Playing with dolls has never gotten out of fashion. Children around the world still find enjoyment in it, and part of the experience is having a place for their dollies to call home. While one can go to the toy store to buy a dollhouse for their little girl, one might also like to know how to build a dollhouse on their own.
Before one begins how to build a dollhouse, one should determine how the house will be used. What is meant by this is that one should decide whether the dollhouse will be merely a display piece or an actual playset for children to play with. How the dollhouse will be made and what materials to make it from will depend on the purpose it was designed for.
One should also consider the dollhouse’s scale. Nearly all miniatures have a scale of 1/12; that is, 1” per 1’. Since this happens to be the accepted and apparently standard scale, a wide range of accessories and furnishings come in this size. However, a 1/12 scale would not be suitable if the house to be built is meant for 15”-tall dolls.
Another important factor to mull over is the dollhouse’s size and shape. A 1-storey, single-room cottage would be the simplest dollhouse design type that a beginner can attempt to build. If one opts to go for a more elaborate design, there are numerous styles that one can choose from, from a model Victorian mansion to a miniature medieval castle.
The first actual step in how to build a dollhouse is to sketch a pattern of the dollhouse type that one intends to build. If one decides to go with the simpler cottage type, the design would be made up of at least six basic pieces; namely, the base or foundation, 3 walls (the 4th wall being typically left open), and 2 roof pieces. The holes for the doors and the windows are marked, and the scale of the dollhouse should be taken into consideration.
In purchasing the wood to be used in building the dollhouse, 3/4” plywood would make for a good solid foundation, and 3/8” would be adequate for the roof and the walls. The wood should be marked according to the drawn pattern, after which the wood is cut accordingly (using a circular saw for this would be efficient).The holes for the doors and windows are cut out as well.
The edges of the wooden dollhouse pieces must be smoothed with sandpaper. The pieces are then assembled; using nails and wood glue, the walls are attached to the base as well as to each other, and then attaching the roof in the same manner. With assembly finally complete, apply sandpaper once more, this time over the nails. One may paint the dollhouse afterwards if they wish.
Dolls are loved not just by the children who play with them, but also by adults who collect them either out of fascination or nostalgia for their youthful days. Wherever one’s inclinations may lie, the dollhouse serves as a stage for dolls to exist in a world of their own. And when one knows how to build a dollhouse of their very own, they can give that world their own personal touch.
