Dollhouse• Stairway

Teeny Tiny Staircase Inspiration

I have two new flights of stairs to decorate. Yes, they’re for the dollhouse. And yes, I may be obsessing over getting them just right.

I’ve saved a ton of inspiration photos to my Pinterest board. I won’t post images to my blog that I can’t source (even though I really love some of those images), so go check them all out on my Stairways to Heaven board if you’d like to see. Below are just a few (the ones that I could trace back to their sources).

I painted the stairs to our basement green, and now I’m thinking I should add a little something to them. For now though, I’ll stick to the miniature stairs. But what to choose? Pattern, a faux-runner, numbered stairs, quotes, stripes, fun colors…

Although it should be noted that our resident luchadores don’t mind the stairs being plain.

Sources & Paint ColorsNeed design help? Let's work together.

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  • Megan
    October 4, 2011 at 10:54 am

    LOVE the yellow staircase!

  • Ashley
    October 4, 2011 at 10:58 am

    If I were doing it in my own house, I would go with the black and white. But if I were doing it in a dollhouse it would be a really tough decision between the numbered stairs and the stenciled stairs. Whenever I help my daughter walk up the stairs in our house (she’s 2 years old) we always count the steps. I think the numbered steps in a dollhouse would be fun, stylish, and educational.

  • Ashley
    October 4, 2011 at 11:06 am

    Ooh, I really like the cute idea by justbesplendid on your pinterest board. That would probably be hard to see super small writing on a dollhouse staircase, though.

  • beatriz rempel
    October 4, 2011 at 11:10 am

    wow. your mini stairs even have fancy nosings! impressive.

  • Britt
    October 4, 2011 at 11:14 am

    Very cute inspiration for stairways. I would have never thought of a robe as a railing but it could def come in handy on a tiny staircase! LOVE the painted yellow stairs. When I get stairs, I am definitely going to do something like that!!

  • ana {bluebirdkisses}
    October 4, 2011 at 11:38 am

    I think the numbered stairs are my all time favorite! They look really cute

  • Trina
    October 4, 2011 at 12:24 pm

    I’m in love with them all….most especially the yellow and white stenciled ones, although i’m not sure how easy that would be with your dollhouse!!! Maybe you could use Japanese masking tape? Hmmm now that’s a brilliant idea!

  • Stephanie Fizer Coleman
    October 4, 2011 at 1:06 pm

    I’ve been obsessed with that yellow stenciled staircase for awhile and am thinking very much of doing something similar to the staircase in my house. If only I had more time!

  • Uyek
    October 4, 2011 at 1:22 pm

    Um, off topic, but where did you find your little Luchaderos?

    (I like the stair + slide concept!)

  • MyRealitty
    October 4, 2011 at 1:39 pm

    My family wrote a poem Everyone made a short line and it was painted on each step back. They liked to hop and say the words. Also Little handprints in paint is fun going up the side, they are particularly charming as the little people grow up. (Use paint you can scrub to make sure they last) Carol Morehead/ Myrealitty

  • Julee
    October 4, 2011 at 2:13 pm

    These are brilliant! I especially love the yellow stenciled staircase. I love seeing your dollhouse ideas and progress. I’m following along with my own dollhouse here:

    http://warmhotchocolate.com/2011/09/29/im-a-giant-challenge-getting-started/

  • Mackenzi
    October 4, 2011 at 3:17 pm

    Have you seen the beach house episode of Home By Novogratz? This: http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/season-premier-tomorrow-hgtvs-home-by-novogratz-151466 (the one with color names is also kinda AWESOME!)

  • Catherine
    October 4, 2011 at 3:23 pm

    I vote you use striped ribbon as a runner- loved that pin with the white stairs and multicolored runner! Hopefully would be much easier to do than painting lots of little stripes or patterns.

  • Abigail
    October 4, 2011 at 3:29 pm

    I have two little luchadors just like that stuck in an eternal battle on my bookshelf! Except sometimes their battle turns into a very different, intimate looking experience when one of them falls over. So cute–I never thought to put them in a dollhouse. They would be such a happy couple.

