I’m a Giant: The dollhouse is complete!
The dollhouse is complete! Wahoo!
I first started on the dollhouse in early October as a part of the I’m a Giant Challenge. The dollhouse is a handmade beast of an item, with four rooms on the first floor (living room, dining room, entry way and kitchen) and three rooms (master bedroom, kid’s bedroom and bathroom) on the second floor.
The day I brought home the dollhouse, the outside looked like this:
And now, it looks like this:
I stained the roof twice to get the color super dark. The color scheme is gray (Martha Stewart Bedford Gray), white and red (Martha Stewart Ladybug). My trick to getting the outside done was to spray paint the trim white and then come in and frame out the gray. It was just easier.
I love the little flowers in the flower boxes. They were another donated item by Mr. Awesomesauce, Benjamin Rogers.
And, if you recall, the inside looked like this:
But now, it’s looking much different:
Let’s go through the dollhouse room by room.
The Entryway
This is the first room you see upon entering the house. I painted the stairs to have a white kick step and a dark brown step. The rug and the chair are both from thrift stores. The lamp above actually works – it’s one of those faux tealights with the light switch. It was just a matter of applying some sort of shade (craft wood), white paint and thin wiring to attach it to the ceiling.
For more on the entryway, go here.
The Dining Room
This is by far the boldest room in the house. I did have the wallpaper covering the entire wall but it was crazy so I cut it at a third and did a wainscoting-type treatment in white. This is the first room where I dabbled in doorway trim and after loving the “finished” look it brought I added it in other areas of the house.
Here’s the view from the dining room looking into the entry way. You’ll see the dark wood tones throughout due to the older furniture. I think I did a decent job of balancing out the wood tones with bright whites and color.
For more on the dining room, go here.
The Living Room
This is a room I haven’t posted yet. I just finished it a few days ago. I first started with the striped wallpaper and went from there. The sofa I made myself. In pictures it’s OK, but it is sort of a hot mess in person. Not too bad for my first try. And if you’re wondering, the “QC” framed on the wall stands for “Queen City” – a nickname given to Cincinnati.
The little table is one of my favorite pieces because I dipped the legs in white paint. I’ve always waited to have “dipped” furniture and now I do. Before it was so granny, but with just a little dip, the paint modernized it in a big way.
The lowboy credenza was the only real piece of mini furniture I purchased. The talented Logan from One Forty Three made it. It never felt right to stock up on random (and expensive) dollhouse furniture but furniture made by a fellow blogger and dollhouser is an endeavor I certainly can support.
The Kitchen
The kitchen received several updates this week, namely a better countertop and new appliances.
The coolest addition (in my opinion) has been the sunken sink and the countertop stove. I also dipped one of my gold pitchers in white for a fun look. And oh look, my toast is ready for breakfast.
Another look at the right-hand side of the kitchen. I added another thrift store rug, a “stainless steel” refrigerator and one of my red wired CB2 chairs. It was a happy accident that the red in the kitchen is jiving so well with the dining room.
For more on the kitchen, go here.
The Master Bedroom
Now we’ve headed on upstairs. The master bedroom takes on a slightly more rustic look than the other rooms, like the hemp rope headband. The clean, crisp and tucked bedding here is awesome. Now if only Aaron could learn how to make a bed…
For more on the master bedroom, go here.
The Bathroom
For the bathroom I went to my go-to, high contrast look to dramatize the space a little bit. I love the combinations of brass, white and black.
The mirror is a mini knock-off of a Restoration Hardware mirror. I’ve started to love more rounded mirror shapes above a boxy vanity. Plus, round mirrors just seem more elegant and put together.
For more on the bathroom, go here.
The Kid’s Room
This is Olivia’s room. When I lasted posted about the room I was feeling uninspired so I updated the bedding, added a colorful, patterned rug and did some general rearranging. I had this awesome, mini canoe so of course I mounted it on the ceiling.
For more on Olivia’s room, go here.
