November 16, 2011 in Personal Projects • DIY and Crafts
I have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew (I think our wedding might have been an example of that), and after talking to my dad this weekend, I realized I'd done it again.
My old dollhouse, in my mother's words, is a "sow's ear," and I was trying to make a silk purse out of it.
You see, when I was little I read a book called Midnight in the Dollhouse. The dollhouse in the book was a gorgeous house that was passed through generations, and I wanted my dollhouse to be as awesome as that one. I even had my (very accomodating) dad make extra rooms on the bottom because there was an addition on the dollhouse in the book, but...well, it just wasn't what I envisioned. At the beginning of this project, I think my emotions were still partially wrapped up in this imaginary dollhouse and wanting to give something that special to my daughter.
However, my dollhouse isn't the dollhouse in Midnight in the Dollhouse. By a long shot. And after talking to my dad about my ideas to fix it, I finally had to admit that he was right when he said, "you're trying to make a fine dollhouse, and this is just not a fine dollhouse." Basically, it wasn't worth all the effort I was thinking of putting into it.
So (of course) I got on Craigslist. There are a lot of dollhouses on Craigslist, my friends. And I found the perfect one for me. I am totally thrilled with its potential and am so excited to see C and any future siblings play with it. Here it is in the back of our car:
I think it looks pretty cute back there.
When I went to pick it up, I met the girls who used to play with it, and they wanted to make sure it went to a good home. Considering all the work I did on the very first day, I think it's found a nice new home. :)
Here's Elvis Purrsley, modeling in the "before" photo:
The first step in my remodeling process was removing all the carpets and wallpaper:
Yikes. This is more work than I thought! Next up? Either painting the walls or installing wallpaper, and hardwood floors.
I'm excited to work on it, and share the process with you guys. I think buying a new house ($60! Cheapest house I'll ever buy, I'm sure!) was the right way to go. What do you think?
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