  • annelies
    October 4, 2011 at 3:48 pm

    I vote mirrors!!!

  • Kathy
    October 4, 2011 at 4:00 pm

    I can’t help jumping right to what you should do with YOUR stairs. I love love love the Kate Spade striped stairs and the polka dot rug nearby. Would be very much like the punch of color you added upstairs with your Anthropologie chair. But I also love a reader’s suggestion of stenciling your family’s words onto the risers much like it was done on your Pinterest board. And I have always loved the British stair rope idea. Just a note to keep in mind with slippery wood stairs though. While your family and kids are accustomed to your wood steps, and go up and down them as surefooted as a cat… as they get older and have friends over you might want make them less slippery. Socked feet are hazardous for the uninitiated. My daughter’s boyfriend took a tumble down our stairs recently. Can’t ever be too cautious when it comes to other people’s kids in your home. Don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer.

  • Welmoed Sisson
    October 4, 2011 at 4:13 pm

    That rope railing might look nice, but it would probably be flagged as “inappropriate and possibly unsafe” by a home inspector like my husband. A person falling on those stairs would grab the rope and, rather than a firm railing, the rope would shift and move. Much better to have a solid wood railing, properly mounted and secured!

  • Miranda
    October 4, 2011 at 4:37 pm

    Oh my goodness, I love ALL of those! I’m thinking the yellow stencil is my favorite for a doll house. Now I’m completely convinced I need to do something fantastic to my stairs. Hmmm…what to do.

  • mindi
    October 4, 2011 at 6:04 pm

    I LOVE the Jonathan Adler look – and i dont evern normally like blue! definitely my first pick! ♥

  • Nat @ Dear Little House
    October 4, 2011 at 6:44 pm

    I’ve seen that yellow staircase before, I love it too! I have a real staircase to start thinking about, banisters are the bane of my existence at the moment!

  • Jenny
    October 5, 2011 at 12:00 am

    You’re daughter plays with Mexican luchadores in her doll house??? That’s hilarious. She’s just plain awesome.

  • The Glamorous Housewife
    October 5, 2011 at 10:54 am

    I love the yellow one and would use scrapbooking paper in different patterns if I was doing a dollhouse.

    Thanks doll,
    The Glamorous Housewife

  • Hunter and Hare
    October 5, 2011 at 1:41 pm

    I love the numbered stairs so much! I’m always counting steps as I go up and down, haha this would help my weird OCD ;)

  • Cinthya
    October 5, 2011 at 1:57 pm

    That is a fantastic idea. I wish I didn’t have carpet on my staris.

  • Marissa
    October 5, 2011 at 2:55 pm

    Have you ever tried http://www.tineye.com? It’s a free reverse image finder that lets you trace images back to their source. It’s super easy– just upload the photo (or enter the url) and it’ll find all the sites where the image is posted.

  • Alison
    October 9, 2011 at 7:01 pm

    Wow, someone just as obsessed with stairwells as me. Definitely do something fun to both. Last October I painted and stenciled our green stairs and love them! Check it out: http://alongtheausable.blogspot.com/2010/10/fridays-flight-of-stairs.html

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  • Beckie@Cubicle57
    October 20, 2011 at 1:54 pm

    1. Love this whole dollhouse bit going going on. Having fun living and lurking vicariously through you ladies…
    2. Isn’t it the worst when you can’t trace a pin back to its source? It makes me super pouty and its totally ruined whole posts if I can’t use a certain inspiration photo ect.

    Hugs & g’luck!

  • Dulce@lavitapetite
    October 29, 2011 at 12:06 am

    I am doing something decorative with the risers of my miniature stairs that is probably a bit disturbing to most mommies…but my five year old can’t read and I couldn’t help myself and it involves toile so it is purty :)

    http://lavitapetite.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/im-a-giant-the-scary-stairs/

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