The Dollhouse--Part One

My little girl loves dollhouses and miniatures---loves loves loves them. And I can get behind that, no problem. One of my favorite books as a kid was Colleen Moore's Dollhouse. I would pore over that book for hours, imagining I was a wee little person wandering through the rooms. When we got a copy of that book into the auction house several months ago (autographed, no less!) I showed it to Esther and she was riveted. She talked about that book for weeks! I bought it for her on the sly and hid it away for her next birthday. A friend and regular bidder at our auctions noticed my purchasing of the book and asked why. I mentioned Esther and he said he had something I should take a look at. It turns out that his mother built dollhouses and miniature rooms, and he had a huge dollhouse that she had built in 1963. No one in the family was interested in keeping it and he wondered if maybe Esther might like it.

I think I shrieked "Yes!" before the words were completely out of his mouth. He said,"Um, don't you want to see it first? You might want to see it first. It's a bit of a project."

Well, suffice to say, it WAS a bit of a project and consumed me (and my husband) for more than a month. But it's awesome! For a 12 pack of beer I got a huge fabulous dollhouse!

Day One

Ricky and I moved the house into the basement and set up a sort of work space. I started cleaning the house that afternoon. It had been in storage a long time and smelled a bit like mice and must.

The bathroom

A spooky glimpse at the dining room

The attic

The next day I began ripping out torn and stained wallpaper and priming the walls. We have a lot of house paint left over from our own house's renovations and projects, so that came in quite handy.

I had only a month to get the house together in time for Esther's 7th birthday.

Stay tuned for part deux!