I love this house ... but over the course of 47 years, it's travelled cross-country twice, been papered, painted, repainted, and even housed a cat...so there's plenty of cleanup and demolition to tackle. I’m almost four months into my New Year's resolution project, and with everyday life it's been hard to make progress, but even spring cleaning a dollhouse feels inspiring and refreshing and I can't wait to give the musty old house a fresh new feel!
The rooms in the house are in various stages of completion, but I wanted to show the overall condition and some of my favorite parts before I start tearing out the old in preparation for the new.
I remember picking out this wallpaper and I loved it so much! Over the years the glue really yellowed the paper (the background used to be as white as the window trim). But the windows are still in great shape.
The house has been in our basement for years and our cat loved the cozy tight spaces. Thankfully, the floor in the bathroom is in decent shape and will probably be one of the few things in the house I'll keep. The tiny toilet paper roll just makes me smile!
I'm sure there have been major advancements in dollhouse lighting since the 80's, but as a 13-year-old I found copper tape nothing but frustrating (even though I mostly stood by and watched as my dad did all the work). I remember long afternoons fiddling with the tape and celebrating like it was a miracle when one light would flicker! Working lights really up the magic of a dollhouse, but there has to be an easier way to bring the lights to life. In the meantime, this copper tape has got to go.
More cat hair, peeling wallpaper and copper tape. And I can't believe in 40+ years there are parts of the house (living room) I haven't even touched yet!
At this point I haven't quite made the progress I was hoping to, but I'm still motivated to get in there with my scraper and a tiny dumpster so be sure to follow along as I work on this very sentimental project. You can also checkout my Instagram for more updates and progress photos.