Not everyone plans to play with their dollhouse—sometimes the real fun is building and picking out the tiny furnishings. But whether you’re creating a dollhouse for play...or arranging dolls to bring the space to life, it can be tricky to figure out which size doll pairs best with your house.
When choosing a doll type or size first decide if you want to create a realistic scene - or a more whimsical one. Creating a house inhabited by a family of mice gives you freedom to mix and match scales and more flexibility to use out of scale dolls and accessories. If you’re designing a house with the intention of sticking strictly to 1:12 scale...you may want to choose a doll around 5-6 inches tall with proportional features.
Once you have a basic idea of the overall feel of your house - and whether or not the house is intended for play, there's a wide variety of brand name dolls in various scales. While proportionately Tiny Maileg Mice may not be an exact match for 1:12 scale, their smaller size fits well in a 1:12 scale house. Calico Critters (Sylvanian Families) are shorter in height and are often used in houses ranging in scale from 1:12-1:16. Lundby dolls, based on 1:18 scale are more realistic and work well with accessories and furniture in that scale
A Calico Critter family of cats inhabits this townhouse filled mostly with 1:12 scale furniture and accessories.
Whimsical mini scenes come to life when you toss aside the constraints of scale, allowing your imagination and creativity to flow. Compared to the house and accessories some dolls may appear oversized or out of proportion...but when creating a magical dollhouse there are no rules to follow!