Friday
Oct212011
I'M A GIANT!!!!! Update.
Friday, Oct 21, 2011 64 Comments So 'Man Caves' are everywhere right now, right? Everyone is all, 'oh i'm building a man cave', 'oh i'm going in my man cave', 'oh isn't my man cave the best', yadda yadda, all the time. BORING!!! But you know what isn't in the zeitgeist right now and what isn't boring? DOLLHOUSE CAVES!!!!!!!
YUP. It's Corbett's garage and her husband Leigh wanted to turn it into a man cave. He talks about it ALL the time, understandably so. But unfortunately he wasn't making it happen fast enough. So one day we snuck in there, reorganized and deemed it the 'Dollhouse Cave' which was quite QUITE upsetting to him. I mean, its kinda a man's worst nightmare, literally. But in there we have Me, Corbett and Orblando's dollhouses and we couldn't be happier.
My progress has been slow because building it took a while, and then all the construction is the most BORING PART!!!! I'm so glad i don't have a renovation show, its just not the fun stuff for me. I've been shopping like crazy and i have loads of adorable dollhouse furniture now, but i'm forcing myself to finish the flooring and the electrical before i get to shop any more. So last night i had my guys in to lay the flooring:
Its different width balsa and walnut from the art store. But instead of staining it i had my guys paint it high gloss white, with teeny tiny paintbrushes:
And the thing about this house is that its very 'old' so the floor boards were popping up, so i had my guys in last night to nail them down with two teeny brass nails for each board. 
I'm starting to get super into it, i just can't wait until the electrical is done. I'm seriously debating not doing it, but i think eventually i will wish that i had. And the thing about dollhouses are that you actually have to do it similar to real houses. You have to do the electrical before you paint or wallpaper or do anything FUN. I even looked into getting it wired by a dollhouse professional and guess what the quote was: $600!!!!!
It's daunting, but its my weekend goal.
Meanwhile my fellow bloggers are doing insane stuff:
Corbett (Girl Domestic) is doing custom herringbone wood flooring, BY HAND!!! (ask her if she is regretting it now and she'll say yes, but when its done she is going to be soooooo happy).
Morgan is building an A-frame. It's upsettingly awesome.
Morgan, give me that chair now. and these photos are distorted - they are all elongated, sorry Morgan, not sure why.
Dude, i want that cow-hide chair.
Erin MADE this Pendleton Blanket Replica. I hate her. In a 'I love this blanket so much I wish it was mine' kinda way.
Now this is EXTREMELY UPSETTTING. Nauseating, actually. Jenny is killing it. and me. I mean, she got all of this stuff for $5. FIVE DOLLARS!!!!!!! It's because she's a good person, that must be it. But i will fly to New York, show up at her doorstep, pretend to bring her my home-made cinnamon rolls, act all sweet, meanwhile the cinnamon rolls are laced with something that will put her into a lovely little nap, then i will steal all of these brass pieces and that screen. I can't handle it. I'll leave an apology letter, signed 'Natalie Holbrook' to confuse her.
Told you, its upsettingly amazing. Grandma holding baby is decidedly creepy.
I'm speechless.
And Orb-lando? Forget about it. He's killing it the hardest right now. Check this out:
Sorry, its a very crude picture. But its so incredible i don't even know what to say. It's a 'falling down' barn on the outside and a super modern space inside. He made those stairs. He's made everything. He is king of the dollhouses right now. ALL HAIL ORLANDO THE KING OF DOLLHOUSES!!!!!!!And Making it Lovely is making it lovely with this adorable pink bathroom set:
Meanwhile, other bloggers are doing insanely awesome stuff. Here are the standouts as of right now, but don't worry people you have time to catch up, you can start right now if you want. And if i don't have your link at the list at the bottom, please leave it in a comment (don't email me, gmail is the most annoying thing in the world) and i'll add it.
This is incredible. She upholstered that mini-sofa herself. It literally looks 100% real.
\She painted a mural on the ceiling of her nursery. Serious dedication.
Gold leaf ceiling anyone??
This is a moodboard that i love - that sofa is amazing.
A MINI ORB-LANDO@@@@@!!!!!!!
This one is 100% from scratch. Those Shoji doors open and close and she painted a mural on the ceiling. It's so awesome.
JWK Style:
To be fair, she finished hers a while ago, pre 'i'm a giant' But its really amazing and i will go ahead and take credit for it.
Here's the moodboard for this one, i'm extremely excited to see how its going to turn out. That rocker and the caned chair are both dope.
And here are a list of other awesome GIANT bloggers participating so you can check their progress. Retweet, relink, re-blog, whatever - the more people involved the better.
