A dollhouse challenge for midget lovers.

Let's see, where shall I begin with this one.

I know - Emily Henderson started it. Not only do I love her, idolize her and very openly want to BE HER, I also happen to share her obsession with miniatures - especially when they come in the form of an art, craft or childhood dream.

So joining the I'm a Giant Blog Challenge I am hoping to indulge on some of that teeny, tiny fantastical goodness only a dollhouse could bring someone. My future will be ripe with baby ovens, midget couches and pea-sized accessories of which I will likely be making all of because I didn't exactly budget out taking on such a mighty challenge. 

Plus, what fun is it if you can't make it? And who wouldn't want to figure out how to make a little runt of a toilet that you can drop in your pocket when it's all said and done. NO ONE that's who.

So I, Kate, am taking advantage of the opportunity Emily so graciously served up to all us bloggers that have a fetish for dwarfed objects and a vivid imagination (and detailed plan) for their dream home. Other bloggers taking this challenge by the horns include:

Emily Henderson (duh)
Morgan from The Brick House
Erin from Design for Mankind
Orlando from Hommemaker
Corbett from Girl Domestic
Jenny from Little Green Notebook
Nicole from Making it Lovely
Kirsten from Simply Grove
and Emily from Go Haus Go


So let's get started.

First, since I will be making my dream home doll house from scratch, I need to get together a floor plan. Luckily, I've never had a strong desire to live in a mansion - no, not even while playing Life - so I can keep things modest and cute and... well... little. I'm thinking about making the whole thing out of cardboard but my backup plan is splurging on some balsa wood depending on my eventual needs for durability and strength. But for now, I'm just going to plan for cardboard since I am seriously that cheap about this whole thing.

Thanks to floorplanner.com (again) I was able to quickly mock something up to see with it would look like. On the first floor, I've always wanted an open plan. Something that's airy, highly functional and allows for easy TV viewing from any angle. Of course I'm going to add my flair to the design and decor but you get the general idea from the sketch below.

For the second floor, I want to keep it all about sleeping and working. A master bedroom complete with on-suite bath, guest bedroom and work space. I think it'd be cool to have a jack-and-jill bathroom connecting the two other rooms for easy... umm... access. (geez, what is WITH me and bathrooms these days?!?!) Again, there's a lot of furniture planning and stuff left to do but, aside from the obvious lack of closet space, I think the floor organization is practical and chock full of functionality and flexibility. 

The biggest issue I've been having is where to put the stairs. An open floorplan makes it a little tough to blend them into the rest of the space and a dollhouse leaves you with a missing entire-back-of-the-house so you can't exactly tack one on somewhere.

Anyway, the plan is to post about the progress every other Thursday until the December 15th deadline, showing you how it all (hopefully) comes together. In the meantime, feel free to follow my collection of inspirational photos, ideas and random thoughts on pinterest.

Yay dollhouses!