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Original poster

A Dolls House for a 4 year old.

22 replies

Pavlov · 05/05/2010 07:12

Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced not too humungous dolls house suitable for a 4yo+ girl.

My DD has wanted one for a while and we now feel she would use it. Have not wanted to get one before as she was not really so bothered by one.

Ideally, I would like it to be fairy orientated, or if not, plain wooden so it could be painted. I definitely do not want plastic, and know that to have both wooden and reasonably priced is a tall order.

OP posts:
DecorHate · 05/05/2010 07:24

We had the Le ToyVan one that you see in
lots of toy shops. It was lovely to look at but tbh did not get played with as much as I thought it would.... I think the thing with dolls houses us that by the time they are old enough to play nicely with them they might be too old for them, iyswim....

Have you looked at ELC?

When we got my dds one we bought her the house for her birthday and asked family to get her some furniture as her birthday present...

upsydaisysexstylist · 05/05/2010 07:56

We got the basic toys r us wooden one at christmas for our 2yr ds, mainly because it was unpainted as I found a lot came with very pink furniture. Was £50, we just took out the little wooden bottles and cups and painted the outside. You get a lot of furniture for your money, but the dolls are not great.Though to be honest bessie bear and iggle piggle have taken up residence in ours. I have seen good ones in Sue Ryder shops, I think they have some sort of selling on deal with a toy company

nickschick · 05/05/2010 08:11

ELC had a beautiful plastic toadstool with fairies in,it was really very pretty and had lights and everything.

(Im a mum of 3 boys and was practically drooling)

fearnelinen · 05/05/2010 08:16

Upsydaisy, we have that one for our 3 1/2 yo. I think it will last years and is easily painted / wallpapered / carpeted !

Dolls are rubbish, but all sorts of people live in there now. Also, you get loads of furniture, but if you presume that baby sleeps in with mum and dad you get a whole room to furnish yourself!! We have beanbag in ours atm.

Can you tell who plays with it most?!!

Original poster
Pavlov · 05/05/2010 10:21

oh upsydaisy i will go and look at toys r us, did not even think they did anything other than pink plastic! Not bothered about the dolls, DD has some old fairies that I am collecting for her, you know the Hornby Flower fairies? So she will use those in it I should think.

I like the idea of painting, then, as she grows up, we can repaint it as a castle or something for DS

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Original poster
Pavlov · 05/05/2010 10:23

nickschick I am trying really hard to lean away from the pink, as she has lots of it already. And she has a fairy toadstool tent already . I have seen that one though and it is very pretty!

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Original poster
Pavlov · 05/05/2010 10:25

Thing is, my friend has a fab dolls house for DD to play with when we visit and she loves it, and plays with it a lot. So i think she will play with it, for a little while anyway. But that is why i don;t want to pay hundreds of pounds, as if she does not use it, i will have wasted it all.

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helyg · 05/05/2010 10:26

My 4yr old DD has the ELC one and it is really lovely and very solid.

We bought it her for Christmas the year before last (half price in the Boots sale, it was one of my best ever bargains!) and we asked grandparents/aunties/godparents etc to buy furniture sets for it as her Christmas presents.

For her 4th birthday she decided that she wanted the stables to go with it. She plays with it pretty much everyday (and so do her two older brothers, but don't tell them I told you!)

Original poster
Pavlov · 05/05/2010 10:33

oh i will keep an eye out for a sale on ELC stuff then! I don't mind pink if it is a bargain, as I would be afraid to paint the odd window here and there, but not at £110

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fearnelinen · 05/05/2010 11:29

this is the Toys R Us one. I especially like it because it's tall and quite flat so whilst being big, it doesn't take up lots of floor space. And much better value than the ELC one.

DecorHate · 05/05/2010 11:52

These are the Le Toyvan ones

here

We had the Lavender one.

If you want something that is not pink the Strawberry Villa is popular with families who want a unisex one....

Not sure how much they are now - think it was around £80 a few years ago...

DecorHate · 05/05/2010 11:54

Forgot to say they do fairly castles too

www.letoyvan.com/large_houses.html

DecorHate · 05/05/2010 11:54

Fairy!

DecorHate · 05/05/2010 11:55

Arrrgh, messed up link

www.letoyvan.com/fairy_castles.html

squeaver · 05/05/2010 11:56

We have the Toys R us one too. Never painted it - couldn't be bothered.

Dd now 5 plays with it once a week or so. VERY popular with kids coming round to play, though.

flier · 05/05/2010 12:11

We got DD similiar to this escond hand at christmas. I feel that it will grow withher as it takes Sindy/Barbie size dolls.

flier · 05/05/2010 12:12

ours was the Georgia Peach house (just remembered the name).

Original poster
Pavlov · 05/05/2010 13:12

Oh i like the Lavender one! And strawberry villa is cool too.

But, tbh, I think I might get the toys r us one. It is ideal. It does not have to be complicated with lots of layers. I am going to customise it, i think, in terms of painting, and maybe some lights inside it, and i like the idea of carpet ! The price is what we were hoping (but not expecting) to pay.

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Original poster
Pavlov · 05/05/2010 13:13

That one from GLTC is lovely, but too big, much too big and also too expensive. I not paying £120 for a dolls house that will get drawn on, stickered, possible bumped and chipped etc

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fearnelinen · 05/05/2010 21:44

I feel like I was on the winning team!!!!!

Original poster
Pavlov · 06/05/2010 06:29

fearnelinen Pavlov has chosen YOUR dolls House as the winning house, Please step onto the podium>

OP posts:
fearnelinen · 06/05/2010 08:00

Haha! I think upsydaisy should have her anthem played, I was just the cheerleader!!!!

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