can anyone talk me through dolls houses and furniture? i have looked out my old one and want to do it up for dd1 but it might be a Bad Idea.

[AitchTwoToTangOh]

not least because it seems like getting furniture for it will be a freakin' nightmare.

What size? My parents dug my old one out for me. The house was fine but the furniture dodgy. But the Playmobil house furniture fitted perfectly. We co-ordinated gift requests to grandparents, aunts, uncles and Godparents and they got a room each. Job done!

ah, funnily enough i have my hopes set on playmobil. i'm not very familiar with it yet as dd is only just going to be four.

it's a utility house, made by triang, used to belong to my mum. so it seems a lot smaller than all the ones they do nowadays.

I think DD1 was five when we got the Playmobil stuff, but DD2 is now four and has loved playing with the dolls house furniture for a while. Each room set comes with at least one person, so you do end up with a rather odd, extended family!

i've been off looking, did you get this stuff?

i was just going to ask about the people, lol. i don't have a clue where to start. off the top of your head, how tall are the playmobil people?

Hi Aitch.

Playmobil people are about 7.5 cm tall.

We actually got the modern Playmobil rooms (e.g. bedroom, kitchen ) because they suited the style of dollshouse better. But I'm sure the Victorian range would work just as well, if the scale is OK.

Have now measured our dolls house. The floor to ceiling heights are 16cm. Biggest rooms (lounge and bedroom) are 20cm by 30cm. Smallest rooms (bedroom 2, kitchen, dining room or bathroom) are 16cm by 20cm. The amount of furniture per room is about right. If I was being fussy about scale, I'd say the height of everything is a bit short, compared to the height of the rooms, but that may be because the house has been designed with enough headroom for playing without knocking things over.

Check out ELC stuff

It's now gone very pink, but I think it is the same stuff that used to be plain wood coloured a few tears ago. SOlid, playable, lots of different bits to fill each room, a little pricey, but good qulaity.

eh? tears years

"want to do it up for dd1" hahahaha.

Aitch's DD: Mum can I have a go?
Aitch: No clear off In a minute dear

oh, that's great. sorry i hadn't noticed these replies, i wasn't being rude.

the elc stuff looks nice, too, but i really fancy getting into a bit of playmobil, it's all so dinky and detailed. (this rather goes to prove your last post, cat).

thanks SO MUCH for measuring, smith. i'll have a look at mine tomorrow. just having checked on my Word ruler it looks about right, thanks.

what carpet, lockets?

Toys r us have a 4 sorey house with furniture for £50

I'm not quite sure what you mean by a utility house but a lot of Triang dolls houses are very collectable and "doing it up" is very likely to destroy its value.

It's your house, of course, and your decision, but it's something you might like to bear in mind before wielding a paintbrush.

i'm not going to paint it or anything, but the 'carpets' have been ripped off the floors and look ghastly, and the there was some tape on the roof (put on there by my dad or grandpa probably) that's been pulled off by my little sister so it needs replacing. i think my dad may have repainted bits of it for me, though.

in fact, it's on this page top line of photos, second from left. tudor, don'tchaknow? lolol.

here

Oh, I recognise that one. It isn't rare but you'll see from the prices on the site that they don't exactly go for a song either these days.

Given the well-loved condition, while I still wouldn't get out a paintbrush I don't think it will matter much if you cover the roof with doll's house tile paper and put floor paper in the rooms - the original floor paper would have been a parquet pattern.

You can get the papers from Hobby's or the Dolls House Emporium and put them on with ordinary wallpaper paste. If you change your mind later it's easy to get off by damping and peeling it.

It's 1/16 scale and most ranges of furniture sold for children tend to be 1/12 scale but the Playmobil will fit it as will Sylvanian Families stuff. For an older child the Lundby range will be perfect but it's a bit pricey and fragile for anyone under seven.

Check out toysrus - u can get a complete dolls house with all the furniture and wooden people for £50! It really is fab value for money.

www.toysrus.co.uk/Toys-R-Us/Toys/Dolls/Dolls-Houses-and-Accessories/Dolls-House-with-100-Pieces(0025 587)

oh brilliant, moomin, that's great. well loved is a good description, i think. it's not been scribbled on or anything and some of the floors are still there, but not all. good to know that the playmobil will work. it's just the flashing that's gone on the roof (iykwim) the tiles are still there.

i can see this becoming a bit of a thing...

oh and i am missing one window, but my mother believes that she was responsible for that act of desecration some sixty or so years ago.

gosh that really is great value, yelnats. it's a lovely house too. i've got this one, right enough, but if i didn't i'd deffo get that, it's the nicest one i've seen (for a decent price). cheers.

If you want to replace the window Tri-ang windows do turn up secondhand on Ebay and on the KT Miniatures site. Hobby's used to sell a reproduction Triang window but I'm not sure if they still do.

Have fun.

moomin... tell all. are you a big fat doll house geek?

No, I am a short, plumper-than-I-would-like to-be-but-not-to-say-downright-fat one who is taking a break from them because toddlers and fragile collectables do not mix!

tell me EVERYTHING.
there's one like my mum's on ebay at the moment, they've 'refreshed' the cream, they say... but the roof is bright red. i'm becoming a dolls house snob.