During my first few years of working on the dollhouse, I concentrated mainly on three rooms: the living room, the den, and the bedroom. The spaces that would eventually be the bathroom and the studio/office were blank canvases. They’d been painted white, but that was all.
In fact, I dithered over whether the bathroom should be on the second floor or on the third floor. If it was to be on the third floor, the owner would have to run up two flights of stairs to take care of business. If it was on the second, she was going to have to go down a flight of steps in the dark for those nighttime bathroom visits. The memory of our rental when we first moved East and its bathroom off the kitchen (our bedroom was upstairs) steered me toward my final decision. Getting out of bed, going down the steps, walking through the living room and kitchen – all of this before we could use the bathroom during the night – was a pain in the tush. The third floor won.
I decide to go with a vinyl tile floor instead of the wood floors that are in every other room of the house. I think I bought this sheet at a craft store that carried a few dollhouse items. As always, I made a template of the floor by tracing it on a sheet of paper and used that template to cut the vinyl.
The bathroom suffers a bit from corners that don’t join as tightly as they should, from irregularities that are the result of a sometimes poorly assembled dollhouse. So I had to work around these tiny and not-so-tiny glitches as I put the room together.
I knew I wanted beadboard in the bathroom, so the next big thing was to pick a wallpaper design that I liked. I went bolder this time, thinking that the owner might like a more striking pattern in this space – something a little exotic.
The house has a lot of pastels and this yellow wallpaper proved to be the perfect contrast. (It’s actually a bit darker than you see in the photo above.) It wouldn’t have worked if each wall was entirely covered with wallpaper, but the beadboard nicely counterbalances the pattern. I added a chair rail, as well.
The windows were trimmed out, baseboards and molding were added. One day, I decided that adding interior shutters to the window might be a good idea. The bathroom, kitchen and studio/office are long narrow rooms. The window wall in each of the rooms is usually the most dimly lit, since it is at the end of a sort of tunnel-like space.
I had become fond of the red flowers in the wallpaper, so I painted the shutters red. That was just the pop that the room needed.
So when I found a sink/cabinet that was good for the space, I painted it in the same red (except for the top.)
I had been on a hunt for a bathtub and toilet that looked somewhat realistic. I already had a bathtub and toilet that had flowers painted on them – these came courtesy of a bag of dollhouse furniture that Heidi found and passed on to me – but I hesitated about using them. The flowers drove me crazy. But I decided they might work in the meantime if I painted over the flowers, so out came some white ceramic paint. Just as I do in my real house, if at all possible, I use what I have.
I made the little chair from a tutorial and it seemed perfect for the bathroom. I just added the rug a couple of weeks ago.
There are touches I still need to add: a shower curtain, some necessary accoutrements like a toilet paper holder, and a towel rack. I’m thinking of adding a dressing table, as well, because there’s quite a gap between the sink and the back wall of the room.
A word about trim: Dollhouse websites and catalogs have all sorts of trims available. You will need to trim out the interior of the windows and doors, as well as the moldings and the baseboards. Make sure you measure accurately before you order. I always order more than I need because, let’s face it, mistakes happen.
I went for a specific, consistent look for the windows and doors inside the dollhouse.
Here you can see the look I was going for. I love the corner blocks because they suit the style of the house and, more importantly, they eliminated the necessity for cutting mitered corners! I’ll save that for the next house.
Here’s a look at the same materials used to trim out the windows.
A quick story: I trimmed out the windows when I finished wallpapering each room. Then I went about the business of adding furniture, etc. I was sure that part of the process was over and finished. It wasn’t until much, much later that I looked at the open doorways that exist between rooms and had a smack-me-upside-the-head moment.
I hadn’t added any trim to the doorways. It hadn’t even occurred to me that I should.
Something about them had always bothered me and I felt like an idiot when I realized what I had (or hadn’t) done. Yikes. I got to work on that right away and the difference it made was enormous!
More in the series next week.
Several of you are about to set out on a dollhouse renovation or are about to build a dollhouse. I’m so happy for you! If you have any questions, send them to me. I’ll do my best to answer them and if I can’t, I’ll try to point you in the right direction. I think a question and answer post would be fun and informative.
