Dollhouse Project, Part 1

The dollhouse as purchased (i.e. the “BEFORE”).

“Do you have plans tomorrow?” my Dad asked me nearly 30 years ago on a Friday evening. As I recall, I was rather surprised because I don’t think I had ever heard that question from him before. “No,” I responded. He proceeded to tell me that he wanted to take me somewhere with him.

The next day, we got in the family car and headed out…I was on pins and needles, not knowing what to expect. (I have never done very well with surprises because I like to look forward to things). When we drove up to a local woodworking shop owned by my former piano teacher’s son, Dad informed me that he was going to buy a dollhouse for me. I was completely shocked. My dreams for a dollhouse were finally coming true!

My memories of playing with that dollhouse were not necessarily playing with dolls in it. Instead, I decorated it. I pasted wallpaper samples on it, I cut out pieces of scrap carpet, I dreamed of sewing curtains and making it a beautiful “home.” But life happened, and I soon became a teenager and schoolwork and other life activities consumed my time. I put the dollhouse aside, and when we moved to a new house when I was 16, we placed the dollhouse in a storage shed, along with all of other things from my childhood…

Fast forward to the present: I now have two little girls, ages almost 5 (“L”) and 2 (“M”). When L found out about the dollhouse, she began asking if we could bring it to our house. So earlier this month, I brought it to our home. After having been stored since the mid 1990’s, it was dirty and dusty. I told L that I had to clean it before she and M could play with it. So, I cleaned it about a week ago, and let it dry completely. Yesterday, I coated it with primer and then placed it in the girls’ playroom for them to start enjoying it. I love the fact that because it was a quality handmade wood house, I am able to pass it down to the next generation, and I look forward to painting and decorating it with my girls over the next few years…

Do you have anything from your childhood that your children have enjoyed or did your parents save any of their toys to hand down to you?