Megan Hornbecker, Miniaturist

Megan Hornbecker adjust the accessories, found on the Shapeways blog

Megan Hornbecker is an experienced web designer turned miniaturist. She has liked dollhouses since childhood, but for the past 8 years has been obsessed with modern miniatures. Megan chronicles her dollhouse pursuits on her Modern Mini Houses blog.

Let’s Pretend

Hornbecker admits that collecting modern dollhouse furniture provides her with unique opportunities to fulfill childhood aspirations. “I’ll never be an architect,” she told an interviewer for the Shapeways blog. “Or an interior decorator, or furniture designer. But in miniature, I am building and renovating houses, creating modern interiors, and designing furniture and accessories. And I want all of the decor and furniture showcased at full-scale galleries like Design Within Reach, West Elm, CB2, but I can settle for the much more budget-friendly option of making them for my 1:12 scale homes.

3D Printing

Modern miniatures lend themselves to 3D printing, which Hornbecker prefers to mold making and Fimo

“3D printing makes you less reliant on traditional techniques,” Hornbecker says, “and enables you to create designs that are outside of the box.” You don’t have to become a machinist, an expert woodworker, or invest in a ton of specialized tools or equipment to be able to make 3D printed miniatures.”

As an experienced web designer, Hornbecker has a head start on understanding software for 3D printing. She uses Shapeways. “It allows me to log onto their site, use their 3D printing software to design the item. Then Shapeways executes the design and delivers it anywhere in the world.”

The Antrim Dollhouse found on smallISIMO!

Prize Possession

Hornbecker’s prized possession is a limited-edition Antrim House, designed by the late Tom Berkner for New Hampshire’s Earth and Tree Dollhouses and Miniatures. It made its public premiere at a modern-miniatures showcase event hosted by Design Within Reach in September. Its furniture inventory reads like a PRD Miniatures catalog. It has everything from a bamboo desk to a hatbox toilet to an electric fireplace, interspersed with a few eBay finds (bathroom appointments and bedding). Hornbecker installed her own modern lighting designs, fashioned from cane tips and craft paper.