Dollhouse Bookcase - DIY Windows and Front Door
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It all started thanks to the inspiration found in my friend, Jen Crider's new book called Amazing Furniture Makeovers. In the book, she shares how she turned the top portion of a china cabinet into an adorable dollhouse. I've been wanting to work on a dollhouse for at least two years and now I've got a perfect motivation, my granddaughter. She's only nine months old so I have some time before it's gifted to her.
A vintage jewelry chest was repurposed for the dollhouse front door. This an exterior shot of the red-painted dollhouse front door. Next month we'll be adding stairs.
And here is an interior view of the front door painted charcoal gray to work with the whitewashed hardwood floors in the living room.
The original glass was replaced with plexiglass, much safer for little hands. The handle from the second door on the vintage jewelry chest was attached to the interior side of the door.
Five plexiglass windows were added to the dollhouse, one for each room. The two bedrooms and dining room windows are the same sizes, the kitchen window is counter height, and the living room window is much taller.
I couldn't resist adding cute little wooden window boxes to the dollhouse.
I think the windows and front door add so much charm to the dollhouse bookcase. There is still so much to do before we get to the furnishings and decor stage.
Before I share how I made the windows, front door, and cute window boxes, let's do a quick recap in case you missed phase one and two.
Phase One Recap - Repurposed IKEA Billy Bookcase Dollhouse
It all started with this IKEA Billy Bookcase found at our local Salvation Army store for $14.99. We repurposed the bookcase into a dollhouse by removing two of the shelves and repurposed them into interior dollhouse walls. The dollhouse then got a fresh coat of paint. Press here to see the steps and tutorial in dollhouse bookcase phase one.Phase Two Recap - New Pitched Roof and Flooring on dollhouse bookcase
In phase two we repurposed dollar store craft sticks into whitewashed hardwood flooring. The kitchen floor is stenciled black and white checkerboard tiles. The second bedroom has pretty decoupaged scrapbook paper floors. We also gave the bookcase more dollhouse charm by adding a pitched roof with trim. Press here to catch up on dollhouse bookcase phase two.So here's how we added a front door and windows to the dollhouse bookcase...
Phase Three - Power tools needed for dollhouse bookcase door and window installation
Four power tools were used to make the openings, a cordless drill, jigsaw, mouse sander, and compound miter saw, but we'll talk more about that further down in the post. You'll also need a full-size hot glue gun with large strong bond hot glue sticks.My daughter borrowed my old jigsaw and I used it as the perfect opportunity to finally buy myself a new one. As my friend Larissa at Prodigal Pieces always says, tools before jewels!
Phase Three - Cutting openings for dollhouse bookcase windows and front door
For the window cuts, we made a template with scrap and marked the center. Then we marked the center of the wall. Next, we found something to use to gauge the height of the window and traced the window outline with a pencil as pictured below.Next, we drilled pilot holes for the jigsaw to pivot around the corners.
For the front door, we repurposed one door from a vintage jewelry chest. The door frame was traced with a pencil on the inside of the dollhouse to accommodate for the height of the floors.
The dollhouse was laid on its side to cut the openings with the jigsaw and a mouse sander with 150-grit pad was used to smooth the cuts.
Plexiglass was cut slightly larger than the window openings and hot glued onto the outside of the dollhouse. That way there is a ledge on the inside of each window. Before the plexiglass was installed, the window frames were painted white.
Small decorative trim cut at 45° angles was glued both to the inside and outside of both the window and door frames. Later they were all painted white, except for the front door.
Phase Three - Dollhouse bookcase window boxes
The dollar store craft sticks used to make the hardwood floors came in handy again to make cute window boxes. Initially, I was going to cut the rounded ends of the sticks to square them up but I took a liking to the shape and decided to leave them as is. They were simply hot glued to MDF blocks. I cut more craft sticks for the sides and hot glued them on the MDF trim as well.Next, I painted the window boxes red with Emperor's Silk chalk paint, the same paint color used on the front door. You don't have to use chalk paint, any craft paint for wood is fine. To add an aged appearance to the window boxes I rubbed dark wax with a lint-free rag.
