You literally just walked through the door with your brand new baby girl, take a seat on the couch to research instagram for the latest and greatest baby products and you come across the modern dollhouse revival.
Firstly, YES of course you need a dollhouse in your life, (your two week old daughter may take a little more convincing) but hey, lets be honest this dollhouse business is not all entirely for the kids!
Where to start?
Serious consideration should be taken as to the type of house vs the age of your child.
Factors to consider:-
- Will the child actually play with the house
- Is the furniture and accessories safe and/or durable
- Are you going to paint/modify the house (re painting a house can be a lengthy process)
- How much money do you plan to spend
Also note that when buying these houses they are childrens toys and although I mention the scale as 1:12 they are a bit all over the place. What I mean is that you will find that the ceiling height maybe very high and you only have a small amount of floor space. The only dollhouse which is true to scale is the Lundby and their accessories.
I have given a brief run down on 4 options which are all available in Australia as I have owned all of theses houses so find it easier to give a review of them. There are numerous other brands available which you should also research, not to mention local Instagram and Etsy stores.
The Kmart Dollhouse
A great starting point for very young children would be the Kmart dollhouse. It is well priced for the quality, it includes some furniture and most of all it is pretty indestructible. Should you wish to pretty it up a bit read my blog on The $100 Kmart Dollhouse Hack. The Kmart house would suit 1:12 scale furniture, although the rooms are very small so you will not be able to fit too much into it. Stick to buying the wooden furniture packs (i.e.; Le Toy Van, Hape or Saint Germaine).Adairs Kids Heidi House
Next best option for beginners is the Adairs Heidi House, and you can buy a set of wooden furniture that goes with it. This option is much larger than the Kmart house, the rooms can fit considerably more furniture into them. Again for smaller children stick to the wooden furniture packs, but this house will easily accommodate any 1:12 scale dollhouse furniture.
IKEA Dollhouse Shelf
For some reason IKEA designed this as a bookshelf but it works brilliantly as a dollhouse. Again this house is on the smaller side as it only has 4 rooms, and it is not very deep. Will suit either wooden furniture packs or 1:12 scale furniture. The advantage of this house is that it can be easily painted as it has a wood finish. The other houses will need to be sanded and primed before they can be painted.Lundy Smaland or Stockholm
I have owned both the Smaland and the Stockholm and loved both of them for different reasons. The Smaland has plenty of rooms, and realistic opening doors and windows. On the other hand the Stockholm has that amazing draw which hides a swimming pool (capable of holding water!!) and the trendy modern layout with rooftop verandah. The only downside to the Lundby is that because of the 1:16 scale you are a little more restricted as to your furniture options and are best to stick with buying original Lundby products. As the 1:16 scale is slightly smaller the Lundby (in my opinion) would be better suited to older children (say 4 years onwards) only because the Lundby furniture has far more detail and would be more practical for older kids.Filling your house with modern minis
Once you have decided on the type of house you think will best suit your needs, you can finally move on to decorating it. As I mentioned before, these houses are toys so scale can play up a bit when trying to figure out whether furniture is going to fit into your rooms.
First of all if you want to paint your house decide this first as it is fair easier to paint a house while it is deconstructed. If it is already painted you will need to sand it first, prime and then paint. This is a huge task so really take this into consideration when buying a house.
Start with deciding on whether you want to change the wall paper, try to use scrap booking paper and a good quality craft glue for the best results. Flooring can be laid using balsa wood and I have a 'how to' on my blog.
Even if you buy all your major furniture pieces in packs, seek out local makers for all the pieces that really give it the modern twist, like miniature plants, floor rugs, wall art and of course bedding, cushions and throw rugs.
There are so many amazing mini makers on Instagram and Etsy so make sure you shop around and support your local mini makers!!!
Dollhouse comparison table
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Scale
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Furniture included
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Age
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Can it easily be renovated
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Stairs
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KMART
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1:12
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Yes
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2+
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Yes
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Yes
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IKEA
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1:12
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No
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2+
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Yes
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No
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ADAIRS
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1:12
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Extra
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2+
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Yes
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Yes
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|
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LUNDBY
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1:16
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Extra
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4+
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Wallpaper only
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Yes
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