Away we go!!

[AllDolledUp4Maria]

Hi All, this is Dave in San Antonio!    Looking for pointers on how to help my wife get into this fun hobby.   She mentioned a while back that she always wanted a dollhouse as a little girl and never had one.    She’s an interior designer and stylist now and I think it would be great to reacquaint her with her childhood wish!

  I’m looking for the basics to get her started and want to get her something she can enjoy but also build upon.  My hope is that this will bring her lots of enjoyment through the constant search for new furnishings and decor, etc.  At this point, I know nothing and I’m looking forward to getting assistance from all the friendly people on this forum!!!

[KathieB]

Hi, David, and welcome to the forum. Your enthusiasm is infectious.  However, I'm not clear on exactly what journey you are ready to set out upon and what you expect the process to look like.  Have you talked about this with your wife? Is she excited to build a dollhouse or does she want a dollhouse to decorate?

To build a dollhouse from a kit or from scratch takes a lot of time, energy, and a certain amount of passion as well as the patience to learn a variety of skills. Your wife's childhood wish to have and decorate a dollhouse may not be synonymous with a wish to build one. Unless she has expressed an interest in the building process, or unless you are ready to do the building for her, you may be better off searching eBay, Craigslist and similar for one that is already built.

If you are prepared to do the building with stylistic input from her, take a look at the Greenleaf dollhouse kits-- and let her choose the style that appeals to her. You may also want to consider beginning with a room box -- easy to build and fun for her to decorate in a particular style.

Whatever your approach, keep us in the loop. We are here to help!

[havanaholly]

Welcome to the little family, David.  My hubs got me hooked into building and finishing dollhouses when he first built one from scratch (this one by E J Tangerman) for the eldest granddaughter and I helped.  The next thing I knew I had a Dura-Craft San Franciscan (the SF555) that I built to keep sane during Nursing School, that also went to the same grand daughter when finished.  By then I was hooked, and shortly after I was invited to join this group.  KathieB's suggestions are spot on; you and your wife figure out what she wants, exactly, and go from there.

[AllDolledUp4Maria]

All of this is super helpful!!!   So it sounds like all the houses require some level of construction or I can get her a room kit.   I’m guessing the pictures I’ve seen are of suggested paint finishes etc., since they look “done” when I’m shopping the green leaf site.  I think she’s honestly gonna love the idea of building it herself.  Knowing that there is probably a learning curve, any recommendations on a good first build?  I’m super excited to maybe help now too!!!

[havanaholly]

17 minutes ago, AllDolledUp4Maria said:

...any recommendations on a good first build?  I’m super excited to maybe help now too!!!

The Orchid is a good first house.  It has a bay window, gable and dormers.  I built one to be a general store with family living quarters upstairs:

[AllDolledUp4Maria]

How much does the scale matter? Not sure how to decide? Will it have an impact on the availability of furniture? Is a particular scale more popular?

[havanaholly]

Most ready-made furniture comes in 1:12 scale (1" = 1') and it's really easy to reduce 1:1 scale dimensions to 1:12 (as I learned when making my own furniture "from scratch").  That said, I also made most all of the  furniture in my 1:24 Fairfields by reducing 1:12 furniture patterns in half.  My favorite mini furniture artisan, as everyone here knows, is Ferd Sobol, and his gorgeous pieces are 1:12 scale.  Our own member Keith makes exquisite modern 1:12 pieces, and Joel Axenroth, another of our members, makes beautiful 1:12 Craftsman furniture.