The 'Before' Shot

Welcome to my brand new blog. This is a different kind of blog for me as I'm usually blogging about photography and art. But I wanted to document this as, at least, I could see the transformation at the end and you never know, I may inspire someone else to give this a go. 

I've had my dolls' house for over 20 years now; my Granddad made it for me, with my Mum when I was little, just before my Granddad died and, while I played with it when I was younger, it's since been sitting in the loft for a good decade.

However, I've recently moved house where I have much more space for things like this, so I've finally decided to give restoration a go - on a miniature scale! 

As you can see, years spent in the loft have taken its tole on my doll's house; 

This was how it arrived and was how it looked when I opened it for the first time in who knows how long. 

Obviously, a lot of work needs doing to it... 

I'm going to start with the exterior and work my way in I think. Do little bits at a time and hopefully it'll start to look like a real little house soon. The shape and style of the house is quite a standard dolls' house one. But that means I can almost make it any period I like (within the last few centuries), so I've decided to make mine a 1910 house. So very late Edwardian, going into the reign of King George the V. Mainly because I love the fashion then..and Downton Abbey has inspired me!

I've seen some amazing dolls houses; you'd never know they were 1:12th scale - they look like real houses! I've also seen some beautiful hand-made dolls which, if I was rich, I would treat myself to a few but I'm still working on a budget option for the dolls themselves. 

Anyway, I've ordered my first item for the house, so I'm excited to get on with it when it arrives. 

This is where the fun begins!