I can’t believe I’m saying this but, “That’s all folks!” The very completed dollhouse. In case you’re seeking additional details on any of the rooms, here’s a helpful index of their original posts:
Living Room (only in this post)
All additional photos can be found via Flickr here
So, I’m dying to know. Which is your favorite room? Least favorite? Things that caught your eye? And most importantly, can you believe I’m done with the dollhouse!?
I’ll be back tomorrow with a post on dollars spent and things I learned/mistakes I made along the way in this grand, dollhousing adventure.
- emily
You’ve got to be kidding me. There is so much awesomesauce in this one post, I don’t even know where to begin. BRAVO! This thing is freaking amazing!!!
Thanks, Michelle! You are too kind!!!
Is it weird to say that I would totally live here? It turned out amazing, you should be so proud!
~Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One
Thanks, Justine! I really am! It’s nice to have a completed project around here. Doesn’t happen very often!
Emily! It looks amazing. I got a dollhouse as a gift from my parents when I was younger and my mom completely redid it before giving it to me! It was a lot of work. This inspires me to redo it once again! I really love Olivia’s room and the bathroom! And the decorations (buttons) above the lowboy credenza. Good work. I LOVE it.
You totally should! It really is fun. It’s been a bit stressful but only because of the deadline. Thanks for stopping by!
Eegads, that is cute! When can I move in?!? I love the buttons as wall art.
Haha! You can move in whenever you’d like!!
Beautiful! I think my favorite detail is the flower boxes! I also really love that mirror hanging near the stairs and the three kitchen pendents. Lovely!
Thanks so much, Carrie!! p/s: I love your blog name.
Adorable & clever!!
Thanks, Susan!
Wow, Emily! This looks fantastic! I think my favorite thing is the green canoe mounted to the ceiling–so clever and original! I also love the dining room chandelier and the bathroom mirror. Oh, and also the button wall art–so many beautiful details! Thanks for the tour!
vanessa
Thanks so much Vanessa! I checked out your site. I am dying over the cheetah! Love it!
The kitchen is outstanding, as well as the dining room. This took some major focus. I love the final outcome.
Thanks so much, Bridget! Thanks for stopping by.
i love it! you did a fabulous job! i LOVE the bold red light fixture in the dining room. does it really work?
i have had a HUGE learning curve with mine, and am not close to being finished, but have had so much fun doing it and love my new hobby!
and i’m guessing you live in cincinnati! we’ve lived in the Mason area for 4 years, you’ll have to let me know where to go to buy stuff for minis around here.
Thank you for stopping by! Nope, the red light in the living room is actually a Christmas ornament. I need to take it off and hang it on my tree! I checked out the mini chairs you upholstered and they look awesome! It can be a fun hobby that is for sure.
Oh, and yes, I’m in Cincinnati! Well technically Covington, but I’m so close it’s easiest to just say Cincinnati. You know how that goes!
What an awesome house tour! I think I love the dining room best, but the canoe over the bed is pretty rad, too. Totally inspires me. I wonder if my husband would go for a project like this?!?!
Thank you so much. I had the canoe and had no idea how to use it. All i knew was that it had to go somewhere!
you did such an awesome job!! where did you get the lamp in the living room? <3 love it!
Thank you so much! I made the lamp. I cut up a Christmas ornament and then attached it to wire I cut off from a kitchen whisker! Haha!
Looks awesome. A girl at work wants that dining room
Love you mom
This is incredible!! I totally want to make one of these… and I don’t even have a daughter. I’ll just play with it
I don’t either! I feel a little silly having a dollhouse displayed in my house but I’m not quite sure what else to do with it!
I’m over from Ten June and just blown away by what you’ve done here! Then house is stunning! Don’t you just want to see it come to life?? I would! Great job girl!
Thanks so much Natasha! I would love to live in this house real-size. It would be three times the size of my real house now. A lot of cleaning though.
Wow. wow. wow. that is all. (linked over from Ten June). Fantastic.
Thanks, Elaine! I appreciate you stopping by!
I really love everything. The dining room is probably my favorite. I like that you kept most the walls white and left it simple. It made the furniture pop!! My house is probably got to much color! lol I am no where close to being done! You did a great job!