After the wax was buffed, the window boxes were attached to the dollhouse with hot glue.
Wouldn't you agree the windows and front entry door add such charm to the dollhouse bookcase?
Like I said earlier, there is still so much to do like adding steps to the front door. I'm toying around with ideas for the exterior walls as well. The interior walls will be papered next and baseboards installed.
If you have any questions about this dollhouse series, please leave them in the comment section below or press the Contact Me button at the top of the blog to drop me an email. I love hearing from you!
More Children's Room DIY Ideas
Pink Vintage Student DeskVintage Metal Classroom Desk
Child's Vintage Rocking Chair
DIY Stuffed Animal Zoos
Children's Table & Chair Set
I share my projects at these inspiring link parties.
I bet you are enjoying this project. The most fun we had ever was building the dollhouse for our Grand....and she loves it. This is such a labor of love, can't help but smile!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see the look on my granddaughter's face when it is delivered to her room when it's done. By the time I'm done (have so many plans for this dollhouse) she'll be old enough to play with it. Glad you're enjoying this series Sandi and I appreciate the visits. 😊 Thank you!
DeleteOh Marie, I'm so happy you're doing this series. Love, love, love what you used for the front door. That's brilliant and those window boxes - WOW!!! You put so much thought into the doll's house. Your granddaughter is going to be so excited when its finally finished. I can just picture her playing house for hours. Such a lovely gift
ReplyDeleteThank you Michelle, I'm happy your happy that I'm doing this series! My 4 year old grandson saw it in the workshop when getting new batteries for a toy with Grandpa. He parked himself there for hours and asked if it could be for two kiddos instead of just his little sister. LOL
DeleteThis is totally too cool for school!! Your granddaughter will love it! Super congrats on being rockstar amazing!
ReplyDeleteWell you sure know how to make a gal's day my friend 🤗 My grandson ended up seeing it in the workshop and next thing you know an hour goes by and he's still playing with it. He asked if it could be for two kiddos and not just his little sister. LOL
DeleteI love the bookcase dollhouse. It is adorable and I'm sure any little girl would enjoy having one so open and big to play with! The roof adds so much to the look of a "house" and the window boxes are adorale. This is a true winner!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Barb. It's been such a fun project to work on and I'm flooded with ideas to add to it. Lots more to do before I get to the DIY furniture and home decor stage...but I'm not complaining. 😆
DeleteHow cute is this?? I've been wanting to make a dollhouse for my granddaughter. She is 4 months old so I better get in gear. I love that it is on a bigger scale so you can really get in there and play. Such great ideas! I love the "planked" floors!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Kelly! It's been such a fun project and I have so many ideas for DIY furnishings and decor. I promise, you'll have a blast making one for your granddaughter.
DeleteOooh, that is so cool! And using the jewelry box was genius!!
ReplyDeleteTania
Thank you Tania, means a lot coming from a dollhouse expert, yours is amazing!
DeleteOh how I'd love for my daughter to be young again so I could make her one of these. Brilliant! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Chas 😊 Maybe one day like me, you'll get to make one for a granddaughter!
DeleteI am totally in love with the project. I had to share it with my husband too.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend,
Kippi
Pinning!!!
I'm so glad you like it, Kippi 😊 and you made me smile when you said you shared it with your husband. It's been such a fun project to work on! Thanks for the pin and happy weekend to you too!
DeleteThank you for sharing at #OverTheMoon. Pinned and shared.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the share and pin, Marilyn!
DeleteI love this post! I built a doll house for my youngest daughter and I think I enjoyed it as much as she did!
ReplyDeleteLOL, the same is happening here with me! Such a fun project and I can't wait for my granddaughter to be old enough to have it in her room.
DeleteI adore this, sadly my grand-daughter is now far too grown up so I won't get the fun! But just gorgeous...
ReplyDeletePamela
www.style-yourself-confident.com
Thank you Pamela, this has been such a fun project.
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