Can I customize or modify a dollhouse kit? The answer is yes! Let’s take a quick look of this completed house here:
I once took this DIY kit back to 2022 and gave it my own special touch. That’s the only mini-house I’ve ever customized. After that, I got into designing and building my own from scratch. Only bummer is, I didn’t record the process back then. But I got some photos to walk you through what went down.
1. Color Change:
Changing up the colors is probably the easiest way to put your stamp on a DIY kit. Like this house, it came with wallpaper and floor paper for each room. But I decided to keep it simple with white walls and used coffee stirrers for the floors. My vision was to turn this place into my very own ‘Forest Cafe.’ To match the vibe, I stuck to white and wood furniture and whipped up some new pieces. Changing colors can totally transform the feel of a house, and it’s not too tricky to do with a kit.
2. Material Swap:
Another trick is switching up the materials. Remember how I mentioned the wallpaper and floor paper? You can not only change the color but also the texture. I swapped out the floor paper for a wood material to give it a more realistic vibe. For the wallpaper, I went with thicker paper in a deep blue for the bathroom and used floral tissue paper for the bedroom walls. I even made a double layer for the bedroom walls, with floral tissue on top and a white wall decor pattern below. Adding those little details really changes up the look of a mini-house. See the below picture for better ideas.
3.Structural Tweaks:
Now, this part took some serious time. I made some big changes to the structure of the DIY kit, but I did learn a lot in the process.
- Added a front door: I wanted to create a cozy lobby for my cafe customers, but the kit didn’t come with an external wall. So, I whipped up a front door to welcome folks in. Took a couple of tries with different materials, and let me tell you, cardboard ain’t the best for small stuff like this. Ended up using thick paperboard and wood sticks to beef up the door. I am satisfied with the final look.
- Expanded the space: I had big dreams for this little house, so I had to expand it. Added on a front door lobby, a second-floor bathroom, and a backside kitchen using cardboard. Wasn’t as hard as I thought, but I had to double up on the cardboard layers. First time working with cardboard, too.
- Brighten things up: Once I figured out how to wire ceiling lights, I wanted to add more. Problem was, the kit’s roof was plastic, so I had to make a new one out of cardboard to hide the wires. In The End, I added more lights to that cardboard roof. Looks pretty sweet, and I even found a neat trick for creating a roof pattern by peeling off a layer of cardboard.
- Added a fireplace for extra battery storage: With all those lights, the original battery wasn’t cutting it. So, I built a fireplace to stash a second set of batteries. Changed up the wiring inside the house and lost a bit of space on the second floor, but it was worth it. See the first photo when all the lights are on.
4. Furniture and Accessories:
Once the house was sorted, I got to work on the fun stuff. Since I was going for a cafe vibe, I spent hours watching clay food tutorials on YouTube and whipped up all sorts of pastries & bread for my cafe. I started an Instagram account to show off my creations almost at the same time, too. Since the theme changed, I had to make a bunch of new furniture to match. Found some cheats by using parts from other DIY kits for unique pieces like a piano, phonograph, bathtub, and toilet.
Check my Instagram to see more tutorials I had for this customized mini cafe.💖
Phew, it was a big project, way bigger than I thought it’d be. 😅 Can’t deny that I learned a ton of new skills along the way. DIY kits have some slick designs that really got my creative juices flowing. Wiring lights was a game-changer, and seeing how they used beads for tiny details was eye-opening. I’d say to anyone thinking about customizing a kit: go for it! Gets you one step closer to your dream without starting from scratch. Don’t wait around, dive in and make it happen!💪🏻💪🏻
Ps. The original DIY kit is “Monet’s garden”. Amazon Link is : https://a.co/d/bOWpD2w
Other DIY kits I used for furniture—Amazon link:
Sen.Tet 
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