A final note: I just read that one of my favorite authors, Mary Stewart, died yesterday at the age of 97. In my teens, I devoured every one of her romantic suspense books. I loved The Ivy Tree and Nine Coaches Waiting and The Moonspinners and The Gabriel Hounds and This Rough Magic. Her heroines were always smart and savvy and sophisticated. They smoked cigarettes in those days where it was the cool thing to do. There were references to Shakespeare and poetry and Greek mythology sprinkled among the chapters. Not only did I (a diehard romantic) love the stories, I learned a lot as well. She didn’t dumb down her writing, but expected that her audience was entirely capable of following her metaphors and references and intricate story lines. I have many of her books in my permanent library. She also moved into a different genre when she wrote a series of novels centered on Merlin that were highly successful.
Thank you, Mary Stewart, for hours and hours of reading pleasure. What a difference your stories made to a young girl moving through her teenage years. Rest in peace.
Happy Friday.
I love your dollhouse series. It’s such a serene and delightful place and reflects an owner who would be, I’m sure, a favorite friend! I’ve decorated some room boxes recently and to hide my wallpapering errors, I’m considering adding chair rails, headers and a wall-hung corner cabinet. I don’t really have the tools/room to do the trim in as gracious a way as you do, but I’ve had so much fun decorating. Thanks for the inspiration!!
Also, Mary Stewart was one of my very favorite authors. While I wasn’t a big reader of romances, her heroines were always more than timid victims or plucky dames, and her evocative settings were well-researched and lovingly described. I loved especially Airs Above the Ground cuz it was centered on a pie-bald horse who turned out to be a stollen Lippizaner. I’m sorry she’s gone, but what a successful and talented long life she had and how much enjoyment she brought to so many. Thanks for reminding me of the early days of wonderful reading.
Oh I have wallpapering errors, too, Nora! Hanging a painting, adding trim or a chair rail – all of that can help disguise that sort of thing!
Yes, Mary Stewart’s heroines were plucky and I loved that!
I so enjoy your dollhouse posts! And…I do remember The Moonspinners! I’m sure I’ve read some of her other books as well! I do remember I really enjoyed that book in particular. Funny how your memory works…hadn’t thought about that until today! Couldn’t even tell you what it was about…only remember that I enjoyed it! Enjoy your day! ;)
I do think I might have to get out all my Mary Stewart books again! Have a great day, Donna!
I never would have guessed that bathroom floor was vinyl. From the photo, it looks like gleaming tile. The perfect choice for that era too. Are the shells in that glass jar real? If so, in a houseful of precious things, those are, hands-down, THE most precious! Also I was wondering if pets are part of the world of miniaturestores? This beautiful home cries out for a canine resident too – preferably a “mini Scoutie.” Have a great weekend!
Yes, I have a couple little critters, but I think I have to find a Scoutie.
The shells are real. Another blogger gave me that little jar when I first started on my dollhouse. Isn’t it amazing? I thought it was perfect for the bathroom. Have a wonderful weekend, dear Janet.
Claudia, your dollhouse is gorgeous! I’ve never had one, but it looks like something I could get really carried away with! I hadn’t heard about Mary Stewart. Hadn’t really thought of her in a very long time, read several of her books when I was in junior high. Glad to hear she had such a long life.
She sure did – 97 is a grand old age!
Oh a dollhouse question and answer post would be such fun!!! I have a few questions I’ve thought of emailing to you, but decided to hold off until I FINALLY get going on my dollhouse. I know I just need to jump-right-in, but the wallpapering is really intimidating me! I’m so afraid I’ll end up making a huge mess of my beautiful dollhouse. :-/
Don’t worry about wallpapering! I’ve never done it in a real-sized home, but you have a lot more leeway when you’re doing it in a dollhouse. Write down those questions and send them to me. I’ll record them and when I have enough, I’ll do a post.
Love your doll house it’s always been a love of mine. I love looking at them. If I had the space I might get one. I always wanted to do one. I one time did a little 4 room house.
You can buy one or two roomed dollhouses that don’t take up so much space – such as the 4 room house you have. Listen, I have a TINY house and I’ve managed to find a place for mine!
