If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Building a Child's Dollhouse - Additional Advice?
Howdy!
So, I'm going to build a dollhouse for my 5 year old (will be 6 just after Christmas) daughter for Christmas. I want to build from scratch, partially because I really enjoy the design part of the building, and because I do want it to be something _I_ made. Also, this is something my dad did for my sister when we were young. I want it to be a play doll house, but one that she can grow with, and has elements beyond just being a box for the dolls' home. Of course, our currently 3 year old son will likely play with it too, and we will have another child in January. Sturdiness is important. I'll admit to not having done a lot of research, yet. I've been watching the group for a short while. I did some googling about this newsgroup's archives, read the FAQ, and did some searching on the net (the net searching was really hardly frutiful ... there was SO MUCH out there on miniatures ... not surprising, but I was not successful at refining my searches). So one thing that I could use is suggestions of a book or two for someone tackling the project I am tackling. My current plan (and some of the reasoning behind it): Fairly simple 3 story (two and attic level), 1 room deep house. Open from the "front". I am planning on having large hinged doors that can "shut" the house to make it actually look like a house, although I would guess that for 99% of the dollhouse's life, these doors will be open. Style - Spanish (I sat down with my daughter and we looked at a lot of different style houses, and Spanish was the style she chose) I think it is a lot easier than Victorian, which was her second choice. I also think that it is a style that she could modify in the future. Mostly, it means that doors and windows will be arched, and some "windows" will be stylistic. Also, some half-columns separating the kitchen/dining room, and hopefully a stucco outer wall. Scale - 1:12. This is where my wife and I have had the most talks. First, we were looking at playscale, because chances are barbies will be used in the dollhouse at some point. However, I prefer to not focus on the barbies, so we moved to 1:12. Then we looked for dolls that fit this scale, and we didn't really find any (it wasn't a very big search though). There seemed to be several popular choices that were just under this scale. So for a bit I went to a strange smaller scale (I'm not sure what it would have worked out to, and don't want to do the math right now). But after doing the reading of archives, and actually thinking about little hands being able to reach in, etc., we ended up on 1:12. We will still probably go towards furniture and dolls that are just below that scale, but the house will be built to accomodate the wide variety of toys that will hopefully be used with it (my sister's dollhouse saw home to small dolls, barbies, star wars figures, transformers, hotwheels, and so on). There is part of me that really wants to make this a "real" house ... with realistic sized rooms, stairs, etc. But I've moved somewhat beyond that. The ceilings will be 12", and the depth will be 12". Width probably about 36". I still would like there to be access between all rooms, but I may in the end decide against that. I do want stairs, though. Any suggestions on how to make the stairs work (12" up, 12" depth)? We also do plan to have a bathroom. I plan to put the whole thing on a 'foundation' which will have a drawer built in. We plan on very little decorating ... a little because of timing but mostly to allow our daughter to have a role in decorating the house how she wants. From reading, it seems that 3/8" plywood is the way to go for sturdiness. With the size indicated above, will this be too heavy? I plan to do just a one slope roof ... but may wait on that until the end, and if time permits make a peak. Also, time permitting, I want to do the tile roof. Windows will be empty holes (maybe with trim). For a playhouse, I just don't think anything is needed to represent the glass. I'm about ready to dive in. If you made it this far, any thoughts on the above or suggestions as I move ahead would be appreciated! Thanks! -Robert |
Ads |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
"robert stephens" wrote in message m... Howdy! So, I'm going to build a dollhouse for my 5 year old (will be 6 just after Christmas) daughter for Christmas. I want to build from scratch, partially because I really enjoy the design part of the building, and because I do want it to be something _I_ made. Also, this is something my dad did for my sister when we were young. I want it to be a play doll house, but one that she can grow with, and has elements beyond just being a box for the dolls' home. Of course, our currently 3 year old son will likely play with it too, and we will have another child in January. Sturdiness is important. I'll admit to not having done a lot of research, yet. I've been watching the group for a short while. I did some googling about this newsgroup's archives, read the FAQ, and did some searching on the net (the net searching was really hardly frutiful ... there was SO MUCH out there on miniatures ... not surprising, but I was not successful at refining my searches). So one thing that I could use is suggestions of a book or two for someone tackling the project I am tackling. My current plan (and some of the reasoning behind it): Fairly simple 3 story (two and attic level), 1 room deep house. Open from the "front". I am planning on having large hinged doors that can "shut" the house to make it actually look like a house, although I would guess that for 99% of the dollhouse's life, these doors will