Creating a doll house for a Barbie collection is surprisingly easy. In fact, you can make one using simple wooden materials and even with basic skills in carpentry and woodworking. When creating a DIY Barbie dollhouse out of wood, there are a few steps that you have to keep in mind.
1. Designing
Barbie dolls are in between 5 to 9 inches standing up. As such, have your doll house stand at 50 inches or 15 inches per story. It should be comprised of at least 4 rooms with 2 rooms per level at least.
The basic dollhouse design is a cutaway house which allows persons to move their dolls one room to another easily. As such, your house should be made of:
1 large back panel
2 walls for the left and right sides
At least 1 divider per level; and
2 roof panels
Staircases are purely optional for dollhouse but they do provide some sense of cohesion for the entire house. If you want to add stair cases, give clearance by at least 1 inch from the back panel.
Also, the width of your dollhouse should be 5 inches from the back panel to the front at all levels. This is to prevent the dolls from falling off the house if they got knocked over.
2. Materials
Choose a sturdy wood light cypress or oak that is untreated for this project. Dollhouses are fairly simple woodworking projects so the tools you will need are a hammer, a saw, nails or galvanized screws, a drill (if you opt for screws), wood glue, and paint.
As for paint, it would be advisable that you use something that fits the overall Barbie theme like bright blue, girlish pink, and other softer tones. You might also want to add ornaments to the house such as chandeliers, small plants, and mini carpets but these are purely optional.
3. Building and Assembly
First, you have to cut your wood panels into the dimensions required in your woodworking plan. It is a must that you follow the measurements precisely so everything will fit once assembled.
Start with the back panel as this will determine the shape of the house. Once the back panel is set, you can then start gluing the dividers starting with the ground floor. Make sure that the corners of the floors and wall are nailed or screwed tightly so as to give the house some stability.
It would be preferred if you test the strength of your house in each level that you add. The last thing you want to happen is for the doll house to collapse once toys are put in it.
4. Finishing
If the base house is complete and sturdy, you can then start running fine grit sandpaper over the outer walls and the back. Once done, you can then start applying paint at all sides of the house. You may want to give every room its own unique color scheme to give them personality.
After this, all that is left to do is to glue in any ornament you might have purchased. You may also want to purchase Barbie-related accessories like pets and furniture to complete the dollhouse’s look.
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