Claudia–
All of the changes you’ve made on your doll house. The rooms are truly inspirational for me.
I’m just getting started on the TUDOR style home and seeing all the little bits and bobs that need attention– well, I’m AM beginning to question whether or not the purchase of a 2nd home right now was a good idea! It is much larger and needs way more work. I’m taking my time and do little bits here and there. I DO HAVE TONS OF QUESTIONS FOR YOU…but like you’ve mentioned already, I’ll jot them down for a later email. Maybe there will be something you can add to a post!
I just love seeing this transformation.
Itty-bitty …is just so much fun!
Pat
Feel free to ask me as many questions as you want, Pat. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I’ll do my best.
I could just live in your dollhouse! When I pull my house out of storage (someday) I’m going to have to come back and re-read all your posts!
They will be here, Leslie Anne.
I have read all of her’s to, sorry to hear she died but she lived a long life
She certainly did.
So great to follow along with the dollhouse posts. Do you think you will ever say you are done with house one and move on to another? You have such a gift for details that I wonder if you will just keep adding to number one’s design? If you were to purchase a small basic house to start with (I want a cottage or something small) do you have any suggestions of online places I might want to look in case I missed any?
I love visits to the dollhouse. Thank you
I will probably never be totally done. I’ll always be adding to it and changing things out. But I am looking forward to my next ‘restoration.’
As for suggestions, just google dollhouse and miniatures and you’ll find all kinds of online stores that sell all sorts of houses and kits to make houses. Or check Craig’s List and/or vintage shops.
I love your dollhouse! When you wallpaper the walls do you use real wallpaper and real wallpaper paste? It is intimidating. I hope you keep up this dollhouse series way into the count of over number 20 in the series.
My cousin started building my house this morning.
The house is going to be a 1920’s farm house.
I used dollhouse wallpaper that is made specifically for dollhouses. Some people use scrapbook paper. And I used a paste that I got through miniatures.com.
Oh, your house sounds like it’s going to be charming, Trudy!
Love reading about your dollhouse. I ordered all of that molding and corner blocks for mine and duh!! Mine are already all trimmed out! I hadn’t paid very good attention when looking at mine. Oh well, I’ll use them for something cute!
Judy
Oh well! You’ll find a use for them, of that I’m sure, Judy!
I am so enjoying the series on the doll house! Love all the changes you have made and how the cottage has come alive. I loved Mary Stewart books as a girl also.
hugs,
Linda
She was such a good writer, Linda!
Your little house is such a charmer, Claudia! I love all the realistic details. Your door frames were an inspired touch. I love having a peek inside.
Thank you, Jacqueline!
Claudia, the best compliment I can think of for a doll house is that it looks lovely enough to make us wish that we could live in it. And it’s so beautiful that I do wish we could.
Jen
Thank you so much, Jen.
Your dollhouse is so charming, Claudia…I’d like to live there…
Me too!
I really like how you’ve done your dollhouse. I like the light colors. Mine is rather dark with all darker wood furniture – very Victorian. But it’s fun to see how differently we all do our miniature houses. I was sorry to hear of the passing of Mary Stewart. Didn’t she write a 3 book Merlin series, too? I just loved those! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
Yes, she did. I never read them for some reason, but I may have to remedy that!
I just love your doll house posts! I have always wanted a doll house and just bought one off craigslist for $20…it also came with lots of extras. I don’t actually have the doll house yet because it was 3 hours away, so I had a family member pick it up for me. I have some pictures and have been shopping around for supplies already. My doll house is a tab and slot doll house made by Greenleaf. It is the Jefferson doll house and was built in the early 90’s by someone that made doll houses for a living so I am hoping it is constructed well. I also have lots of questions and would love links to tutorials you used and where you purchased supplies. I look forward to future posts, thank you for your blog!
Your dollhouse sounds wonderful, Beth Anne! And you got it for a song!
So sorry to hear about Mary Stewart..Thanks so much for offering advice..I’m sure I will need some in the near future..I really like how realistic looking your wood floors are..
Thanks so much, Nancy.