Thanks, Jessie! And I love your house. It is so well-done. How the heck did you do the chevron stripes?? Amazing. I love all the colors.
I like your mix of naturals and modern. And orange. Love orange. Our children’s room here is orange. We shared our pretty little home made with some what-we-had-around things here like pant pocket linings and an old ironing board pad.
http://www.wordplayhouse.com/2011/12/dollhouse.html
A lovely home you have designed!
I wish I was as crafty as you! I had to look three times at the chandelier before realizing it was a cut out! The house looks amazing!
The living room with the credenza and the button wall art is hands down cool. I have used single large buttons as wall art and decorative platters before, but I never thought about displaying them in groupings. If I borrow that idea can we chalk it up to “flattery”? Smiles. I also commend your handmade pieces. Rarely do I attempt to get crafty. Anyway–congrats on the final result of your hard work, man!
The nice words mean a lot coming from a mini modern expert!! I am thrilled you stopped by. And YES – please borrow the button idea. I would be pleased as punch!
Very nice! Loving the Dining Room.
Thanks, Crystal! That’s the boldest room by far! I wish I could have that wallpaper in my real house. Thanks so much for reading!
Fabulous!! I can’t wait to see it up close and personal. I love the kitchen & Dining room. It is all great, but those are my favorites. So much hard work. Great job!!
Thanks, Lisa! See you soon! Excited for our trip!
Emily I love it! You did such a great job! It all fits together so well, and looks 100 times better than the before pictures. I am amazed by the crazy arc lamp in the living room– did you make that?? I made an arc lamp for my dollhouse, too, but I think yours is way more awesome… you can see what I did at my blog: http://a-living-space.blogspot.com/2011/12/im-giant-dollhouse-tour.html
Very well done!!
Yea, I made the arc lamp! It’s just a small, silver ornament with the very top cut off and some thick gauge wire. I like yours! I couldn’t figure out how to do a shade anywhere and you nailed it! Thanks for stopping by!
AWWWW, such cuteness!!! You really did a fantastic job! I too love all the “dipping”.
Thanks so much! The dipping was only because I was tired and didn’t want to paint anything more, but it turned out to be a nice solution.
Thanks for stopping by!
Really, really LOVELY creative work! So glad that you finished it all on time and with such flair!
Thank you so much! Yours is one of my favorites. I love the shape and the cut-outs in the ceiling. Thanks for stopping by!
OK, WOW! I am blown away by your creativity! I love projects like this, and you have inspired me to attempt to build one for my daughter! Did you make the house frame, or have someone make it for you? Or if you bought it, would you mind sharing your source? Thanks so much! Great job!!! I want to live there
Happy Holidays!
Thank you so much!! I won’t be too helpful on the dollhouse itself though. I bought it from a work friend for $20 – it was her mother’s who found it at thrift store. It’s handmade and incredibly sturdy so I lucked out. I’m sure the kits would be great, too. Melissa & Doug has some great dollhouse kits.
Just found your site. Love it. Love It. LOVE IT! You are SO talented. What an inspiration you are. Thanks so much for blogging.
Thank you so much Angie! That means a lot. The plan is to keep up with the dollhouse as much as I can.
This is amazing! Did you make this just because, or was it for a work/school/club related project?
It doesn’t matter, because the effort and eye you have given everything is fantastic. Your imagination is wonderful.
Hi Amie! I did it for an online blog challenge called “I’m a Giant.” The contest itself fizzled out but I kept going. I had a loose deadline from September to December. I wanted to be done before Christmas. And thanks so much for your kind words. It was quite the effort but I enjoyed it so much!!! I have continued to collect. Thanks for stopping by. Means a lot! xo, emily
I’m in awe. Like everyone else, I totally want to live here. This makes me want to get a dollhouse (maybe more than one) so I do a “test run” of all my crazy ideas. Totally not weird, right?
You should do it! That’s how I used mine! It’s neat (and a little weird) how a lot of stuff I’ve done in my house mirrors my little dollhouse. You should do it! Thanks for stopping by. Means a lot! xo, emily