Hubby and I just finished of our first major creative project together (since getting married) on Friday and it is already in the hands of its new owner. We were pleased with how the end project turned out though there were times that I think one or both of us worried we would not get it done on time.
The piece was a dollhouse commissioned by a friend of a friend of my mom. I admit we really should not have taken on the job as we have several other projects on the go. There is no way of getting out of a job that you received through your mother's praising you up to her friends though.
The requirements for the piece were that it was to be solid wood, at least 4 foot tall, doors to close it all up after playtime. Our budget was $500.
Due to Covid lumber prices have skyrocketed and a single sheet of plywood rose to $90 and we were going to need several.
We flip allot of things on Facebook marketplace and I happened to see a post for a hutch. It was perfect. At $40 the price was certainly right.
The first thing we did when we brought it home was carefully remove the glass shelves and mirrored backing. There were also some pot lights which we needed to take out.We initially thought we would keep the doors on and work with them but it was not long until we decided they were not going to work for our idea.
I remembered seeing a post on Pinterest where the lady flipped the hutch upside down to make a farmhouse cabinet. My husband was skeptical but after some discussion we decided to give it a try. Voila, we had a lovely base for the house.
My husband is a carpenter by trade so I just let him do his thing taking out the wine rack and putting in new wooden shelves. Initially we were going to put just a single peaked roof over the entire piece but inspiration struck and I asked James to cut off the top section making it two levels at the top. I thought the two seperate levels would make the roof more interesting. Once the piece was removed we suddenly realized it was the perfect place for a garden terrace for Barbie to relax on.
Once the basic shape was established Hubby built a roof for the highest surface, and large plywood doors for the two living areas. The doors swing from the centre out so that they are out of the way during playtime. He used 3 small hinges on each door just be sure that they would remain in place for many years.
The customer was purchasing this house for her 18th and final grandchild as a gift for her 6th birthday. She told us that each of the grandchildren had received a special handmade wooden toy. You know I love that kind of thing. As part of the gift the family had been collecting little pieces of carpet and bits of wallpaper from their own renovations so we were only decorating the outside of the house and priming the inside.
We had a choice of the little girl's 2 favourite colours, purple or pink. We went with a Fushia Pink in Behr flat acrylic paint. The roof was painted black with a can of tremclad glossy black. We primed all the surfaces with a water based primer.
The window grates were made by cutting up a white basket from dollartree. After the windows were cut out to size we used gorilla glue to attach them to the wood.
After the final coat of paint (which took 2 full coats and then some touchups) I applied some cardstock stickers that I had in my craft stash using decor art decoupage glue which dries clear and matte.
The front windows, door and porch were all painted on using lots of 3M painters tape and Folkart Acrylic paints. It did take several coats to cover the fushia paint.
BONUS
We made some furnishings before we realized the family was decorating the interior. Here is quick list of some of our creations. We used only Dollartree materials.
1. The swimming pool was made from one of the plastic containers with blue transparent lid and some acrylic paint.
2. We used one of their Jot stationary organizers covered with marble contact paper for the counter and put it on a cabinet base made of Dollartree Jenga pieces.
3. The rooftop garden was made using one of the clear acrylic makeup organizers, some cut up scrubbing sponges, and random small floral stems.
4. The bathtub was made of a plastic drawer organizing basket with the grey grip on the bottom. I used hot glue to attach foam board as a base and then used the tiny self adhesive mirror tiles in hot pink to cover the two outside walls.
4. My favourite creation was the toilet which we made using the small flip top jars. You get 2 in a pack and I just got hubby to cut the threaded neck off one to turn upside down for the tank, the other was perfect with the lid opening and closing like a real toilet seat. We spray painted these white to look like porcelain.
5. The final piece was the fridge, made from a clear acrylic storage container with 3 sections. I used electrical tape down one side to hold it together when it is opened and closed and the we spray painted the entire thing white.
We are really excited to find out how the birthday girl liked the dollhouse. Putting it all together turned out to be a really fun project.
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