Well, I think I’m the only one that actually has a dollhouse to show you today from Emily’s original group of participants. I’m amazed though by the creativity and hard work that was put into dollhouses by the people following along with this whole crazy project! (Thank you, everybody.) Here are some of the people I’ve noticed, but please leave a link in the comments if I missed you.
Go Haus Go • With Two Cats • Warm Hot Chocolate • The Creative Salad • Change of Scenery • Silly Eagle Books • Redesign • Whiteowl: Found •Fleurishing • Coccoon Home Blog • My Mod Style • Call of the Small
I’ve been working on a Walton dollhouse, courtesy of Melissa and Doug. It’s been fun to follow along with this challenge, but I’ve really been making it for Eleanor. She loves it already, even though she’s a little young for it at just two years old. I hope she’ll enjoy it for years to come. I’ve tried to source things below but unless otherwise noted, you can assume everything came from eBay. Here’s a closer look inside…
The Kitchen and Dining Room
I bought a kitchen set and only intended to use the stove and fridge from it, but I ran out of time and just used the sink that came with it as well. I have a farmhouse sink that’s really cute, but it needs to be assembled. I’d also like to eventually make some cabinets and counters, sew a little skirt for the sink, and put up a backsplash. The dining wall also needs some large art, and a table! I rested a gift box lid on those little metal chairs. The light is a knob that I’ve had for years from Anthropologie, and the table settings and food all belonged to Brandon’s mom and grandmother. The paint color is Dill Pickle by Benjamin Moore.
The Living Room
The tiny Jonathan Adler vases are from the Adler Barbie couch set we already owned for me Eleanor. The credenza is awesome and handmade, from OneFortyThree. It was my big furniture splurge in the dollhouse. The white wire chair is an ornament from CB2, and I already owned the mini Barcelona chair. The tea cart was a gift from Cassandra (thanks!). The gold folding screen and little accessories belonged to Brandon’s mom and grandmother.
The wallpaper is one of my favorite things in the house. Tiny houses! I also had some amazing wooden flooring to go in the room, but it’s going to be labor intensive, so I left it white with a sheet of woven scrapbook paper as a rug.
The Office
This room was going to be the nursery, but then I switched things around at the last minute. I already had the chair and chaise, but there’s no desk (oops). The accessories were in with the other little things from Brandon’s mom and grandmother. The rug and bookshelf were eBay finds. And eventually I’ll finish the stairs throughout the house. The paint is Ribbon Pink by Benjamin Moore.
The Bathroom
I showed you a lot of the bathroom before. The tile, dresser, and mirror were from eBay, and the slippers and ‘His and Her’ towels were from Brandon’s mom.
The Bedroom
I intended to sew bedding, spray paint the bed, and make some art for the room, but I ran out of time before the deadline. I made the rug out of leftover furry fabric from Eleanor’s Halloween costume. Again, I already had the chair, but added a kitty to sleep in it. I painted the dresser pink and hung a toy camera from the knobs.
The Kids’ Bedroom
This was going to be an unfinished attic, and the kids’ bedroom was going to be what is now the nursery, but then I realized that the two beds wouldn’t fit in the other space because of the stair opening. I made the mattresses out of two pieces of foam core, sandwiched together with fabric on top. I intended to make bedding, crafty pendant banners, cute artwork, and so on and so on. This room is the least finished of all. There’s a wee dollhouse though! And an Eames rocker that I had. The paint is Benjamin Moore’s Pink Peony.
The Nursery
The bird pattern is wrapping paper, and Eleanor chose the crib fabric. I had that white chair already, and the dresser was an eBay find. The rug is the same as in the kids’ bedroom and the living room: woven scrapbook paper.
The (Almost) Finished Dollhouse
I will eventually finish the things I wasn’t able to get to, without the pressure of a deadline. Eleanor (and August, if he’s interested) is still young, so there’s plenty of time. I didn’t do the stairs, which I had put so much thought into, and I didn’t even touch the exterior! I’m really happy with the end result (so far) though, and Eleanor is over the moon about it.
