My daughter’s doll house happened to be mine when I was growing up.  It’s a wooden farmhouse with so much charm.  But it had a dated interior and even though my mother slaved to do the interior decor for me when I was little, I found it necessary to update it’s look for my child.  It became something we did together over-and-over again because I might have started her a little early.  She didn’t understand that breaking its elements was actually disappointing.  At least we had many good life lessons while we worked!

But I still cherish memories of upholstering a chair and taking it in to add to the doll house while she was playing.  She would light up and be utterly thrilled with the items as I gave them to her.  It was a great joy of mine to fashion something special to add character and color, lots of color to her world.

I enjoyed monogramming one of the bedrooms to make it Willow’s room, Willow’s doll house.  I also love the letter W.  So we painted a wooden letter from Michael’s craft bright pink.  Most nurseries and children’s rooms have a monogram these days and so I really wanted to add elements that were on trend to her doll house.

I encourage you to start a doll house project with your children.  If you have a boy, I’ve seen Batman and superhero versions.  Trust me boys want to play in a doll house too.  It’s a very real aspect of their life so this kind of pretend play is wonderful for them to relate to.

I got my daughter involved in all aspects of the process, let her play with the trims and ribbons as I draped a curtain, let her push on the wall paper as we attached it, let her paint the furniture and then I would finish.  I think it has made it that much more special and then we played in it for countless hours.  I recently found a doll house at a local thrift store, a tutor style and will be working on that as our spring project.  So stay-tuned.

But as a side note, I got it for $15.  It was handmade and is beautiful.  So, if you’re looking for one I recommend making a diligent effort to visit thrift stores early in the morning on a regular basis until you find one.  They will turn up but you have to be ready to strike early and hunting regularly.  My landlord actually knew I was trying to find doll houses and shopped for me, texting me everyday until the tutor house worked out.  I got there too late for some.  So I stress the early morning finds and if you happen to have a friend who’s an avid shopper, enlist them in the search!  Craig’s list is a good option and antique stores.  Happy hunting!