86'n It

Because then Franca would find out about her birthday present. I'm going to renovate my old dollhouse for her! I always thought my Dad made this for me, but my mom is saying that my Grandfather did!
We are currently hiding it in the storage room. She doesn't even know it exists. Here it is in it's sad state. I really played the bejeezus out of this thing when I was little.

I'm thinking of adding some windows and doors, new carpet and painted floors, new wall paint and furniture. I think I'll buy the bathroom and kitchen sets and then try to make the rest. I used to be very handy at whipping up furniture for this little place, so I'd like to retry my hand as an adult. I'm also going to go pretty sparse on the furnishings in case she too wants to built and add more later.

Here's a basic bath set I found.

 I've been looking for inspiration and haven't had too much luck. There are TONS of modern dollhouses out there but they are of the omg-don't-touch-that-let-alone-play-with-it variety. (Sorry, I can't spend $120 on a modern dollhouse sofa!) There are also lots of VERY traditional looking dollhouses and furniture out there. Now, while I don't expect Franca to develop a love for an Eames mini chair,  I also don't think she needs to play with wingbacks and a fainting couch.

While I'm putting it all out there, I'm also not a big fan of plastic furniture for this type of dollhouse. For the Barbie dollhouse, yes, rock that big plastic bubble chair. When I was a kid my favorite part of this dollhouse was that it seemed so much more real than the rest of my plastic toys. The baby highchair was brass! The dresser was wood! I think at some point I had little ceramic plates. It was like my own, real little world.

That's all to say, I think I'll go for a style similar to what I like but softened and fun. Here's my plan for room layout, and because this blog is called 86n' It,  little demo.

If you know of any awesome "modern" kid friendly dollhouses or dollhouse furniture please leave me a comment!

Thanks!