Build a Miniature Doll House

Planning in advance helps to guarantee success in any project. So, the first step in this project is to plan your miniature doll house out. You can use pencil and graph paper, or, you can use a computer program to make your plans with. You'll need to draw your plans to scale. This means that each square on the graph paper represents a certain measurement. For example, you may decide that each square will equal six inches in real life. Meaning, that two squares will equal one foot.

The "Better Homes and Gardens™ Home Designer" is one example of a house planning computer program you can check out. It lets you create realistic-looking, 3-D house plans complete with landscaping. This easy-to-use program includes sample plans and a tutorial. The best part is, it's inexpensive to buy. You can read all about The "Better Homes and Gardens™ Home Designer at http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/. This site also allows you to try the program out before you decide to buy it.

If you use a software program like this to plan your miniature doll house out with, you'll just need to remember to omit the complete back wall. The absence of the back wall will allow you to add, subtract, and rearrange the furnishings. It will also provide a means of displaying the complete inside of your miniature doll house.

The next step is to plan the first- or main- floor of your miniature doll house. You can design it to be a modern bungalow or a Cape Cod house, for just two examples. Or, you may decide to get adventurous and design it like a European Tudor or Palladian-style house.

After the main floor is completely planned out, you'll need to figure out what the second floors, and so on, will look like- if your miniature dollhouse is going to be more than one story high, of course. You'll have to plan out the exact dimensions of each room; the locations of the windows and doors; the style of the windows and the doors; the placement of any stairways, et cetera.

Once the plans are complete for your miniature doll house, it's time to start the fun. It's time to actually build it! You'll want to start out with a large piece of plywood for the base of your miniature dollhouse to set on. Next, you'll need to follow your plans and start building the walls of your miniature doll house on top the base. The walls and the roof can be built with thin Styrofoam or balsa wood. A good-quality glue will keep the pieces of Styrofoam or balsa wood together throughout the building process. Just remember to buy a box of straight pins when you get your supplies. You'll use the straight pins to hold the pieces of your miniature doll house together while the glue dries. You can remove them afterwards.

Note: A hobby knife with several sharp blades will cut through the Styrofoam or the balsa wood quickly and easily.

When you are finished building the walls of your miniature doll house, you'll move onto the roof.
Then, once the entire shell of the house, plus the inner walls, are constructed, you can finish the details. These might include miniature siding, shingles on the roof, shutters on the windows, and so on.

The interior will be the last step in building your miniature doll house. The details will include the "built - ins", such as doors, fireplaces, cabinets, et cetera.

You can make your miniature doll house as plain or as lavish as you choose. But, aboveall, have fun making your new hobby or your special homemade gift for that special girl in your life!