Nina
December 19, 2011 at 6:59 amWow! That dollhouse is unbelievable. I love every little detail <3
gluten free gift
December 19, 2011 at 7:01 amI particularly like the dollhouse “within” a dollhouse! Your work is gorgeous!! Claudine
Elizabeth
December 19, 2011 at 9:05 amOMG a friend just sent me this, knowing my love of all things tiny–especially tiny houses!! I LOVE IT!
Lovely Dollhouses and Pretty Birds « « Insporia Insporia
December 19, 2011 at 10:05 am[…] from Making It Lovely blew my mind last week with her amazing DIY dollhouse. Have you seen it yet? My goodness, it’s amazing and I adore how it suits her personal style […]
Ursula (room to bloom)
December 19, 2011 at 2:28 pmIt’s perfect in every way! My personal favourite room is the nursery with the wrapping wall paper of course… I love dollhouses so much I based my website on a dollhouse design : )
ernø
December 19, 2011 at 2:40 pmOh it’s very nice. I like it because I’m making a miniature house to with design furnitures. See you Soon!
Andrea Howe
December 20, 2011 at 10:39 pmWow Nicole. Absolutely incredible. I love it. My favorite is the office and the living room. That bar cart is amazing!
tula
December 21, 2011 at 1:38 amYou are a genius. A brilliant, inspiring genius.
Tara Jane
December 21, 2011 at 12:25 pmLove the “wee doll house” up stairs! Great job.
Kat Skull
December 21, 2011 at 1:37 pmCan I move in?!?!
Katie Hollis
December 22, 2011 at 11:12 amThis is the absolute cutest thing I have ever seen….So Amazing. GREAT job, its a dream :)
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December 22, 2011 at 12:30 pm[…] This!!! is insane!!! So pretty in pink! And a mini dollhouse in a dollhouse… cuteness! […]
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Lauren
December 29, 2011 at 12:06 pmYup. This dollhouse is a million times nicer than my actual house.
Nicole Balch writes the ‘Making it Lovely’ blog, named one of the 50 World’s Best Design Blogs | The Dolls House Emporium Blog
January 10, 2012 at 5:42 am[…] Here is another creation inspired by that challenge. […]
rosey
January 11, 2012 at 7:39 pmthis is my favorite dollhouse ever ever ever. so beautiful, great colors, just amazing! you are talented!!!!!
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January 27, 2012 at 4:12 am[…] floors, upholstered sofas, and hand painted wallpaper (a few of my favourites are here, here and here). All these small scale homes had me thinking mini, as in miniature versions of regular sized […]
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February 8, 2012 at 6:34 pm[…] Nicole为这座小屋施了魔法,在这方寸之间一切又有如真实的家居布置的整洁一新。开始这段迷你世界之旅,一起感受身临童话世界的奇妙感受。 […]
Elizabeth Leach
February 20, 2012 at 12:48 pmWhat a joy! This is so fabulous. Well done!
Miss B.
February 20, 2012 at 3:31 pmI don’t know how I missed this! I love all the photographs did you use a macro lens? Such a chic dollhouse;)
Meagan
February 21, 2012 at 8:28 amThis is so beautiful, it hurts :) Great work!
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Choo Choo | Making it Lovely
March 15, 2012 at 2:16 am[…] enthralled with the attic recreation of the town in Beetlejuice. And hello, I worked my butt off on the dollhouse. As for the train part of the typical scale model setup? Whatever, that’s a bonus. I just want […]
Valerie
March 15, 2012 at 10:17 amI love miniatures, and I absolutely LOVE this dollhouse that you’ve put together! I could stare at this thing all day long! (And I too, have always loved the attic recreation of the town in Beetlejuice!)
Holly
April 10, 2012 at 2:03 pmI just LOVE this!! You should make another one!