be open. Style - Spanish (I sat down with my daughter and we looked at a lot of different style houses, and Spanish was the style she chose) I think it is a lot easier than Victorian, which was her second choice. I also think that it is a style that she could modify in the future. Mostly, it means that doors and windows will be arched, and some "windows" will be stylistic. Also, some half-columns separating the kitchen/dining room, and hopefully a stucco outer wall. Scale - 1:12. This is where my wife and I have had the most talks. First, we were looking at playscale, because chances are barbies will be used in the dollhouse at some point. However, I prefer to not focus on the barbies, so we moved to 1:12. Then we looked for dolls that fit this scale, and we didn't really find any (it wasn't a very big search though). There seemed to be several popular choices that were just under this scale. So for a bit I went to a strange smaller scale (I'm not sure what it would have worked out to, and don't want to do the math right now). But after doing the reading of archives, and actually thinking about little hands being able to reach in, etc., we ended up on 1:12. We will still probably go towards furniture and dolls that are just below that scale, but the house will be built to accomodate the wide variety of toys that will hopefully be used with it (my sister's dollhouse saw home to small dolls, barbies, star wars figures, transformers, hotwheels, and so on). There is part of me that really wants to make this a "real" house ... with realistic sized rooms, stairs, etc. But I've moved somewhat beyond that. The ceilings will be 12", and the depth will be 12". Width probably about 36". I still would like there to be access between all rooms, but I may in the end decide against that. I do want stairs, though. Any suggestions on how to make the stairs work (12" up, 12" depth)? We also do plan to have a bathroom. I plan to put the whole thing on a 'foundation' which will have a drawer built in. We plan on very little decorating ... a little because of timing but mostly to allow our daughter to have a role in decorating the house how she wants. From reading, it seems that 3/8" plywood is the way to go for sturdiness. With the size indicated above, will this be too heavy? I plan to do just a one slope roof ... but may wait on that until the end, and if time permits make a peak. Also, time permitting, I want to do the tile roof. Windows will be empty holes (maybe with trim). For a playhouse, I just don't think anything is needed to represent the glass. I'm about ready to dive in. If you made it this far, any thoughts on the above or suggestions as I move ahead would be appreciated! Thanks! -Robert |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Scale - 1:12. This is where my wife and I have had the most talks.
First, we were looking at playscale, because chances are barbies will be used in the dollhouse at some point. However, I prefer to not focus on the barbies, so we moved to 1:12. Then we looked for dolls that fit this scale, and we didn't really find any (it wasn't a very big search though). There seemed to be several popular choices that were just under this scale. So for a bit I went to a strange smaller scale (I'm not sure what it would have worked out to, and don't want to do the math right now). But after doing the reading of archives, and actually thinking about little hands being able to reach in, etc., we ended up on 1:12. We will still probably go towards furniture and dolls that are just below that scale, but the house will be built to accomodate the wide variety of toys that will hopefully be used with it (my sister's dollhouse saw home to small dolls, barbies, star wars figures, transformers, hotwheels, and so on). We do 1:12 scale dolls, furniture and accessories that have all been safety tested for children (CE in Europe, ASTM in the US) over 3 years of age. http://www.dollshouse.com/asp/junior.asp?siteID=US Hope this is useful to you and good luck getting this ready in time for xmas... Paul http://www.dollshouse.com |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Carol-
Am I missing something in your reply below, or was this an accidental send? -Robert Carol wrote: "robert stephens" wrote in message m... Howdy! So, I'm going to build a dollhouse for my 5 year old (will be 6 just after Christmas) daughter for Christmas. I want to build from scratch, partially because I really enjoy the design part of the building, and because I do want it to be something _I_ made. Also, this is something my dad did for my sister when we were young. I want it to be a play doll house, but one that she can grow with, and has elements beyond just being a box for the dolls' home. Of course, our currently 3 year old son will likely play with it too, and we will have another child in January. Sturdiness is important. I'll admit to not having done a lot of research, yet. I've been watching the group for a short while. I did some googling about this newsgroup's archives, read the FAQ, and did some searching on the net (the net searching was really hardly frutiful ... there was SO MUCH out there on miniatures ... not surprising, but I was not successful at refining my searches). So one thing that I could use is suggestions of a book or two for someone tackling the project I am tackling. My current plan (and some of the reasoning behind it): Fairly simple 3 story (two and attic level), 1 room deep house. Open from the "front". I am planning on having large hinged doors that can "shut" the house to make it actually look like a house, although I would guess that for 99% of the dollhouse's life, these doors will be open. Style - Spanish (I sat down with