When I was five years old, I had a doll's house very similar to the one you see above. It was very simple, Colonial style, and just made of tin . . . but I thought it was lovely. All the scenery was printed on the outside of it, in bright colours . . . flower boxes, shutters, bushes, grass . . .
The inside was all painted too . . . gaily painted curtains and floorings, carpets, wall paper . . . all in glorious colour, 1960's colour. My little five year old eyes thought it quite beautiful.
It came with hard plastic furniture. All moulded and of similar colour. There was not a lot of differentiation. It was all pink and blue . . . but you know how children's imaginations work. It was all lovely to me.
I didn't have it for very long . . . my brother decided to park his huge firetruck in one of the rooms one day and pushed out the whole front wall . . . and then he decided to use it as a slide and it got all crushed down on one side . . . that effectively ended my doll's house and it was no more . . . sigh . . .
My best friend, Susan, had a big wooden doll house. I think it had been her mother's back when she was a girl. The back wall was a big door that opened up to show us the inside rooms and it was filled with beautiful handmade furniture. I used to love to go over to Susan's house and play with it . . . and dream.
I am 55 years old now, half a century older than that little girl, but the dream still stands. I have always loved and wanted a real doll house that I can call my own. I am all about making dreams come true in this later stage of my life and so with that dream in mind, I recently purchased a wooden doll's house for me to build and fill.
Its not all that big. I couldn't afford to buy a large one. It's only two rooms and meant to be a retreat cottage type of house, but I did fall in love with it's veranda and windowed front. It's all in a flat pack box now, just waiting for me to work my magic on it.
I hope you'll come along with me on the journey as I realize my childhood dream. I can hardly wait to get started!!
Marie I just saw this! How cool and so creative, but it's more than that, it has a deeper meaning like looking for something deep within. Some unknown joy as yet, but I'm sure you'll find it and bring it out to share with us, just like your friend shared her dollhouse with you!
ReplyDeleteMary
I love the idea of you blogging about your doll's house. I think the little girl in a fair few women with come out here:)
ReplyDeleteHugs
Sheilagh
xx
Hello Mom-in-law! What a wonderful activity, one which I was thinking about myself today while trying to tidy up some. Ran across a few of my own dollhouse miniatures, which I brought out for lil' G to play with a couple of years ago. Just some of the less expensive furniture... he called them his mini-chairs (v. cute!).
ReplyDeleteI fell in love with miniatures at a young age too, for many reasons, not least of which my best friend/idol had an awesome dollhouse. I still haven't got a dollhouse of my own, although my Dad did promise to make me one from the plans he has hanging on his bedroom wall. They are from a never-built Scottish "cottage" designed by my great-great grandfather for my great-grandfather, or something like that. But too many things got in the way of that plan, so from age 12 until I married and moved out with Anthony, my collection grew on a number of bookshelves, arranged in rooms or little storage boxes awaiting the above-mentioned dollhouse. But they've been boxed up for twelve years now, and even with a house of our own now, I can't see there being room (or time) in my life for them, not for a long while at least. Sadly, lil G's not very good at handling them with the gentleness they deserve... not yet, anyway. Might be time to downsize my collection to bare essentials. Wish it wasn't so expensive to ship stuff, as I'd love to send you some of the magazines I have, for extra ideas and inspiration ;)
Will happily follow along as you turn this into your little dream home!
Love, Anne
I am almost as excited as you Marie, and will be keeping a good eye on all the things you will be making etc. as the weeks pass by.
ReplyDeleteMy friend Pam has also got a dolls house that she is slowly working on her husband made it for her...
much Love Sybil xx
I was delighted to see your new blog,,, I too had a friend Susan,, immigrated fromengland when we were both 5,, she had a beautiful doll house her dad made,, I've wanted one since then,,, two years a go I came across one in a junk/ antique shop,, all asembled,, I love it and unfortuneately gave away all the furniture I had collected a few years back,, so now I'm searching for furniture,, this is wondeful,, we can share our experience!
ReplyDeleteLove it! Can't wait to see the finished product:)
ReplyDeleteoh wow Marie i had the most gorgeous dolls house as a child 2 stories lots of rooms beautiful furniture and mum made bed covers tec. this is wonderful thanks for the memories
ReplyDelete