(the wallpaper is BEYOND)
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May 1, 2012 at 1:23 am[…] cheesy photo taken of me holding up the Leaning Tower of PisaTour the country in an RVJust Plain FunMake a dollhouse for EleanorPicnic in the parkFinish a paint-by-numbers paintingRide a roller-coaster with my hands upWear a […]
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May 15, 2012 at 11:55 am[…] looking for ideas to capture my growing baby when I found this clever series and was reminded of this doll house project by Nicole of Making it Lovely. The nursery above features Snow & Graham Tweets wrapping paper […]
Elena Koidis
May 22, 2012 at 10:19 amThis is the cutest thing I have ever seen! makes me wish I was 3″ tall so I could live there!!
Anu
May 24, 2012 at 6:32 amJust fabulous! :))
Linda Leyble
June 2, 2012 at 1:38 pmHi! Wow – I cannt believe how wonderful this is. I love all the iconic things (vases, wallpaper etc) that I recognize throughout the dollhouse. What a wonderful project. I found this post (from your “list” post – which I definitely have to do, even though I have started it on various pieces of paper) – and your blog, in general, from the NYW class which I am participating in.
Very glad to meet you! I have done a few things on your list (when I was in Chicago!).
Linda
Sara Russell Interiors
June 10, 2012 at 12:53 amThis has made it very tempting to dig out my doll house from my parent’s basement!
xo Sara
A Little More Dollhouse Progress | Making it Lovely
September 28, 2012 at 1:55 pm[…] 28 Bookmark or Share 0 comments I’ve been painting the exterior of the dollhouse off and on, and I’ve finally finished. I asked Eleanor what color she wanted and I’m […]
Sarah
November 29, 2012 at 10:02 pmThis is still one of my most favorite blog posts EVER. I’m looking at doll houses for my 2.5 yr old for xmas, and I just had to look at Elanor’s again. It’s simply awesome. I’m curious what the doll house family looks like. After all this hard work, some special little dolls must live there…
Carole
December 21, 2012 at 10:25 pmAll I can say possibly say is ‘wow’.
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g shi
January 16, 2013 at 6:58 pmit is wonderful, as are you. did i fail to see where the kitchen set is from, and flooring in the kitchen?
Kim @ design + life + kids
February 13, 2013 at 8:52 pmthis might be the MOST amazing thing I’ve seen. ever. I’m completely obsessed with everything teeny and tiny and dollhouses…. and have been filing ideas to do for my own… for my kids of course. the fact that you have one done is quite an inspiration. thank you for that.
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janine.hummel
September 2, 2013 at 7:34 pmcould you tell us where you found your beautiful kitchen applicance set? i cannot find a thing suitable for a victorian dollhouse. thanks so much.
liz o
September 30, 2013 at 12:47 pmCan you please tell me where you found the dollhouse for your dollhouse? Thanks!
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March 25, 2014 at 12:08 pm[…] think they’ve been hanging out in the dollhouse, but we’ve talked about creating a fairy garden for them to live in outside, too. My friend […]
Emily
April 14, 2014 at 1:47 pmI saw this when you first posted it, but now my bff wants one for her daughter. As godmother, I’m in charge. Thanks for the great photos, I’m hoping to find some of the same wallpapers and furniture. I especially love the office furniture (I might just have to buy some of it for my real office until I can afford the grown up size! Thanks!
Kris
November 3, 2015 at 5:31 pmOmgoodness! i love this house so cute.
Where did you find that adorable doll’s house. the tiny one. I have paper ones I have printed and pasted together > disaster :< so i'm trying to find more tiny doll houses for my BJD's room.
kayla
January 9, 2016 at 12:27 amare you selling any doll house
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Katharine of Kat's Almost Purrfect World
December 18, 2016 at 9:11 pmWhat scale is this doll house? I’m looking at 1:6 or play scale that is good for Barbies.
susankallalmd
February 26, 2019 at 4:31 amWonderful doll house make a day of kids. here you show wonderful pics of dollhouse which make a smile on my kids face. I bought this all 4 kids. Thanks for giving idea to those who want a smile on the kids face.
m1shka1995
February 20, 2020 at 12:24 amFantastic! My daughters don t have such beautiful kitchen accessories but the dollhouse also welcomes mixed families involving Little People, Playmbil characters, Petshops or others. I love it!