my daughter and we looked at a lot of different style houses, and Spanish was the style she chose) I think it is a lot easier than Victorian, which was her second choice. I also think that it is a style that she could modify in the future. Mostly, it means that doors and windows will be arched, and some "windows" will be stylistic. Also, some half-columns separating the kitchen/dining room, and hopefully a stucco outer wall. Scale - 1:12. This is where my wife and I have had the most talks. First, we were looking at playscale, because chances are barbies will be used in the dollhouse at some point. However, I prefer to not focus on the barbies, so we moved to 1:12. Then we looked for dolls that fit this scale, and we didn't really find any (it wasn't a very big search though). There seemed to be several popular choices that were just under this scale. So for a bit I went to a strange smaller scale (I'm not sure what it would have worked out to, and don't want to do the math right now). But after doing the reading of archives, and actually thinking about little hands being able to reach in, etc., we ended up on 1:12. We will still probably go towards furniture and dolls that are just below that scale, but the house will be built to accomodate the wide variety of toys that will hopefully be used with it (my sister's dollhouse saw home to small dolls, barbies, star wars figures, transformers, hotwheels, and so on). There is part of me that really wants to make this a "real" house ... with realistic sized rooms, stairs, etc. But I've moved somewhat beyond that. The ceilings will be 12", and the depth will be 12". Width probably about 36". I still would like there to be access between all rooms, but I may in the end decide against that. I do want stairs, though. Any suggestions on how to make the stairs work (12" up, 12" depth)? We also do plan to have a bathroom. I plan to put the whole thing on a 'foundation' which will have a drawer built in. We plan on very little decorating ... a little because of timing but mostly to allow our daughter to have a role in decorating the house how she wants. From reading, it seems that 3/8" plywood is the way to go for sturdiness. With the size indicated above, will this be too heavy? I plan to do just a one slope roof ... but may wait on that until the end, and if time permits make a peak. Also, time permitting, I want to do the tile roof. Windows will be empty holes (maybe with trim). For a playhouse, I just don't think anything is needed to represent the glass. I'm about ready to dive in. If you made it this far, any thoughts on the above or suggestions as I move ahead would be appreciated! Thanks! -Robert |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
"robert stephens" wrote in message news:5Pjdd.16280 Carol- Am I missing something in your reply below, or was this an accidental send? I had a keyboard spasm. I'd hoped that no one would notice. Carol |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
I suggest you go with playscale for kids that young. It's going to be
awhile in your household before you can stop worrying about swallowing teeny tiny miniatures if you do the 1/12 scale. I dislike Barbie too, but I really like Ginny dolls by Vogue & they use 1/6 scale. You can find Ginny Sasson dolls on Ebay for about $10.00. Kathy robert stephens wrote in message om... Howdy! So, I'm going to build a dollhouse for my 5 year old (will be 6 just after Christmas) daughter for Christmas. I want to build from scratch, partially because I really enjoy the design part of the building, and because I do want it to be something _I_ made. Also, this is something my dad did for my sister when we were young. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Kathy wrote: I suggest you go with playscale for kids that young. It's going to be awhile in your household before you can stop worrying about swallowing teeny tiny miniatures if you do the 1/12 scale. I dislike Barbie too, but I really like Ginny dolls by Vogue & they use 1/6 scale. You can find Ginny Sasson dolls on Ebay for about $10.00. Kathy Thanks. I ended up going with the 1/12 scale. We're going to have to worry about the swallow everything problem regardless, unfortunately. I also ended up going with 1/2" birch plywood (so it is going to be heavy). I wanted to use 3/8", but all that I could find was either in too small of sheets or was not finished. On the plus side, the shell and inner walls are done (well, doors and windows need to be cut). It's on hold for the moment, as we are taking a trip, but I expect December to be a busy month. -Robert |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
If you make the interior walls so they can slide out later, when she's
older, you can use foamcore or gatorboard for the interior walls & install lights, decorate, etc. Also if you make your door & window openings to fit standard sizes of Houseworks (or other) components & seal the edges, you can leave them for her to move her dolls through now & install the components later, so that the house can "grow" with her changing tastes & maturing appreciation for miniatures. "robert stephens" wrote I ended up going with the 1/12 scale. We're going to have to worry about the swallow everything problem regardless, unfortunately. I also ended up going with 1/2" birch plywood (so it is going to be heavy). I wanted to use 3/8", but all that I could find was either in too small of sheets or was not finished. On the plus side, the shell and inner walls are done (well, doors and windows need to be cut). It's on hold for the moment, as we are taking a trip, but I expect December to be a busy month. -Robert |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|