Hello friends! Guess what? I finally finished the Willowcrest dollhouse I have been building. I have been doing a happy dance for a couple of days now.
The last time I posted I promised to share the inside of the dollhouse. I am doing that today as well as sharing the newly completed landscaping.
Below is a photo of the entire house interior. There are six rooms, an entryway, and a second floor landing. Unlike my last dollhouse, this one actually has stairs! I did not leave them out. Ha. I did, however, rearrange the floor plan.
As I said, above is my version of the dollhouse interior. Below is a Pinterest photo of how the dollhouse was designed to look.
(Note: Not my photograph)
As you can see, I took several redesign liberties with the interior. Beginning with the first floor, I removed the wall dividing the original kitchen from the entryway. My thoughts were WHY put so much effort into the winding stairway and entry if it cannot be seen. I also removed the door between the kitchen and living room. The middle wall on the bottom is designed to have an angled wall beyond the door. I hated that angled wall. Not only did it make no sense, it was designed to have a fireplace on the backside, which really is not visible. So I not only removed the door, I built a completely new STRAIGHT-ish wall to divide the kitchen and living room.
In my new design it made no sense to have the entryway lead into the kitchen so I switched the living and kitchen areas, and built a partial wall to add a dining room behind the kitchen. Come in and check it out.
More of my living room and entryway.
The open stairway.
My blue and yellow kitchen and the pink dining room beyond.
In the photo below the stove, oven hood, and shelf are on the newly built almost straight wall. You can also see the divider wall I added to create the dining room.
The photograph below was taken from outside looking through the kitchen bay window.
The dining room.
All of the first floor windows feature decorative toppers on the molding. I made the decorative elements myself using clay and molds.
A view of the dining room arched opening leading to the entryway.
I made structural changes on the second floor as well. If you look at the photo of the house as designed (second floor image below) you will see a large visual impairment near the middle-left side of the second floor. I did not like that little wall at all. I felt like it closed the view of the house.
By removing the little wall I took out the linen closet and the stairs to the third floor. I almost rebuilt the stairs, using a square design similar to the first floor, limiting them to the left front corner. Instead, I omitted the stairs.
Above is my version of the master bedroom. The cranberry micro print wallpaper coordinates with the cherub mural on the ceiling.
By deleting the stairs and the linen closet, my bathroom is larger than originally designed. I like it much better. I had to build a new wall to divide the bathroom from the landing. I moved the bathroom door further to the right to create more usable space on the bathroom wall.
Above - a view though the bedroom window to the second floor landing.
Below is the third floor of the house as originally designed. Again, I did not like it. I hated the chimney running up the middle of the room, eating up floor space, as well as the stairs opening and railings being in a awkward place. It left very little usable space in that large area.
Not only did I ditch the chimney and stairs, I made three additions. I added three window seats. The third floor windows each had a small alcove, again that I thought of as wasted space. By building window seats the areas became more useful.
My version of the third floor. At first I visualized this as the billiards room. And while that is still possible, it will be a decision made by the eventual owner. I did, after all, build this house to sell. My version of the room leaves a large open space that can have many uses.
I am sure that as you looked at the rooms you noticed the ceilings. Each of the ceilings in the house is embellished on some way. I like the interest this adds to the interiors.
I hope you liked the interior tour, including the descriptions of the changes I made to the house. Now let's move on to the landscaping.
I mounted the house on a 19" x 23.5" board. I painted the board gray to match the house trim. Once the house was positioned, I added grass around the front foundation to create a small lawn. I also added a flowerbed to the front foundation. The right side of the house has ivy growing up the bay area.
Each front windows has flowers, as does the balcony. I added two planters to the front porch and affixed flower arrangements in them. A small cart rests at the end of the porch.
I added a few battery operated light fixtures to the house. The carriage lanterns flanking the front doors match the style of the house. The lights, like all but one on the inside, attach to the house via magnets. In the living room the sconces attach to magnets behind the wallpaper. The magnets were affixed to the walls and ceilings, making the lights removable for moving the house.
Thanks for checking out my Willowcrest Estate dollhouse. If it does not sell before, I will be offering it for sale the first week of December at a Christmas craft show. I hope to have four houses and many Christmas miniatures to offer.
Before you ask, yes, I do already have my next house planned. It will have a completely different look than anything I have done before. More on this later...
.jpeg)
