Dolls House - have you got one ?

BeEmerald have you been watching the tiny house challenge? The work people did was amazing!

midgey I’ve never heard of it - what is it please ?

I did have one, but I had to let it go when I moved into this retirement flat - not enough room for it. I’ve brought all the little furniture and so on with me, though - it had been carefully collected and I couldn’t bear to part with it.

www.channel4.com/press/press-pack/great-big-tiny-design-challenge-sandi-toksvig-press-pack
The programme finished last night but I’m sure it will be on catch up.

I think playing with a dolls house is a lovely way to pass your time. It’s both creative and imaginative.
My father built for my sister a dolls house with little windows that were made out of those see through coloured wrappers from chocolates. My brother poked all the windows through before Christmas dinner and there was absolute murder.
I’d love another now but the prices are astronomical. I’ll have to buy a lotto ticket.

midgey thank you so much That looks amazing ! Will look for it on catch up. Oh - at last something to really look forward to !

DH is in the process of making one for our GD. It’s a labour of love it has to be perfect.

BeEmerald wrote I’d love another now but the prices are astronomical.

Could you recycle one of those thick brown cardboard boxes in which some things arrive and just do a living room?

Not the same, but maybe better than nothing.

I found these wallpapers.

www.hobbies.co.uk/dolls-houses/wallpaper

Perhaps a different sort of glue is needed to fix it to a cardboard box.

And they sell pictures for the wall, both ready done and blank frames into which one can add one's own picture.

I found this one.

www.hobbies.co.uk/12th-scale-mona-lisa

It says it is 1/12th scale.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa

includes the size of the original.

I have found this video that runs for 10 minutes 3 seconds (plus an advertisement in the middle when I played it)

Visiting Mona Lisa at the Louvre on a busy summer day

www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6LAvKSPzcI

We made one for our daughter when she was three (she’s nearly 41). I remember buying a book with instructions on how to make a dolls house from one piece of wood. We had to hire a jigsaw. I made lots of little patchwork quilts and curtains. OH made wooden furniture. At my pottery class we made a loo, sink and bath. I remember buying the perfect doll from somewhere in London. Sadly the house became very warped and damaged while it was stored in the garage. But! We have all the furniture, bedding etc., which I had stored in our house. My granddaughter plays with these bits and pieces in younger son’s Sylvanian houses which were in the loft and didn’t get damp! They’re over 30 years old. A friend of mine has her own enormous dolls house which her grandchildren aren’t allowed to play with!

StarDreamer what a great idea ! It didn’t occur to me I was focused on a whole building. I have just bought an omelette maker which came in a fairly sturdy box, not big but enough to make a room. Thank you for your suggestions, both attainable and affordable !!
What an inspiring group of ladies you all are

Yes, but it's not a toy!

DaisyMae that is beautiful ! A sight for sore eyes !
You’ve decorated it beautifully. I’m green with envy. Thank you so much for sharing the photo

Love it DaisyMae. Another here who is green with envy.

I had a 4 room dolls house when I was small - and woe betide anyone played with it without my permission!!! I was envious of my friend's 'bungalow' dolls house though which had individual lighting in each room. We have a large one for the grandchildren and it used to get played with a lot. I think they're a wonderful toy for little people and I love the specialist dolls houses; those are a real treat.

I did have a doll's house but was never cared very much for dolls or their residences. I don't think my younger sisters took it over.

I had a dolls house as a child, made for me by a carpenter. It is now being played with by grandchildren?.
It's unusual because it's designed like a real house - 8 rooms over 2 floors with hall, stairs and landing. The top storey lifts off and access to the rooms is from above, not side, like most houses.
It's not a show house, but great for playing. However, we also have one of the "fancy" dolls houses which my adult daughter got the kit for and made, but that's definitely not a toy.

I have two nice dolls' houses and one made of cardboard boxes, because I found the doll family and all their furniture, minus bathroom fittings in a charity store. I have promised them a better house, but am not sure when we will get round to making it.

I also have a doll's greenhouse, that I have just finished repairing.

And yes, I play with them.

I have the dolls house version of this:

www.thamesweb.co.uk/windsor/royal_lodge/royal_lodge.html

So, quite historical really.

My mother used to make doll’s houses, all the furniture etc. when she died we all had something. I had this Chinese room - don’t think she made the pottery. Doesn’t photo well as it has a glass front. She made so many she had to sell some when she moved into a smaller flat.

Tizliz your mother was a lady with a lot of talent. That is such a pretty room. I think the little statue is Kuan Yin, goddess of compassion and mercy. I love the crane wallpaper.
FarMore15 that’s a very impressive house !

I got huge play value from my dolls house, for years. When the top storey was removed, it was like having 2 bungalows, so a friend could play and we could each have own house.

Later, when I had my own children, OH and I did a complete refurbishment - repainting and papering and making some new furniture. Then DD1 decided to do her own improvements - at this stage it's a bit shabby but still structurally sound. The carpenter who made it was a Hungarian refugee from the 1956 uprising and did quite a bit of other work for my parents.

I’m not surprised then that it’s lasted so well. We have an Eastern European heritage and the men in our family ( apart from my sons who can’t knock a nail into a wall ) were very capable of turning their hand to anything, and making things rather than buy them.
It is a really lovely house.

M ex renovated an old dolls house for our daughter. Sylvanian family furniture is the perfect size for it but I prefer the older green furniture to the newer stuff. I’m a pretty messy person but I always used to make sure the dolls house was tidy each night even if the rest of the house wasn’t. There was a house on Scotlands home of the year the other week that had a house with a dolls house in it that replicated the house it was in. It, too had a dolls house in it. There’s a NT stately home in the borders that has a wonderful collection of dolls houses. I used to love Tottie, the story of a dolls house that was on tv.

midgey

www.channel4.com/press/press-pack/great-big-tiny-design-challenge-sandi-toksvig-press-pack
The programme finished last night but I’m sure it will be on catch up.

Just watching it now; thanks!