I must admit that I’m pretty excited to share this dollhouse makeover with you all. I know that dollhouses are usually associated with children, but I’ve had the pleasure over the past months to discover so many adults who are dollhouse hobbyists. I enjoy buying things for my home and decorating it, but I never knew how much fun I would have painting a toy house and buying miniature furniture.

I owned a couple of dollhouses as a child, but they were small and mostly made of plastic. For this project, I wanted a newer house made of sturdier material. I found one at a thrift store, but it was too expensive. My husband eventually bought this Melissa & Doug dollhouse at a low price for me to makeover.

I don’t know if pictures do the house justice, but it is lovely and made of wood and measures at 28 x 18 x 26.5 inches. This is something that will last throughout the years, and that I can pass down to my child or nieces.

Although the color of the house is adorable, I wanted to paint it with more neutral colors. Inspiration for this project came from some photos I saw from the Hearth & Hand™ with Magnolia collection.

Cleaning the house was the first step in the makeover process. Wiping it down with warm soapy water removed all dust and dirt.

The next steps of painting and decorating took me a few days to complete. The house had already been assembled, so there were lots of parts and corners that were hard to reach and paint. It probably would have been easier to paint the house if I took it apart first, but that would have prolonged me finishing the project.

The paint on the dollhouse was very glossy. My suggestion is to sand and prime the house first. I didn’t do any of those things before I started painting, and it made the process much harder because the paint wouldn’t stick. I was too lazy to go to my nearest home improvement store, so I just used a bunch of acrylic paints and spray paints that I already owned to complete the job.

This house required quite a few coats of paint. I used the acrylic paint first to cover the house, then I went back over it with a couple more coats of spray paint.

After a few days of painting and allowing the house to dry, it was finally time to add furniture and other decorations. Buying miniatures and furniture for the dollhouse was the best part of the entire project. I shopped at a few craft stores as well as online for inexpensive pieces to add to the house.

I think I’ve bought more items for this dollhouse than my actual home!

Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to share, like, and/or comment.

~Adrienne