How to accessorize a dollhouse

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

Accessorize a dollhouse carefully to create the world of your dreams

Dollhouses are tiny worlds in which one can create scenarios to their heart?s desire. The basic structures can be big or small, elaborate or simple, and are not necessarily relegated to being just houses. They can be castles, stately manors, modest cottages, or even places of business. Some collectors have been known to build whole towns out of various dollhouses, each piece decorated in its own unique way.

With a few well-placed dollhouse accessories, there is no limit to what you can create.

In the Dollhouse

When setting up a home environment (or any environment for that matter), it?s good to imagine what time period and what sort of family structure you want to achieve. Perhaps you are setting up a Victorian era mansion, with ladies in their puffy gowns, and old Victorian furniture. Don?t stop at just the dolls and furniture; look at the finer details. Think first, what sort of lives are your dolls living? Some might have interesting personalities and interests. You can dedicate an entire room to the pursuit of the arts, for example, with a minuscule baby grand piano, a violin, perhaps an easel for painting. They might have a library filled with old fashioned books on various topics, and a desk in the center for writing letters and memoirs with a period-appropriate pen and ink well.

What would an old Victorian mansion have on its walls? They were fond of portraits of all kinds, and you can find miniature versions of these galore. People from this time also loved their mirrors, and it would not be out of the question to find a few gracing not only the bathroom walls, but bedrooms, and maybe also a parlor or living room.

As for the floors, this era did not sport wall to wall carpeting, but several well placed rugs would certainly be in order. If you look through catalogs, you will find a wide array of flooring options you can purchase to lay over your house?s existing floors. Everything from beautiful hardwoods to mock stone and marble tile is available, if you know what you?re looking for.

Beyond floors, walls, and furniture, have you considered some of the more permanent fixtures in a home like this? Does your dolls? mansion have a fireplace or two? Have you considered some beautifully carved banisters for the staircases? How about the stove, the bathtub, the light fixtures? You can find some beautiful chandeliers, diminutive lamps, and accent lights that actually work. Imagine how lovely your creation will look all lit up!

Exteriors and the Great Outdoors

Let?s say you are starting with a ?house? that is really just a simple structure with some walls to delineate rooms, a basic roof, and some raw facing. With a palette like that, you can transform this structure into nearly anything.

Starting with the roof, there are dollhouse shingles and roofing options made of nearly every material (or a replica thereof) you can imagine. You can add beautiful scalloped trims and brackets for your eaves. And don?t stop there. You can alter literally every aspect of the exterior by choosing different windows, beautifully styled doors, different wall facings, and outdoor lighting options.

Beyond the front door, imagine what the world outside the structure would look like. Going with our previous example, Victorians loved their gardens. Why not put out a few miniature trees, some flower beds, and even flower boxes in the windows. You can bedeck your dolls? yards with walkways and stepping stones, as well as adding various animals, from birds, to livestock, to any combination of wildlife that seems appropriate. Give little Susan a kitten to play with, and perhaps some old fashioned games set up on the green, like a miniature croquet court. You can place a tiny tea set on a patio table for tea time on the lawn. Even add a graceful bird bath to attract our feathered friends.

Let Your Imagination be Your Guide

The possibilities in the wonderful world of miniatures truly are endless. We used a Victorian example here, for simplicity?s sake, but you can fashion your dollhouse?and the world beyond it?in any way you like. Think the Medieval period, late 50s to 60s mod, or American colonial. You can recreate Paris in any era you choose, or a fantasy world pulling together elements of your own preferences, without the constraints of time or place. You can go anywhere your imagination will take you. This is the world, in itty bitty form, at your fingertips.