Dollhouse Decorating

Miniature Decorating Ideas |Articles on decorating dollhouses and the history of this artform

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I have had a life-long love affair with dollhouse miniatures, and careers in art education and interior design. I hope to combine these life experiences to help other miniature enthusiasts get more out of this wonderful hobby we enjoy, a hobby that often reaches the level of an art form. Susan Downing

Posted on 10 January, 2019

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Artist Thomas Burke of Wilmington, DE, built this luxury 9-foot tall birdhouse for George Lucas.

The George Lucas … Birdhouse

I was searching the Internet for interesting dollhouses and was excited to see this 19th-century “miniature.” It looked huge compared to the builder posing with it. I was disappointed to read the caption and discover that it was a custom birdhouse given to George Lukas of Star Wars fame as a Christmas present. This is a departure from the dollhouse miniature posts I usually, but it’s a beautiful construction, built by a talented craftsman. And it’s a pleasant story

I found this article on the Skywalker Ranch Birdhouse on Woodworking Network.

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Posted by Patrick Owens

Categories: recycled


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Posted on 05 January, 2019

rainham-hall-dollhouse

Geoffrey Walkley and his Rainham Hall Dolls House, a replica of the 18th-century merchants’ mansion found on DailyMail.com

Rainham Hall Dolls House

Geoffrey Walkley took his time — 35 years — building the Rainham Hall Dolls House, a mammoth replica of a Queen Anne style merchants house. It has 13 rooms, working lights and smoking chimneys. The dolls house is based on the 18th century Rainham Hall, which took only 2 years to build.

Individually light switches are operated by remote control; six of the 14 chimneys are linked to a smoke generator; both front and back doors have a doorbell, while in a modern twist, the home includes an iPad Nano which powers the speaker in the music room.

Sarah Walkley, now aged 40, was five years old when she asked her father for the doll’s house on Christmas Eve 1978. The following is part of a feature story in the Daily Mail:

“My mum was tucking me in and I said I wanted a doll’s house from Father Christmas. She said he had packed his sleigh and left the Arctic but she went downstairs and mentioned it to my dad and he said he was going to build one.”

Devoted father Geoffrey came up with a blueprint so ambitious, Sarah says she began to lose hope of ever seeing it finished.

Click on the photograph for the full Daily Mail article, which includes pictures of the dollhouse interior. And here’s a link to images of the real Rainham Hall.

 

Susan Downing, with Patrick Owens

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I invite you to visit my Etsy Shop where I offer many accessories and pieces of furniture in 1:12 scale. 

 

Posted by Susan Downing

Categories: recycled


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Posted on 03 January, 2019

ileana_Ottini's-videos-miniature-dollhouses

Ileana Ottini’s videos on miniature dollhouses

Ileana Ottini – Videos on Dollhouse Miniatures

I love videos about dollhouse miniatures. Still photos are great, but when those images are in motion, I feel closer to the original work of art – better in some cases, where the guards and docents keep the lines moving. A source of great videos is Ileana Ottini’s website. There are sections devoted to the Victorian era, a history of decoupage, links to miniature museums around the world.

Here is a portion of an article on Ileana Ottini and her shop on the website Permasol.com (The Traveling Woman)

In Trastevere, a treasure chest of wonders

In Rome , in the heart of Trastevere , you can visit  Ileana Ottini , an elegant, ageless girl who, with the enthusiasm of a very young girl and the infinite patience of an old woman, has dedicated herself to the creation and diffusion of one of the more difficult – than what are called “applied arts”.

Applied art – English applied art – is usually identified with a creative process aimed at creating objects of use and furnishing: in this case, Ileana realizes for the pure pleasure of doing, looking and showing.

The objects are naturally on sale, but the purchase is aimed at [pleasures for the eyes].

One of the techniques used by the artist, a singular art enthusiast, is that of the miniature, which declines in many ways: the most important is the creation of room boxes and miniatures scenes, reproductions of complicated environments, and perfect in scale 1: 12. It is thus that in his atelier, in the heart of Trastevere in Rome (“Acid Drop”, 14 via del Moro), you can admire authentic works of art for your lady friend.

Ileana is also the author of a website dedicated to the art of miniature ( www.ottini.eu ), where it is possible to retrace the history of Dolls House from the ‘600 to today, which is a true source of information for fans, in which with female precision Ileana recalls that it is necessary to have multiple skills: “it is necessary to cut, glue and dyewood to create the structures of the house (or room box) and furniture; plaster or paper the walls; spread floors in different materials; sew curtains, tablecloths and towels; frame pictures; mount electrical installations; in short, all the activities that, in a “real” house, are carried out by a series of different workers and specialists. ” …

Click here to read the entire article.

Here is a current list of videos:

Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House -1

Queen Mary’s Doll’s House – 2

Colleen Moore’s Fairy Castle

The Castle di Elaine Diehl

Killer Cabinet, England 1830

Mon Plaisir,Arnstadt (1666-1751)

The Thorne Miniature Rooms

Il mondo delle Dolls Houses nel mondo

The world of the dolls houses around the world

Doll’s House 1800

Miss Pinney’s House

Tate Baby House

Devonshire Villas

The Drew House

Miss Miles’ House

Mrs. Bryant’s Pleasure

Dolls’ house, England, 1890-1910

May Fosters’s House

The Henriques House

Queen Mary’s Rooms

The Denton Welch dolls’ house

The Elkin House

Dutch cabinet kitchen

Mr. Warne’s House 1930

Queen Mary’s dolls’ house – 1887

Mrs. Neave’s dolls’ house – 1840

The Miniature White House

Miniature rooms – Stuttgard – 1890

Henry Kupjack’s Miniature Rooms

Musée Miniature et Cinéma Lyon

Jim Ronan Sévellec

Miniatures Museum of Taiwan

Lo studio del medico

Doctor’s surgery

The Stettheimer Dollhouse

Helena Rubinstein’s Miniature Rooms

Click here to reach Ileana Ottini’s website. I am sure you will find it a valuable resource.

Susan Downing, with Patrick Owens

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I invite you to visit my Etsy Shop where I offer many accessories and pieces of furniture in 1:12 scale.

 

Posted by Susan Downing

Categories: artisans, videos


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Posted on 30 December, 2018

Blog-Subtle-Edwardians-Queen-Marys-library

Queen Mary’s Dolls House Library

Queen Mary’s Dolls House – In The Beginning

Queen Mary, wife of King George V. was an obsessive collector of ‘tiny craft.’She especially liked objects that had a connection to the Royal family. By her late 40s, the Queen had amassed a valuable collection of miniature items.

Princess Marie Louise, George V’s cousin, and Queen Victoria’s granddaughter was at an “at home” one Sunday afternoon at the height of the social season. Another party-goer was Edwin Lutyens, a leading architect of the day. The Princess later claimed that ‘on the impulse of the moment’ she mentioned that it would be nice if the Queen had some sort of large cabinet for all her diminutive treasures.

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Posted by Susan Downing

Categories: recycled


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