Miniature Doll Houses

When you first start collecting miniature doll houses it is really hard to know what to look for in a dolls house. For a start how do you choose if a kit doll house, a fully built dolls house or building the house yourself from a plan is right for you. How do you know what wood the dolls house should be made from. Have you decided you want electric lighting in your dolls house but what if you can't fit it in the dolls house you choose. Well we will answer all of these questions in this stage three of our tour.

Built, Kit or Plan

Miniature Doll houses come fully built and can be ready decorated and lit or in kit form or you could purchase a doll house plan and build the house from scratch yourself. Probably the most popular way is to build a kit doll house but we will look at each method below.

Fully Built

Having someone else build your dolls house does take out all the hard work. You won't have to worry about putting it together or what type of paint you should be using. You won't have to spend hours gluing each piece in place. It will all be done for you. The disadvantage however is that it does take away some of the fun and you won't get that wonderful feeling of achievement and satisfaction you get when you put your kit doll house together yourself.

Kit Miniature Doll Houses
Kit miniature doll houses are by far the most popular type of houses. They are fun to put together, all the pieces are there for you with clear instructions and you can decorate them however you like. Whatever type of dolls house you fancy you are bound to find a kit for, there are so many to choose from. To see some examples click Kit doll house

In most cases kit dolls houses are relatively easy to put together and even a novice could do it. They can sometimes take a little time but this is often really enjoyable. An advantage with a kit dolls house is that you can choose all the decoration yourself and add a little at a time as you go. Unless you really don't fancy putting a kit dolls house together this is the type of dolls house I would recommend. Further on this page we will look at what to look out for when looking for a dolls house kit. To see some doll house kits click miniature doll houses

Doll House Plan

Building miniature doll houses from a plan is not for a novice. If you have never done wood work before I would not recommend it. Miniature doll houses may look like simple box shapes with some holes for windows but there is a lot more to it than that. However this is a really fun way to build a doll house, especially if you design the plan yourself. You could design your own doll house and build it to your specifications with as many rooms and decorative features as you like.

One thing to look out for when building your dolls house from scratch is the windows and doors. If you don't intend to make these make sure you find out what's available first so you can reflect the sizes in you plan and building.

Now we've had a look at the different ways to build your dolls house lets have a look at some key things to look out for:

Material
The material your dolls house is made of is very important. There are two main types of wood used to make dolls houses: MDF and plywood. Both woods have their own good qualities but MDF stands out above plywood for several reasons.

First of all MDF will not warp as plywood might. MDF is also man made from saw dust and will not splinter so is very safe. The finish you get from MDF is also much smoother, MDF has no wood grain so provides a perfectly smooth finish when painted. Most dolls houses made from MDF are made from 9mm thick wood where plywood houses are made from wood usually less than half this thickness. The thickness of the wood makes MDF houses very stable.

The material your house is made from can also effect the furnishings you can have in the dolls house. As I said before MDF houses are more often than not made from 9mm wood as are most doors and window fittings. If you want to put internal doors in your dolls house they will not fit plywood houses. Also lighting a plywood house is more tricky. In MDF dolls houses you can carve grooves into the wood to discretely disguise electric wires and run the wires to your lights, you cannot do this in plywood houses.

Front or Back Opening
Collectors miniature doll houses are most often front opening. This is so they can sit against a wall with the front displayed and be opened to view the furniture inside. You need to be aware when you are looking for a dolls house that a back opening dolls house will take up a lot of room. With a back opening house you need to be able to view all sides. Front opening houses are a lot more compact if you are looking to save space.

Add-on's
Are there add-on's available for the doll house. A standard kit doll house will most likely have an add-on but you should check. Once you start building decorating and furnishing your doll house you are bound to want to expand it so an important thing to check is if there are add-on basement's or attics available for the doll house.

Know you have an idea of what to look for in miniature doll houses click onto our next page where we have reviewed some dolls houses. Click Here....