New Poll for April on the Greenleaf Home Page

[Mini Man]

I just changed the poll on the home page (sorry for the delay). If you have a second, please pop over to vote.

Thanks again to our official pollster, KathieB, for coming up with another interesting poll!

Dean

[MiniMadWoman]

Hmmm . . . good question . . . I'm somewhere between the 'very picky' and the 'not so important'. If it's a piece I love I'd just live with it, if it weren't exactly to scale, but it couldn't be THAT noticeable.

[Shy Spirit]

I voted that the scale is very important - because the question was about "your" dollhouse.

In my personal dollhouse/mini scenes, scale is of the utmost importance. I want my miniature world to look as "believable" as possible - even when it's a fantasy setting. I may stretch the limit on occasion, but it would be the exception to the rule so to speak.

I believe that dollhouses for children can be more flexible, as children are not usually all that worried about such details as scale. (Within reason.)

[chesterfieldzoo]

Very few dollhouses are in scale (the orchid is about 500 square feet irl) Who has a house that small unless it is a cabin? I have seen apartments that small. I think that as long as it looks ok, that's good enough. I have been to houses that have furniture that dwarfs a room (too big) and furniture too small for a room and never heard anyone say it looked fake. I like my stuff to look good, but it doesn't always have to be perfect. However, I am impressed with people who spend years getting everything just perfect.

[Peggi]

I chose not so important but it is really more to do with the scene you're working with. Some things look ok and unless its way to big or small not to many people will know (hopefully).

[bmatson]

Maybe it's just my perfectionism speaking, but I think that it is important to have your house be scale throughout; to have a more "uniform" approach. Someone mentioned earlier about the Orchid house itself not being to scale compared to real life. I don't think that's as important as having all your decorating to scale. Like I said, it just seems to make everything go together that much more. However, with this being said, I am a perfectionist and I have seen other beautiful work from things that maybe aren't exactly to scale, but it looks phenomenal anyway.

[doogster]

I voted not so important. For 1 reason, ever see a 1/12th scale car? Or a dollhouse with a garage? There's no way anything other than a Beetle or a Mini at 1/12th would go into ANY dollhouse garage. A 1/12th Lamborghini Gallardo wouldn't even fit, and that's a tiny car. My Intrigue at 1 foot to 1 inch would be 16 inches long, my Bro's 1980 Trans Am would be 18" long. Ever see an 18" long garage in a dollhouse? A true 1" garage should be about 24" long. Amazing as it sounds both those cars do actually fit into our real garages. If the houses aint to scale, why get all bent about the dressings? Most dioramas I've seen use 1/18th scale cars, and they look fine.

[havanaholly]

Good point about the kits not being to scale, but I do like the items in them to be in scale with one another. Also, when I "scratch" build, it's in 1:12 scale.

[justmesue]

I like items to look real also, that's why I beleive scale is important! If you seen the 3 bedroom townhouse I live in you'd see just how minute real houses can be! lol. It's all in the way you pack in the furniture, when it comes to the smaller dollhouses.

[havanaholly]

Model Railroading has seen a whopping decline, a decline that makes what has gone on with most other crafts like dollhouses look like a BOOM! It's not just the loss of the hobby shops. It has to do with a lot of things, IMHO the word "prototype" and all it's variations has chased people out of the field. At a time when accuracy, and detail, and computer/electronic control of trains is at the greatest it's ever been, the number of new comers is almost nil, and the old timers are dying off. Why?

Possibly the decline in 1:1 railroading may account for it. When I was attending UF I went home for holidays on the passenger train from Waldo. Other than limited commuter service or (lol) Amtrak, you have to go to Europe, Asia or (possibly still) S America to ride rains.

People still live in houses (for the most part), mess with boats and fly planes.

I'm also depressed and discouraged at the decline of brick&morter shops to supply ALL the hobbies (our Hobbytown USA purged their dh minis). I helped open one of the last Lionel Playworld stores before the company went belly-up and we carried more modle railroad supplies than a lot of hobby shops do today!

What encourages me with the younger members who have recently joined the forum is that there are young people who still have the urge to make things with their own hands that occupy time to create and space when completed. That doesn't seem to be one of the values being passed along that much.