Decorating the Dollhouse

 My French Dollhouse, The Petite Maison, is a work in progress. 
The exterior is looking so much more French now!

This is the dollhouse how I found it at the consignment shop. 
It was nicely built from plywood, with the exterior painted, but not much else.
When I saw it, I thought the roofline looked very French, and I could modify the
house to give it that Frenchy look. I also knew I needed to replace the railing system
that was on the little roof deck area.  

( Inspiration: a real French Chateau)
Notice the roofline, which is similar to my dollhouse.

A big part is accessorizing the dollhouse interior to give it the French flavor

 with  rustic yet fancy, shabby and cottage, 

and of course luxe elements that I dream up in my head.

 The more I add to a room, the better it looks, yet dollhouse decorating (for me)

runs a fine line of being cluttered and too much if one overdoes it.

The salon (living room) is feeling quite nice now, with the lived in details

of a tote bag with magazines, some flowers on the table, a candelabra with pretty 

little shades that give the room extra dose of personality. 

 An old piece of lace, trimmed to be a mantel scarf over the marble,

some flowers and a vase, magazines on tabletops, these are the little

details that make a mini house a real looking home.

 This brass candelabra is a common one that many miniaturists buy, as it

is affordable. I darkened mine up to look tarnished, then I made some shades

to turn it into a lamp. This is the pattern I created to make shades. I add the glue to the tab

section when I attach it.  

Curling the shade pattern around a pencil helps to give it a rounded

dispostion which is helpful too. I cut up a gift bag that had pretty patterns and used the 

checkered part to make the gingham look I wanted. Then I stuffed a little piece of 

packing peanut foam inside the shade so it could sit on top of the candle and not fall.

 It looked so charming on the vintage bombe chest I found on Etsy.

 After I made the shades, I tried to make hatboxes using the same gift bag paper.

These little things are hard for me to make, and I imagine it will get easier.  

They add the old fashioned details I want for the bedrooms, and I will be making more.

 There is much to do, and the house is evolving.  I found some pieces at

a thrift shop, and added them to the "music room".  A very nice white 

overstuffed sofa, and some mahogany pieces, that will be customized to

fit my style.  I am obsessed with working on the house, and am getting much

pleasure creating and finding things for my Petite Maison.

Winter has finally arrived with an arctic blast and snow and ice....

The nice thing about dollhouse decorating is one can stay inside and 

survive the long winter quite happily!