Real Good Toy's Holly Hobby House

I'm so disappointed that when I went to look for the "before" photos of the Holly Hobby House I realized that they were on my old camera which was lost.  So, the only photos of this house I have are from my previous post when I worked on it's electrical back in March (Holly Hobby Electrical).

But, regardless of whether or not I have the "before" photos, the customer's Holly Hobby dollhouse is finished! Customer had previously made adjustments to the kit, making the front door flush with the house, and she had already painted the exterior.  For the front of the house we just needed to add the roof, alter the chimney (which she wanted turned a different direction from how it came in the kit), and install the coach lights.

I will miss this house not only because it was a nice structure to be working on, but also because the customer was a delight to work with and she came in frequently this past month to work on her house with me.  The customer wanted to do as much of the work as she could (isn't that the best part, when you can say, "I did that!"?).  So she visited to discuss flooring, stained them all, and took the kitchen floor home with her to paint; she painted and stained the stair parts; she picked up the cut window and door trims to take home and paint; she dropped by to brainstorm bathroom decors and then she created beautiful subway tile trims for her bathroom out of scrap woods; and towards the end she hung out with us having coffee while she shingled the house.  It was nice to have company while working on her house . . . .

One of the few "In Progress" pictures I have: The Living Room

AFTER: The Living Room

The Living Room will get table or floor lamps someday.

In the foyer we added a little wall under the stairs for her (stairs she painted and stained, but had us assemble as the layers of paint and swelling of the wood made the spindles not fit into the treads properly so she had us do that part).  I thought the little wall was a cute idea and allows for her to create either a closet or a display nook under the stairs if she desires.  If the stairs weren't so steep she could have gotten a powder room under there:

With the wallpaper on it, the little wall blends in.

Little space under the stairs as seen thru front door.

AFTER: Finished Foyer.

I love her fixtures and flooring in the bright and cheery kitchen!  The flooring is random plank that the customer painted in a checkerboard pattern.  It had a country, cutesy feel.  This kitchen pops:

AFTER: Kitchen

Now, the two biggest accomplishments (in my opinion) that the customer should be proudest of is the bathroom and the shingling.  This customer is new to the hobby.  But obviously is very creative and had a vision of how she wanted her dollhouse to look.  She wanted the third floor enclosed.  She originally asked us to just glue roof panels on the front and back and shingle them.  But we pointed out to her that she could use the space up in the attic, even if she doesn't "finish" the rooms to be usable display space, they could still be storage space.  So instead of enclosing it and wasting the space let's put a hinge on the roof and then her options were left open.  She loved the idea.  So we cut the wood and installed the hinge and gave her basic instructions on how to shingle.  And she rocked it:

I think the roof looks seamless: Can you figure out where it opens?

Back Roof opens to reveal more space she can use as storage or decorate in the future.

The second accomplishment (as I mentioned above) was the bathroom.  It seems minor to be so impressed by trim, but it is the trim that makes this bathroom.  And aren't we all in this hobby to appreciate the small details that make a room look more realistic?  Her vision for the bathroom was spot on and made the bathroom my favorite room in this house.  The bathroom chair rail trim was slightly curved chair rail woods and the baseboards are scrap strip woods the customer painted to resemble subway tiles:

AFTER: Hallway and Bathroom

AFTER: Hallway and Bathroom again.

These are the other rooms we wired, wallpapered, and finished (installed flooring and trims) in the house:

AFTER: Master Bedroom

AFTER: Nursery

I will miss the house and the excitement of helping and discussing decor ideas with the customer.

But I think the customer was bit by the hobby bug and will most likely be back soon, perhaps even for another little house or roombox . . . .