th scale ruler (if your house is that scale), clothes pegs or quilting grips can be good for holding things together while glue dries, a scalpel holder and blades, they're sharper than a craft knife, a small hand drill which will fit into the rooms and tiny drill bits, especially if you're installing lighting. Necessity is the mother of invention!

Are you thinking of creating an historical period house, or something more modern? Whatever you do have FUN doing it, and don't forget to show us your work

Some shops that sell wallpaper have a roll open so that you can tear some off to take home as a sample. You can usually get enough to paper a doll's house room. Also, those little emulsion sample pots could come in useful.
I envy you, it's something I've always wanted to do!

Tiny offcuts of wood can become books. Cover them with different coloured paper for the covers.

There is a programme on the All 4 catch up channel, called The Great Big Tiny Design Challenge (I think!), in which people make things for a doll's house. I haven't watched it, but you may pick up some ideas from it.
I'm getting more and more envious!

LilyoftheValley
Following on from Littleannie's post re the Dolls House Design Challenge programme. Some of the things they made were 3-D printed. Last year I had some tiny people 3-D printed of family members (00 model railway scale about an inch tall), the fine detail was incredible. Things can be printed to a wide range of scales. It might be something to consider if you want a special item for your house that you can't find or make. Just thought I'd mention it.