THis one just in and its insane, she has replicated her own house, room by room, lamp by lamp, check it:
And again, if you are doing it and i missed you, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT and i'll update the list when i get home later.
Reader Comments (64)
I've been remodeling my dollhouse from my youth. Here is my latest update
http://theprojectcorner.blogspot.com/2011/05/doll-house-remodel-part-3.html
Ah! You missed me! Progress is slow, but happening! http://www.gohausgo.com/category/dollhouse/
You guys freakin' rock so hard.
I added you guys - Emily and Joanna!! Thanks so much for linking here. And the are BOTH awesome.....
I'm missing too :)
tinyfixation.blogspot.com
I love seeing everybody's stuff! Some of these ideas make me insanely and unreasonably jealous.
Whoa, so many dollhousers, there's some super cool stuff here!
Love your glossy white floorboards. Floor lust has totally enveloped me lately, so yummy. Corbett's Herringbone makes my math muscles ache, but that's going to look so killer.
Thanks for including me as a standout, you're rad. :)
Didn't know if you knew, but when reading your postings of late, your pictures are coming in gargantuan and fuzzy in Google Reader! Makes the reader move on to another blogger.
It's amazing to see what you all "non dolls' house" people come up with! :-) I can't wait to see the finished projects.
omg eeps! dollhouse envy...yeah, mine's not like that AT ALL! will blog about it soon though!
I am LOVING all the tiny furniture you all have found. As a *miniature* addict myself, I wish I had known about this sooner but it looks like I still have time to jump in. Hmm the wheels are turning :-)
Thanks Emily!
I decided to join the challenge when I read about it on Making it Lovely! I have always wanted to build and decorate a dollhouse. This seemed like the perfect time to do it. I have been spending so much time painting the exterior of the house and putting it together, that I haven't really gotten to the "fun stuff" yet!!!! I would have never guessed in a million years how long it takes to paint all the tiny little pieces that go into building a dollhouse! I am thankful to have an awesome husband who is helping me with the building process! lol
Here is my link: http://mymodstyle.blogspot.com/search/label/dollhouse
You rock Emily. That floor is so delicious looking, I could lick it! All the houses look awesome!
Wow! That's SO cool! Adorable! :) I made a little mini room out of a shoebox and made all the furniture out of cardboard boxes, but that was a couple of years ago, and I don't really like the results I got. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't really good. I've been meaning to try make a better one soon, just haven't got around to it yet...
I'm so flattered to be included, thank you for the mention Emily! I am having a blast with this challenge, best idea!!!
Dear Emily, Please include me in the Dollhouse Challenge. My progress also is slow but I'm making my dollhouse out of cardboard. I love seeing everyone's different ideas. This has been a great idea! Thanks, DeAnna Mackensen
Emily - I love reading your blog but your photos are way too big to be viewed in your RSS feed!
Oh my gosh, so cute. I'm a longtime fan of Making It Lovely , so I'd seen the bathroom set, but the rest was all new to me! Coincidentally, my grandmother just moved out of her house and gave me my childhood dollhouse - she and my grandfather (who's since passed) built and painted one for each of us girls for Christmas one year. I'm not quite ready to tackle redecorating it (I've just started my very first room renovation; I'm making a library out of a storeroom - so excited about that!) but I think it will make a charming dvd cabinet for now. Mostly I just wanted an excuse to keep it in my living room because it makes me smile every time I see it. Even my dude likes it!
My model is here : http://www.calirezo.com/maquette-maison-modele-reduit-model-house-mini-home.html
Please add Me :) "Design Thoughts"
I am very slow at his, but I am restoring my dollhouse from when I was 9!! I am so impressed and inspired and a little JEALOUS of everyones amazing ideas!!! I have been able to ..um..paint one fireplace...ha!! More to come soon!
http://thinkdesign-thoughts.blogspot.com/2011/10/tinyim-giant-challenge-update.html
Hi Emily, I've been so enthusiastically following your blog since I found you 4 weeks ago. Please include me in the challenge, as I'm an avid miniature enthusiast. I've a blog called Loganberry lane which can be found at;
Loganberrylane.blogspot.com
Awww. Looks fun, but I am busy building a little mini me that is due in 5 weeks, and I don't think my husband would appreciate ANOTHER project right now. haha
Thanks Emily! I'm doing a little "redecorating" in the kitchen so I'll post pics when I'm finished! xo Jenna
I need another project like I need a hole in the head, but I couldn't resist. Because I'm a bit of a sucker for punishment, I've also decided to build my dollhouse on a tight budget...$50 worth of tight. I'm out to prove that you can create a cool space without spending tons of money. It's gonna be awesome!
thanks for the link love! i'm learning alot about design from this challenge, everyone's work is so inspirational!! ahhhh mine's still a little cardboard box! XD