The Bungalow Dollhouse and Through a Doll's Eyes

This is a project that was inspired by early 20th century American bungalows. I’ve set it, however, in the present day.
Bungalow was featured in the Spanish miniatures magazine Miniaturas. Pictures of the Bungalow's dining room and bathroom miniature murals illustrated an article I wrote for the U.K.'s The Dolls'House Magazine.

The plants and shrubs surrounding the Bungalow were made from artificial flowers. I took quite a few artificial sprays apart, sometimes taking leaves from one and combining them with flowers or parts of flowers from another. The low growing plants were made from reindeer moss and Great Stuff insulating foam from a spray can. I sprayed foam on a sheet of plastic, and when it was dry, I sliced the pieces thinly, shaped them as desired, then painted them. I used a mixture of dried, used tea leaves and coffee grounds for the mulch. The result looked very like the mulch in my own garden.

Clay bricks were used for the bottom of the posts and the walks. I sometimes prefer to peel the bricks off their backing, placing them closely together, not using any “mortar”. I wanted my bricks to be a bit redder in color, so I painted them.


Here you see a closeup of the porch. I designed the plant stand, and again, the plants in it were made from “silk” plants I had purchased.

I also carved a tree panel for the front door. The knocker was made from a piece of an earring.
The Bungalow’s “garden” was built on 3 movable pieces of plywood. The side pieces had to be movable so that the Bungalow’s side walls could be removed to reveal the interior. These side walls are carefully fitted and are held on with magnets.
Here you can see both sides of the interior.


THE LIVING ROOM

The living room walls were painted using a pouncing technique with a fat stencil brush.

The houseplants were all made from artificial plants from the craft store.

The rug is a floor cloth I painted, the Southwest vases are beads.
The blinds were made of cardstock.

THE DINING ROOM

The dining room was one of the first rooms I visualized when planning the Bungalow. That was fortunate, as it’s much easier to paint a miniature mural on the walls before they’re up and glued together.

Here's a view from the dining room into the living room.

By the way, the lovely silver vase is a bead from a craft shop.
THE KITCHEN

We had recently remodeled our kitchen, and I decided to use the same colors in the Bungalow kitchen as I had in my real one. The walls are painted with leftover kitchen paint. The upper cabinets were made from the upper halves of those unpainted Michael’s cabinets. The cabinet over the range was made from the lower half of one of those same cupboards, as was the shelf on the opposite wall. I made the refrigerator, stove and lower cabinets myself. The counter is made of basswood, covered with several coats of paint, sanded between coats til it was smooth and shiny. The ceiling lamp was made from a bead and a clear plastic suction cup.

The floor cloth was inspired by a painting by Monet.

Here's a nice doll's eye view of the kitchen. the cabinet knobs are small copper tacks. I drilled tiny holes, then tapped the tacks in.

Here's a view of the other side of the kitchen.

This is what you'd see if you were a tiny doll peering through the window.
THE LIBRARY

The carpet in the library is another of my painted creations, as is the painting on the wall.

The desk lamp was made from a suction cup and a bead, the vase was a cap from a throat spray.
THE BEDROOM

I had purchased a sweet little bedroom group, the armoir and the corner of the bed are visible in this photo, but the set did not include a dresser. Fortunately, I found another little bedroom group, and painted the dresser with ivy to match the set I already had.
The silver perfume bottles are made from plastic beads, while the glass bottle happens to be an actual perfume stopper.
The rose arrangement came from a local antique shop, and the suitcase was from a child’s playset.

Here you see the other side of the bedroom.
I painted the watercolors on the back wall, and framed them. The “glass” covering the paintings was cut from a piece of clear plastic packaging.

Here's a closeup of the 2 paintings.

If you were a little doll, this is what you'd see if you were peering down the stairs!

THE BATHROOM

The last room to be completed was the bathroom. I had a hard time visualizing what I wanted until I ran across a Blue Willow pattern inspired soap dish. I felt that it would make the perfect bathtub, and from it the rest of the bathroom was born.
I used another of those inexpensive unpainted cupboards to make the linen cabinet, painting it to compliment the tub. After finishing that, I decided to paint a monochromatic mural.
I admit, I was stumped on what to do about the faucets for the tub. I didn’t like any of the ideas I came up with until I struck upon the ledge.

Here's the other side of the bathroom.

Introducing Doll Frobisher, owner of the bungalow.
Everyone thinks Doll is short for Dolly, but Doll was named Dolley, after former First Lady, Dolley Madison, wife President James Madison.

Doll is quite proud of her lovely home, and has taken photos of the interior, so that you can see it exactly the way she does.














Doll’s porch is a lovely place upon which to pass an idle hour, where it's forever springtime.





























This is the view from the side porch step, where Doll was standing.










And here we're getting a peek through the back window, into the kitchen.




















And here’s the view looking towards that same window.
















Standing in the kitchen, looking towards the shadowy dining room.




















In the dining room now, looking out through the window.

















Standing by the dining room window, looking toward the living room.And in the doorway, looking back at the dining room. Uh-oh, someone forgot to dust the dining room table.




It’s dark beyond the living room front window, yet the sun is shining from the side of the house. How annoying it must be to have big people moving your house around.





















Sometimes the afternoon sun comes through the front windows, sometimes the back window, you just never know where to put your plants.





Moving around to the library, do you ever wonder if dolls are miffed that a wall might be missing its baseboard? It does mess up the room’s symmetry when you’re looking at it from the inside, doesn’t it?







We’ve reached the top of the stairs now, and are looking down towards the front door.







And here’s a view standing in the bedroom looking towards the bathroom doorway.

We’re sorry, but that’s the end of the tour. Doll didn’t have time to tidy up and didn't want you to see the mess.