CHILDHOOD DOLLHOUSE MAKEOVER: Colorful Kitchen Tour & DIY Ideas

I renovated my childhood dollhouse during quarantine in 2020. Using a combination of my original furniture and accessories, bargain purchases, and DIY projects, I transformed my beloved but tired dollhouse into a modern, colorful abode for a lovely family of Calico Critter bunnies. Read on for lots of photos and inspiration from my colorful DIY dollhouse kitchen!

Dollhouse Kitchen: Before

My mom purchased my childhood dollhouse at a local dollhouse shop in 1978. It’s moved around a lot in the last 40+ years and it had definitely seen better, more stylish days. Here are a few photos of the Kitchen before the renovation…

That curved doorway from the kitchen leads to the Dining Room. Here’s the whole dollhouse, pre-reno (and post water damage).

And here is one more, low quality circa 1980 ‘before’ shot, back from the original glory days for my dollhouse:

It was definitely time for a makeover!

Dollhouse Kitchen: After

After months of work, here’s my updated, colorful DIY dollhouse Kitchen!

The Details

DIY Dollhouse Kitchen Walls & Floors

For the walls, I used patterned scrapbook paper attached with Mod Podge. Neither the walls nor floors are square in this dollhouse so there was a lot of dry fitting, cutting, trimming, and hoping for the best.

My very first step should’ve been to paint the ceiling but I was apparently eager to get started😉.

For the floors, I cut the ends off of large popsicle sticks to create hardwood flooring. I glued them down directly onto the original wooden floored, staggering the boards to mimic real hardwood. I used a combination of Fast Grab Tacky Glue and wood glue to adhere the popsicle sticks. Next, I painted the boards using a thick white acrylic paint ~ it still took multiple coats to get the coverage I wanted. Finally I used books and clamps to hold everything down while the glue dried.

Because I used scissors to cut the popsicle sticks, the ends of the boards have a slight curve to them. It doesn’t bother me too much but it’s something to note if you aren’t using a specialized cutter like this one: EZ Cutter.

Finally I added trim: balsa wood baseboards and ceiling moulding glued in place with tacky glue. I had a few pieces of fancier dentil trim so I used that on the area above the sink. I painted the trim before installing it and then did lots of touch up with while caulk and paint.

DIY Dollhouse Kitchen Island & Hutch

The kitchen island is a piece from my original dollhouse that I upcycled.

I removed the pump, painted the dark wood a bright turquoise and added a top made from a wood slat that was cut down to size, stained, and glued on to form the countertop.

For the stools, I used wood pieces cut from dowels, wood discs covered in batting and fabric, and lots & lots of glue.

If you look closely at the before pictures, you can see the rolling pin hanging on the wall in the old kitchen. I wanted to reuse it so I painted it to match the new decor. The stand mixer is from Michaels. The dough is white Sculpey clay. I made the cookie cutter by cutting a strip of tine from an Altoid tin and (very) carefully bending it into a heart shape using tweezers and pliers. I made the bowl from paper clay which I painted with acrylic paint and sealed with a glossy glaze.

The hutch is from AC Moore. I miss that place.

I painted the hutch a harvest gold color (another subtle nod to the 1970s) and added accessories.

I made the plates from paper clay and patterned scrapbook paper. The mini cookbooks are magazines covered with scrapbook paper (this tutorial was my starting point).

As soon as I figure out what else to put on the shelves, I’ll be filling them up!

DIY Dollhouse Kitchen Cabinets & Appliances

I made the cabinets from more cut wood slats and balsa/basswood.

The cabinet drawers just pieces of balsa wood glued onto the main cabinet box. The hardware consists of cut pieces of a bamboo skewer painted antique gold and attached with glue. The sink faucet is polymer clay wrapped around a wire base, painted, and glued to the sink. It took a lot of trial and error to get them looking decent. Maybe next time I’ll splurge and purchase a faucet lol.

I sewed the sink skirt from scrap fabric and glued it onto the hardware. The utensil crock is a plastic cap covered in scrapbook paper, filled with the remainder of my original kitchen tools.

For the fridge and stove, I used foam board, wood slats, and balsa wood. I read several tutorials and improvised construction based on my materials. The fridge opens but isn’t finished on the inside. The stove is equally cute but non-functional. The oven door and stove burners are made from gray card stock. I used decorative brad tops for the stove knobs. The pots are from my stash.

DIY Dollhouse Kitchen Wall Shelves

When I was designing the kitchen I knew I needed to add something on the right side to bring balance to the room. Wall shelves made from balsa wood strips fit the bill perfectly. I glued the shelves directly to the wall using a hot glue gun because I was impatient. The hot glue is hard to work with and difficult to reposition without damaging your wallpaper (ask me how I know…). Tacky glue with some temporary braces would be a better idea.

For the box type shelves, I used wood glue to attached the pieces together and added caulk where necessary. The long, open shelf is just a strip of painted balsa wood. The brackets are painted pieces of a wooden skewer with a bead on the end. The balsa wood is so soft that I was able to poke thin wire into it to create cup hooks. I secured the wire with a bit of tacky glue so they wouldn’t fall out.

The mugs are made from paper clay and painted with acrylic paint. I gave them a glossy topcoat with triple thick glaze. I followed this tutorial by Ann Wood.

The canisters are made from wooden spools (tutorial coming soon!).

And that’s a wrap on my DIY Dollhouse Kitchen tour! I hope you found some good ideas and inspiration for decorating your own dollhouse. It’s really so much fun and a tiny bit addictive. I’ll be sharing more dollhouse rooms, so be sure to check back. In the meantime, check out this post: 10 Easy To Find Supplies For DIY Dollhouse Decor to see some of my favorite, budget friendly supplies and a few sneak peeks of the rest of my renovated childhood dollhouse.

Questions? Comments? Leave them below, I’d love to hear what you think of my colorful DIY Dollhouse Kitchen!

xo,

Jen

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