Ah, the age-old question: What do you need to build a DIY dollhouse kit?
Table of Contents
Let’s say it like it is: other than the obvious glue, tools, and determination, you might want to stash away a good supply of chocolate and a hotline to the Tiny Construction Workers Union.
While I did write before on which crafting materials you need for your DIY dollhouse kit, my mind just didn’t stop braindstorming and I decided to write some more insights on what to consider first when starting out with these kits, and some more thoughts.
I hope I don’t bore you yet? If not, let’s go!
How to select the perfect DIY dollhouse kit for your personal needs?
BUT! I do have so much more to say today about the pratical side of things, when you are just starting out or even just CONSIDERING building DIY house kits, so let’s go on anyway haha!
Dollhouse kits or dollhouse furniture kits come in a variety of sizes and scales, ranging from mansions to charming one-room kits.
To help you decide: think about the available room in your house or if your child could still play with it afterwards. (think about miniature pieces which are a shoking hazard)
Hardly have any room left in your house? You can still choose the tinyist dollhouse kits on the market, on a scale of 1:48 or even smaller 😉
If you want to learn more about scales, take a look at this blog post where I discussed al the different scales.
Talk about scales, did you know that I have a scale convertor on the homepage of my website that you can use whenever you want?
Convert any measurement in a known scale into another known scale.
Convert inscale
toin scale
=
2.Are you experienced in DIY dollhouse kits or a beginner?
I wouldn’t advise anyone to start out with a Victorian mansion dollhouse kit if you are just starting out and don’t have much experience yet with these type of kits.
So take a moment to evaluate your skill level, are you a seasoned miniature architect or a rookie with a tweezer and some glue? 🙂
To find out if something is complicated or more easy to make, I definitely advise to check out any reviews where you purchase the kit or ask on Facebook groups dedicated to them.
3. Check out if the DIY dollhouse kit is made from quality materials.
If you want to avoid frustrations and things breaking off easily, you really need to check for quality and durability.
For example, I have found out that lasercut DIY miniature kits, most of the time have pretty decent quality, without warped pieces or pieces that ship of or break easily.
Especially if you buy the ones from small compagnies, like the fairy house kits that I bought to construct my fairy houses. They have no warped pieces and they fit together like a glove.
So far, I am under the impression that the kits from Cutebee have a little bit less quality then the ones from Robotime, for example.
But even then, it sometimes depends on the kit itself aswell, so again always check out peoples reviews!
4. Which theme or archetictorial style do you want to create?
To take you all the way through every dollhouse style out there, would require another blog post, or rather a whole book haha!
Or of course, you can just scroll through all the blogs on my website and see if anything catches your eye that you are interested in, because I have written about all the different dollhouse styles out there!
5. Understand the content of the DIY dollhouse kits and how they are build.
There are different types of dollhouse kits, they can be roomboxes, complete houses, but also just a single room.
Most of the kits from Robotime, for example, have one single room to be constructed, but on the other hand brands like Cutebee do have larger homes with several rooms, like the ones with an Azian style.
The content of the DIY kits can also be different.
What I mean by that is that lots of them already are furnished with dollhouse furniture, but others don’t have furniture included, so you would need to look for furniture kits or just need to buy complete furniture sets separately.
6. Do you want to customize a DIY dollhouse kit or not?
Customizing a miniature kit is called “kitbashing” and if you would like to do that, then I would consider to purchase kits that actually are adaptable to your own personal touch.
A book nook for example by Robotime called Sakura Densya, isn’t customizable in any way and I wouldn’t even want to start trying either 😉
Sakura Densya isn’t customizable
7. Considerations about the price of the dollhouse kit.
I know, we all want the LARGE dollhouse of our dreams, but do keep in mind that some handmade DIY dollhouse kits can get quite pricey, especially from small sellers on Etsy.
(by the way, have you ever seen my list of the most expensive dollhouses around the world? Be amazed!)
But on the other hand, as we discussed above, these do tend to have much better quality and you get something unique that not everybody who is doing these kits has!
How to Arrange your crafting/working space for mini’s?
