Since so many of you took the time to tell me about the February edition of Country Living’s article on dollhouses, I purchased a copy when we went grocery shopping yesterday. First of all, wouldn’t it be fun to visit that dollhouse museum in Kentucky? That’s going on my list, though who knows when I will be in Kentucky again…I used to spend a fair amount of time there back when both my best friend and my now-estranged sister lived there. But that was many moons ago.

(Heck, I’ll take you on a little tour of my dollhouse while I’m talking about the CL article.)

I had a metal dollhouse not unlike the one made by Marx. I well remember the lithographed tin walls, with curtains and fireplaces as part of the lithographs. I don’t know what happened to that dollhouse – most likely my mom purged it, as she did many other childhood toys of mine that I now seem to wonder about on a daily basis.

Here’s my one complaint about the article: The inside views of furniture and rooms should have been bigger. You can’t really see any of the details and there is, of course, no way to enlarge them save pulling out a magnifying glass. Next? I think Country Living should do an article about the incredible miniaturists and dollhouse owners who are creating beautiful abodes today.

Am I right?

The miniatures shown at the end of the article are lovely and, yes, you can spend a lot of money on beautiful handmade miniatures. But you can also do it on a budget, as I have. The most I ever spent on a piece was, I think, $50 on this settee made in Italy. That was a big splurge for me but I fell in love with it. I probably also fell in love with the idea that it was from Italy! It was pretty early on in my dollhouse renovation. I became more savvy as to prices as I went on. Most everything else in the dollhouse was either free and re-imagined, a gift, or moderately priced.

Love this line in the text:

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, they provided a hobby for wealthy housewives, who used the homes as a creative outlet, decorating each abode one room at a time.

Well, that describes me.

Ummmm….no.

But this particular housewife(?) does love her hobby, and it is a creative outlet and I have indeed decorated one room at a time. So, except for the centuries and ‘wealthy’ we’re not far off the mark!

So kudos to Country Living for writing about dollhouses. This particular article was geared toward collecting dollhouses, but I would sure love to see something more detailed in the future. Perhaps highlighting some miniaturists? I could pass on some names, CL. Perhaps on decorating a dollhouse in a stylish manner? (I could pass on my name, CL!)

Thanks to everyone who pointed this article out to me. I don’t buy Country Living very much anymore because it’s so darn thin nowadays and I’m usually not too impressed by the articles. Quite often, I’ve already seen the spaces they highlight – usually online. Fifi O’Neill’s home, which I love, is featured this month, but I’ve seen it a lot in the past.

This particular issue is all about Small Spaces, a hot topic lately.

There’s a piece about Tiny Houses, which you know I find fascinating, although I could never live in one. My husband is 6′4″ – need I say more? Oh, and though I adore him and love spending time with him, if we were that close all of the time, I’d end up in the slammer or an insane asylum.

Interestingly, the houses that are featured all have more square footage than we do here at Mockingbird Hill Cottage. I expect that they have more square footage than a lot of your homes, as well. You’re on the right track, Country Living, but go even smaller! There are a lot of houses out there that are beautiful and functional and have an even smaller footprint.

I mean, look at the square footage in Caroline’s home. It’s minuscule.

Happy Sunday.