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dollhouse for boys


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Hello,

 

I am looking for crafty ideas for a dollhouse for my boys. They are 8 and 4 and I think they will enjoy playing with one...We have a wooden treehouse that they enjoy, and they have wooden people. I think they will enjoy one that they can furnish with some furniture. The problem is that most of the ones that we have seen are too "girly" looking for lack of a better word. Also, I live in Abu Dhabi, UAE so going to a specialty store is not an option.

 

I would like to make my boys a themed one somehow. I am not incredibly crafty, but will take all and any ideas you may have and go from there. I can imagine play silks and acorns and pinecones in it........but then I can also see a "man cave!!" lol....or a space ship center or something...

 

how can i give them a dollhouse feel, but something they would feel more comfortable with.. i've seen an idea for an ikea bookcase turned into a dollhouse that seems cool, but how would i decorate it if i did that??

 

If you have pictures or links, I'd love to see them for ideas...

 

thanks!

seema

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A bookcase sounds like a great idea- I'd try to add a couple of pulleys to it to make it interesting- the top could be a 'star gazing' area- the kids could help you decorate it (or you could 'help' them) with stars and planets hanging from a mobile above it, make something that looks like a telescope out of a straw (paint it to look more realistic). They could be visited by aliens in a cardboard space ship one day (you could suprise them with a spaceship on the shelf one day later). They could have their own rocket ship, and pipe cleaner laser guns, etc.

A garage on the bottom level for hot wheels and such, you could make a car lift out of Popsicle sticks or something. Paint that shelf gray with a darker gray or black cinderblock pattern painted on top of that.

They could help you make Popsicle stick furniture for the rest of the house so the furnishings don't look girly.

You could paint a tree on the outside of the shelf, and have a stack of twigs for bundles of firewood sitting outside (and paint or make a fireplace inside). Make curtains to use for the outside wall for the shelves- use velcro glued to the edges of the shelves and sewn to the fabric curtains.

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When I was a kid I liked furnishing my own dollhouse using recycled junk from around the house like the Littles. I bet this idea would appeal to boys as well. You can "wallpaper" a small bookcase with comics, cereal boxes, used wrapping paper, construct tables from jar lids and empty spools, beds from small boxes with pencils/pens for posts, cut pictures from magazines for posters, etc. I bet they could get quite creative with making their own stuff. You could call it a "clubhouse" or "hideout" or something like that.

Edited by AndyJoy
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My nephews have the Ryan's Room dollhouse, which is very non-pink:

http://www.kidstoychest.com/ryans-room.htm

 

If you're looking for something more elaborate, maybe something like this creekside cabin

http://shop.greenleafdollhouses.com/All-Wood-Creekside-Cabin-Dollhouse-Kit.html

 

or this row house

http://www.thefind.com/family/browse-franklin-dollhouse

 

would have suitably non-girly vibes.

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I just recently bought this book:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486234932/ref=oss_product

 

Also Ana White has a simple modern style dollhouse plan that might fit the bill:

 

 

http://ana-white.com/2010/09/the-new-dollhouse.html

 

She also has various bookcase plans that could easily be adapted. This one IS a dollhouse bookcase:

 

http://ana-white.com/2009/12/plan-dollhouse-bookcase-knock-off-of.html

 

and:

 

http://ana-white.com/2009/12/plan-3-2-1-blastoff-finally-cute.html

 

for something of a more high rise design.

 

Have fun!

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Warning: this is not exactly what you asked for....

 

I like the cardboard stuff by Hiroyuki Ishikura, esp. the book 遊べるダンボール工作ア・ラ・カルト (or パパママつくって!かわいい段ボール家具, which has more child-sized model furniture inc a fair amount of kitchen appliances). They're all projects made from recycled cardboard. I am sure you could find something similar in English or improvise. They're not at all girly in styling.

 

If you search Google images for the title of the second book, you'll get a fair number of hits:

2nd book (パパママつくって!かわいい段ボール家具).

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I recently made a dollhouse and it is not that hard. I am a creative person and the construction of the dollhouse is not a creative process. I really enjoyed the decorating and furnishing for my dd. If I had to pick a first project to do, it would be a log cabin. You can stain everything the same color and no stairs or real looking windows.

 

You could not have this done by Christmas. It took my three weeks to make mine or rather my dd's dollhouse. I have to say I am very proud of it and she is too.

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part of the problem for me is finding anything here when i need it.....

 

i'm leaning towards starting with an existing bookcase from IKEA and going from there. i love the rocket ship idea....i can't really cut out circles or other stuff, but i should be able to find a handyman around here to do it for super cheap...that's a good thing about living here.

 

i didn't have any ideas when i started, now i won't be able to sleep with too many ideas...

 

love them!!

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