Before you decide on where to go assemble those mini kits, it would be better to look for a specific spot around the house, because there could be a few things bothering you.
Like cats haha! Or just a small reminder that some of these kits can take up to 24 hours and more, so if you need to eat around the kitchen table, this always won’t be possible 😉
Anyway, how to arrange your crafting table for miniature can be varieble from person to person.
Myself, I have a dedicated space where I do all my crafting when I moved houses, and because I sometimes have several projects at once, I think that I have some more space then usual for these miniature kits allone.
Take a look at the video below of my crafting place:
As you can see in this video, I tend to keep a large open space on one table and a smaller spot for small projects.
I have several big boxes to store away pieces of waste or things that I could still use and a cupboard to arrange larger pieces of wood and bigger materials. And one larger table to put my table saw and other electric devices.
Feel free to look around in my crafting room! 😉
Essential Tools for Building a DIY Dollhouse Kit: Choosing the Right Materials
Depending on the brand and style of the DIY dollhouse kits, you would need less materials then creating a dollhouse from scratch, but there are still things that you would need.
We could make another expanded list with lots of information, but the fact is that I have already written a lot about the tools that you need in a former article, especially the glues-part:
I am always on the lookout for the latest gadgets though and look what I found recently, it looks very handy!
This is a “Chop-it” and it is a kind of miter cut that has 30,45, 60 and 90 degree guides and can be used with wood or plastic miter cuts easily. Apparently is a very wide used hobby tool!
Very handy if you want to expand your DIY kit or if you broke something and you need to remake it!
How to read the manual of the DIY dollhouse kits?
People have always lots of questions about the manuals of these DIY dollhouse kits, most of all about the brand Robotime and Cutebee.
I have also struggled immensely with some of them, hence the reason why I created a video of my own.
Don’t be ashamed to read your dollhouse kits’ manual several times before you start!
The first video explains the manual from Sam’s Study by Robotime. All of their manuals are quite similar (don’t mind my non-native English voice haha):
In the second video, I am unboxing a Cutebee DIY kit for you and I explain the difference in this manual:
Make sure also to organize all the pieces in ONE bag for the same piece of furniture, because this will make assemble things much easier.
Miniature Furniture and Accessories: Furnishing Your Dollhouse Kit
So far, we have mostly talked about the DIY kits from Robotime and Cutebee, which are already furnished.
So most of these brands originally from China and such, are furnished, but there are other lasercut dollhouse kits like the ones from Greenleaf, that you still need to furnish. Now where to find matching dollhouse furniture?
a dollhouse kit by Greenleaf
Dollhouse furniture (kits) in this scale can be found on several platforms, including Amazon, eBay, and Etsy.
But if you really want something unique, I would really advise to check out Etsy more then others!
Here’s a list of the articles and reviews of these dollhouse furniture (kits) that I have talked about in the past, those could maybe help you decide?:
And more, explore my website with the search button and the word “furniture”!
Of course, you could also create your own dollhouse furniture, with the help of my blog, but also with the help of my Youtube channel or others channels.
Adding Personal Touches to your DIY dollhouse kit.
By “hacking” or “bashing” a miniature kit you can modify it as much as you like to turn into your own project in a creative way, beyound the original design even.
I have seen so many “hacked” miniature kits on FB groups and I have estonished by them, even more beautiful or original then the basic kits.
Doing this allows you to express yourself and also explore new techniques.
Here’s a little list of the things that you can change while assembling a kit:
1: Change the colors:
While some of the dollhouse kits are already painted, you can still use another color to paint them, just make sure to primer the pieces, walls, floors and roofs first before you give it another color.
Lots of them are just blank and you can paint them or add paper to them which are included or you can print your own.
You can always add elements to the original structure of a DIY kit, like a garden, a diorama, a terras or a patio, or even assemble small finished kits together. Don’t be afraid to try things out, that is how you learn to make miniatures!
When you have been crafting miniatures for a while, I am pretty sure that you already have finished miniatures here and there, which you can add to your kit? If not, I am sure that by now, you are creative enough to start making your own and expand the excisting kit.
Why not add picture frames with your own pictures, printed out in a tiny scale?
