Hello everyone.

I told you that I'm getting crafty (again) and would need some help. Well, here it goes.

A year ago (give or take a few months) I redecorated my daughters room. She now has a pepto bismol pink room with pink flowers. Don't judge, she loves it!

When she was younger I made her a barbie house. It was designed to work with her single bed. Now she has a bunk bed and the doll house doesn't really work in her current room.

So, I'm building a new one.

Her room is small, tiny really, hence the bunk bed (it's a one bed bunk, the bottom is clear, this way she has more room).

I'm looking for something that will be big enough to play with but small enough to fit in her room.

I have a few designs that I've found but I'd like a few more ideas. I'd love a house that folds up, hinged, that way she can close it and put it away when she's not using it.

Here are some of the designs I've found so far;

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Any ideas, designs?

Thanks.

Are you wanting to reuse furnishings from the first one or start from scratch?

The first one is fully furnished with store bought barbie furniture. I'd love to use some of the materials I used for the first but I put it together way too well. If I want to dismantle it, it will get wrecked.

Here are a few pics. The top one is the way her room looks now. The bottom is the old room and a picture of the doll house. It's very simple, because that's what worked for her room and her age at the time. :)

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Okay, after looking through pages and pages and pages and... OMG, my eyes hurt, of doll houses, Sydney has narrowed it down to these;

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I like the first one the best. Smaller then her current one, more compact, cute and it has stairs. Her main criteria is stairs.

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Originally Posted by Altenweg

Okay, after looking through pages and pages and pages and.....OMG, my eyes hurt, of doll houses, Sydney has narrowed it down to these;

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I like the first one the best. Smaller then her current one, more compact, cute and it has stairs. Her main criteria is stairs.

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I like the first one, too.

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Originally Posted by Cat1864

I like the first one, too.

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I think I can tweak it enough to make it really great. The one that's pictured only fits dolls 6" and under. Barbie is over 11" (if I remember correctly) so the house would need to be a bit taller.

I love the way it's laid out though.

Ya, I think it's the one. Now to buy the materials and get my lazy arse in gear. ;)

Also, I'm going to make some new furniture.

Here are some pieces I've made in the past. The pictures aren't great, too much glare. The real pieces aren't this shiny or grainy. My fault, I'm not a photographer.

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Originally Posted by Altenweg

Also, I'm going to make some new furniture.

Here are some pieces I've made in the past. The pictures aren't great, too much glare. The real pieces aren't this shiny or grainy. My fault, I'm not a photographer.

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I like them. Are you going to have Sydney help pick out the colors and final interior decorations?

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Originally Posted by Cat1864

I like them. Are you going to have Sydney help pick out the colors and final interior decorations?

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Yes, that's a must. Considering that she's still not 100% sure which design she wants, this may not be much fun. ;)

I'll build the bones then we'll go shopping for flooring and paint, or wallpaper. :)

Tell me again why I'm doing this? ;)

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Originally Posted by Altenweg

Yes, that's a must. Considering that she's still not 100% sure which design she wants, this may not be much fun. ;)

I'll built the bones then we'll go shopping for flooring and paint, or wallpaper. :)

Tell me again why I'm doing this? ;)

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Great memories (overall) of spending time with Sydney. Memories that will last a lifetime. :)

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Originally Posted by Cat1864

Great memories (overall) of spending time with Sydney. Memories that will last a lifetime. :)

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Oh yeah, that. ;)

I'm actually looking forward to it. She's going to help. She's going to glue, paint, lay flooring, put up wallpaper, help build furniture. She loves crafty things.

It may take months to finish it, but I'm really exited. I'll take lots of pictures and post our progress as we go. :)

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Originally Posted by Altenweg

Oh yeah, that. ;)

I'm actually looking forward to it. She's going to help. She's going to glue, paint, lay flooring, put up wallpaper, help build furniture. She loves crafty things.

It may take months to finish it, but I'm really exited. I'll take lots of pictures and post our progress as we go. :)

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Great! I can't wait to see a glue covered Alty. :)

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Originally Posted by Cat1864

Great! I can't wait to see a glue covered Alty. :)

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I'm pretty good with the glue Cat, I learned that the hard way. ;)

I will be covered in sawdust, haven't found a way to avoid that yet. :)

This is Norm Abram's (from the new yankee workshop) design that I built for my daughter 25 years ago. It's store in the attic now waiting on a daughter of her own. Good luck with your project and have fun.

That's beautiful parttime, I love it. :)

parttime, that really is lovely. :)

You mentioned glueing, those cedar shingles took some time an patience. But I had fun.

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Originally Posted by Altenweg

Yes, that's a must. Considering that she's still not 100% sure which design she wants, this may not be much fun. ;)

I'll build the bones then we'll go shopping for flooring and paint, or wallpaper. :)

Tell me again why I'm doing this? ;)

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You're doing it because you are a wonderful mother who happens to be quite handy with tools. I too, love working with my hands and make things around here all the time. I am making a tree house for the boys right now. They are "helping" me. These are the magical times that they will remember when they get older.

So, get her all excited about the project, and enjoy every board, drop of paint, and nail. I'm sure it will turn out great. I am impressed by your other projects, and look forward to the new pictures.

What if you made each floor level interchageable with the others. She could put the bedroom on the top one day and the bottom the other day. You could connect them on the sides and this way she could have a new house every week. It might stir her imagination and this way she won't grow bored as fast with it. Maybe she'll become a designer. You knkow us women we're always thinking, how we would change our house. This way she could. Good Luck!

Hey alty I had a couple of doll houses when I was a kid. One of my favorite ones had a fold-out outdoor area. Maybe you can incorporate that into your doll house.

It's kind of hard to explain, but the doll house had a hinge at the bottom edge with a board attached to it. You could fold the board up and close it and lock it in place kind of like a mailbox. The part that folded out was a backyard with a little in-ground swimming pool, grass, and a bench.

Another cool thing was that the doll house had working lights. Each room had a sconce in it. There was one light switch that lit up all of the lights and it was battery powered. I don't know if you know anything about installing lighting, but it's a cool idea!

Also, my mom once bought me cool doll house furniture from the dollar store maybe you can check there for some more. I always see doll house stuff at craft stores too.