Dolls house

My Dad built a dolls house for me when I was young. It was finished when I was a little old to enjoy playing with it with dolls, but I had fun decorating it and using it as my 'first home' to experiment with! I was always into doing crafts and making things when I was young.

The dolls house has been sitting at my Mum's since I left home, tucked away in a dusty storage space in my old bedroom. When we moved back I knew that I wanted to revive it and let Lucy play with it. It was a little worse for wear so I have redecorated some of the rooms, repainted and repaired, and also bought some more furniture to fill some of the rooms that were either neglected or the furniture had seen better days.

The kitchen with new furniture and a new 'tiled' floor

(thanks to a free sample of kitchen wallpaper from Focus DIY!)

The sitting room with new flooring which I found in a dolls house supply catalogue.

You can't see it too clearly but I cut out a photo of a

fire burning in a fireplace to insert into the wood fire surround. The furniture was a set I bought in Harrods when I was a child.

I've had a lot of fun working on it and sourcing bits and pieces for it, and Lucy is LOVING playing with it. I really think it is one of her favourite toys at the moment. She loves arranging the furniture and putting the dolls to bed, making them dinner and sitting them in front of the fire. Yesterday I got out a bag of tiny weeny goodies that I played with as a child - miniature knives and forks, plates, cups and food. They are so tiny I can barely hold them, but Lucy is doing a great job of laying them out and playing house with them.

The nursery and 'Mummy' as Lucy calls the doll who is standing over a baby in the cradle :)

The parents room

It's lovely to see the house being used again and to see Lucy acting out the things that we do in real life on a daily basis. This is the perfect age for a dolls house for her and I am glad we were able to reuse an old family gem!

Chez Lucy in miniature