An Ugly Duckling UK Dolly Mixture

I bought this poor thing right after my lovely Dolly Mixture/Pennine arrived from the UK. A 1/2 to 3/4 scale, homemade, two room dollhouse, it's kind of a little shack, but there was something very endearing about it. It has the Romside windows and door, however beat up, and a large chimney, which serves as a battery holder for the one light that used to light up!

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Welcome little Ugly Duckling. We'll take care of you! 

After all, you're just a little thing at 17" l x 9" w x 6.5" h (9.5" with chimney).

Torn paper brick and roof tiles and a bit of grime.

Battery pack chimney and on and off switch. Very primitive!

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Insides

The two quaint little rooms and their opening wall front.

Two little names, Akinos and Alma, one on each room's wallpaper. Hence the AA on the battery chimney.

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A Gentle Face-Lift 

Well, never leaving well enough alone, I set out to remodel the little shack a bit, hoping to keep it's rather charming, unpretentious feeling!

 

  I polyurethaned the whole outside, hoping to preserve it's "used" patina, and made flower boxes and a porch roof, just to give it a little extra welcome.

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Insides

 

I made a fireplace wall for it out of an old beat up Strombecker fireplace, scrap booking paper and a cheap compact mirror. I like to think it looks a little shabby deco!

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Living Room 

 

Here's the fireplace wall, "installed" with it's matching Strombecker radio and a cute little rattan etargere. The ceiling and the floor have been treated with scrap booking paper, of course!

 More beat up Strombecker furniture with it's simple lines, yet quite stylish in this little abode. That's me, as a scottie dog. I've always wanted to be one since I was four!

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  Kitchen

 

This room seemed a natural as a kitchen. The little shelf was already installed by it's previous owners.

 

Scrap booking paper on the ceiling and floor.

Another case of shabby Strombecker and Kage furniture. I committed the cardinal sin, I painted the stove red (it was green) and added the little splash on the back of it. The little sink and table were already painted.

 

 

 

 

 

Kage chairs and a scottie's eye view!

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Well, hopefully this little rag tag family is happy in their rag-tag home. It's and odd one, but I think very sweet.

 

Schafer Chalet Dollhouse: Dolly's Up North Vacation Home

 

Dolly's remodeled summer "cottage", right off Lake Michigan, of course!

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Big Distraction

I bought this chalet from a lovely young mom who was selling her childhood items to help pay for her son's alternative Autism treatments. It is a 1:12 scale, 34”w x 31”h x 14” d home that is on casters, which is good, as it is big and heavy. It was a big distraction as I was repainting my own master bedroom and this home made it very hard for me to stay focused on such a mundane task!!

Here it is before the outside remodel that Dolly commissioned...

and after...

Notice the fancy popsicle stick shutters. Ooooo, ahhhhhh!

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The Inside

Its a summer cottage so why bother changing the wallpaper? It’s all pretty nice anyway and I really wanted to keep some of the lovely original integrity of this huge home. 

This home teeters between full scale furniture (1inch = 1 foot) and 1:16 scale (3/4 scale) furniture. 

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 Kitchen.... 

Strombecker kitchen appliance set, 3/4 scale, and a German dining set, 1:1.

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Living Room...

Strombecker 1:1 and 3/4 scale furniture. The side tables are Kage.

Love the wood plank drawn on floor. Now Dolly's looking for the "just right" curtains.

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Bedroom... 

1:1 scale German bed room set. I need to make some bed linens!!

I think the wallpaper is actually gift wrapping paper in the first and second floors of this home. Fragile, but effective.

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Bathroom...

This a 1:1 scale German bathroom set, sold in the USA about 1966.

I debated taking this bathroom out, opening the back wall up into the hall that leads to the balcony. I just couldn't do it! I used a piece of linoleum to cover the stair cut out so the bathroom set would fit better. There weren't stairs that came with the home anyway.

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Hall...

Here’s the hall that goes between the two bedrooms and in back of the bathroom. Leads out to the balcony. Not very accessible but looks good!

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Library...

Nancy Forbes 3/4 scale cabinet and side table, and a Greek ashtray (unused!!) on the fireplace.

 I could’ve made this into another bedroom but I had a few pieces of vintage upholstered Japanese chairs I thought would make for comfortable reading.

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Kid's Attic Bedroom...

1/2, 3/4 and 1:1 scale furniture.

Yes, even dolly children get relegated to the attic! Young dollies can navigate many stairs better than their elders.

...and Mom's Sewing Room

 

Well, for good or bad, this huge dolly home now has a home in our little home. Too bad it can't be made into a coffee table but it is still sweet and with wheels, easy to use. Its also a good size for little hands, if ever we have grandchildren! Ya! What's with that???