4. Upcycle your kit.
The choice is totally up to you, but you could also decide to turn a regular kit that looks plain, into something quite fancy or even luxurous. I’m curious for example what you would make of a simple kit like Jason’s kitchen?
Jason’s kitchen – original kit
Jason’s kitchen – upcycled
My Final Conclusion
I hope that you enjoyed this blog post on DIY dollhouse kit and that I could inform you again to get you started on your path of creating these kits.
Keep in mind that I also buy my own miniature kits and that I regurly post reviews of them on my website, so feel free to bookmark my website 😉
If you have any more questions about this topic or other topics, feel free to leave a comment down below in the comment section or check out my social media channels or cozy Facebook group.
4 thoughts on “What Do You Need To Build a DIY Dollhouse Kit: A Secret Formula for Infinite Patience.”
This is a great little article on what you will need to build a miniature Dollhouse! I have a very similar hobby, Model Railroading, that uses many of the same principles and practices you mentioned. I had no idea, however, that some miniature Dollhouse builders use the kitbashing method, something very common in my hobby, to add personal style to their Dollhouse. I just assumed that they were either assembled just as the kit intended or were made entirely from scratch by someone that has been building them for a very long time. Your workspace resembles my own, with different areas dedicated to different phase of building and such, and I have an immense stockpile of random ordinary items and leftover parts from kits that I use. I’m sure Dollhouse builders are just as resourceful in using non hobby specific items too, eliminating the cost factor involved simply because it has a specific branding in mind. (Like dollar store wood versus ‘miniature scale Dollhouse lumber’) I thoroughly enjoyed your article.
I landed on your website by chance. When started to read your article, the word “patience” caught my attention and made me continue reading. I only saw such kits in drama. Never saw one in real life.
You are right though that it is a very good practice for patience. Both investors and traders need to cool down their pace with such patience booster interests.
Therefore, this article on what are the things that you need to start working on such an interest introduces very important tips for those who would like to start.
Embarking on the journey of building a DIY dollhouse kit requires a secret formula: infinite patience. From personal experience, I have learned that constructing a dollhouse from scratch demands meticulous attention to detail, careful assembly of tiny components, and unwavering patience throughout the process. It is a labour of love that tests one’s ability to remain focused and persevere through the challenges that inevitably arise. Furthermore, building a dollhouse offers an opportunity for reflection and personal growth, as it teaches valuable lessons in patience, precision, and problem-solving.
This is a great little article on what you will need to build a miniature Dollhouse! I have a very similar hobby, Model Railroading, that uses many of the same principles and practices you mentioned. I had no idea, however, that some miniature Dollhouse builders use the kitbashing method, something very common in my hobby, to add personal style to their Dollhouse. I just assumed that they were either assembled just as the kit intended or were made entirely from scratch by someone that has been building them for a very long time. Your workspace resembles my own, with different areas dedicated to different phase of building and such, and I have an immense stockpile of random ordinary items and leftover parts from kits that I use. I’m sure Dollhouse builders are just as resourceful in using non hobby specific items too, eliminating the cost factor involved simply because it has a specific branding in mind. (Like dollar store wood versus ‘miniature scale Dollhouse lumber’) I thoroughly enjoyed your article.
James.
I landed on your website by chance. When started to read your article, the word “patience” caught my attention and made me continue reading. I only saw such kits in drama. Never saw one in real life.
You are right though that it is a very good practice for patience. Both investors and traders need to cool down their pace with such patience booster interests.
Therefore, this article on what are the things that you need to start working on such an interest introduces very important tips for those who would like to start.
Embarking on the journey of building a DIY dollhouse kit requires a secret formula: infinite patience. From personal experience, I have learned that constructing a dollhouse from scratch demands meticulous attention to detail, careful assembly of tiny components, and unwavering patience throughout the process. It is a labour of love that tests one’s ability to remain focused and persevere through the challenges that inevitably arise. Furthermore, building a dollhouse offers an opportunity for reflection and personal growth, as it teaches valuable lessons in patience, precision, and problem-solving.
Thank you Akumendoh for your wonderful comment and I wish you happy crafting!
Kind regards,
Lizzy