For my 4th birthday my grandparents made me a beautiful dollshouse, partly from a piano they no longer wanted. It was decorated with swatches of wallpaper and carpet from their own home and reminded me of them long after both of them had died. It had a real mis-match of furniture which I had collected over time and I treasured the dollshouse until I just couldn’t keep it due to lack of room in my twenties.
Ever since then I’ve been on the lookout for a replacement dollshouse. I would love to get my hands on a vintage Triang model but they are quite expensive and I really wanted one which I could experiment on. So I was very happy to find an inexpensive dollshouse on ebay. It’s simple, made from chipboard with internal stairs and two floors.
The roof lifts off and the front opens. As you can see it doesn’t look like it’s been re-decorated since the 1970s. The wallpaper and curtains are ‘special’.
It came with a selection of plastic furniture which went straight in the bin. Oh, and the front door is missing.
It’s a perfect size for our house (just need to find somewhere to put it!) and I’m excited about doing something with the inside. I can’t wait to replace the curtains and wallpaper, I’m just not sure what with. Should I try and recreate it as an authentic 1970s house or give it a contemporary twist with Orla Kiely wallpaper?
Sadly there’s no sign of who made the dollshouse. Despite the chipboard the outside is covered is matching paper so I think it was mass-produced rather than homemade. I can’t wait to get started on my little project!
Linking up with Flea Market Finds, nifty thrifty things and magpie monday
7 Comments
Lulastic
November 21, 2011 at 3:38 pmAh, well done, that is very sweet! A couple of months ago I found a dolls house on the street, I didn’t even mean to decorate it but before two days were up I had painted, carpeted and wall papered, it was irresistible! Look forward to seeing what you do with it 🙂
Ruth @ Minibreak Mummy
November 21, 2011 at 3:51 pmGreat find! I look forward to seeing what you do with it 🙂
Kate
November 21, 2011 at 4:36 pmSweet thing and I hope you enjoy it as much as the first and make memories for someone for the future
Liz Burton
November 21, 2011 at 5:24 pmYour childhood dolls house sounds amazing. How sad that you had to get rid of it.
My dad made me one when I was about 7. I used it as a stool once to look out of the window and broke the roof :0(
Bless him, he fixed it up and recently gave it back to me (from their loft). It too is a bit dated but I’m hoping Ruby will love playing with it.
Can’t wait to see the ‘grand design’ reveal :0)
katgotthecream
November 22, 2011 at 4:33 pmOh I love it just the way it is! I too snagged a bargain dolls house a while ago and I’ve been hoping to find some retro wallpaper to redecorate it. Okay maybe you should replace the curtains, but I think it has a lot of natural charm as it is. great find!
Christina Ivonne
November 28, 2011 at 9:24 pmHehe I still keep all my toys since I was a girl, and now I am 33 ! I just can’t get rid of them lol !
Diane
March 2, 2013 at 10:42 pmHi just found your blog with this dolls house and had to comment. I have the exact same house just with a slightly different pattern on the outside (see my blog for photos). It was the house I got as a child in the 1970’s and my mum had kept it. Most of the plastic furniture has gone missing but I am planning on doing it up anyway and putting in better quality furniture. I don’t know what make it is either but It is such a cute house and I am so glad my mum kept it :).