Curious about dollhouses

[MLI Designs]

So I am in awe of all the splendid work on this site. 

I look at some of your homes and it makes me want to build a large dollhouse but I really don't have anywhere to display or store large projects.

For those of you who build many houses, do you have space dedicated to displaying them or do you build and sell them? If you do sell them, are you sad to see them go? Building is a labor of love.

[havanaholly]

Where we put our houses is a question that arises from time to time.  I have my 1:24 hacienda on my desk in our bedroom.  The 1;24 Bar Harbor summer cottage and garden folly (two Fairfields and a lighthouse) and my 1;12 Magnolia FL Cracker house are in the livingroom and the White Orchid Christmas House, the Glencroft pub (patiently awaiting the beertaps to be finished and installed) and the newly-completed Washington 2.0 farmhouse are in the garage until someone asks to buy one of them or I donate it.  Yes, there is sadness when one of my little (or not so little) chicks leaves the nest, but how else will I have room to put the next one?

[Debora59]

The quick answer is,  you find the space, lets just say there are no open table top spaces in my home except the coffee table, the night stand and the dining table [ although one doll house sat there a year while I was working on it ] Some of my doll houses are in storage in the basement or displayed out of the way. But there are several  ''key pieces of art'' for enjoyment in the main living spaces,. Usually the one I am working on at the moment is the current '' the light of my life '' I have never found it easy to part with my own artwork, even when I painted. But I don't like being crowded either so sometimes its a good idea.

[WyckedWood]

All of mine ( that I still have) are in my craft room, I bring out a small gingerbread dollhouse @ christmas into the main living area. 

[Deb]

I'm very, very fortunate to have a loft upstairs that's big enough to display my dollhouses.  Right now I have 16 in there.  I just updated my album http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=gallery&module=gallery&controller=browse&album=7122  with the pics I took last fall after adding a new table.  To make landscaping easier I'm putting noch grass directly on the tables so I can change the houses and landscaping features around whenever I get the urge.  It's a blessing to have a room to devote to them, especially one large enough to accommodate an office chair so I can roll around and play.  

I've sold more houses than I've kept but I was okay with that.  A lot of them were custom orders so I knew from the very beginning that they were being created with someone special in mind.  I've had post-building blues (disappointment that a build had come to an end just when I was having so much fun), but my mind and Muse have always been thinking ahead to the next build so that excitement far outweighed anything else.  I've given some away and that was okay too because I felt like I was just holding those houses waiting for the right owner to come along.    However, the houses that I've built for myself are the ones that will never leave because they're too much a part of me.  Those are my emotions come to life.  

[WyckedWood]

If you're thinking of getting a bigger house but have limited space, think tall instead of wide. Avoid the L shaped houses such as the Pierce or Garfield kits (unless they are very very appealing to you, of course). I've had the Hardest time with my Pierce trying to find surfaces to display it on, it takes up a lot of space. I've heard people refer to the Garfield as "when the Garfield came into my life" as in...it kind of has to have its own room, literally. 

This is why I love the Beacon Hill, it's tall but with a small footprint. I display it on an antique sewing machine stand, it fits perfectly. 

Another option for you might be the McKinley which hangs on the wall, but has decent sized rooms. 

[WyckedWood]

Nice options for Mid size to large, tall houses would be Rosedale, Willowcrest or Beacon Hill, to name a few of my favorites.

[Dalesq]

The Tennyson is another mid sized house with a small footprint. I have a 1:12 version (the Big T) in my living room along with 8 1:24 scale houses.

At this point, I've built 17 houses. I've sold 2 houses and gifted 6 and I've given away or sold off kits I've changed my mind about building. I've learned to keep an open mind about the houses. In the beginning I thought I'd never sell any of them, but I love to build, so I have to move them along to others to hopefully enjoy  

A few I expect will always stay with me, like the Prancing Pony Gypsy Wagon, Tudor Cottage and the White Rose, but I've accepted that others will come and go. Each one is a gift of creativity. There are at least a dozen kits in my stash "waiting in the wings." I've done concept development for each one, so those builds will happen one day.

Since I have a small RL home, the reality for me is that many will move on to new homes, but as I said, then someone else will get pleasure from them and that is satisfying too.  

[MLI Designs]

I loved reading all your answers. I wish I could peak into each one of your personal homes and work space. 

I have an office/Craftroom but that's more for sewing. Besides it's very neat. I do have an empty bonus room but I feel like no one ever goes up there so no one would see them that is why I love room boxes. I display them all over my home.

mow here's another for you all. Do your,friends think you are kooky? I'm sure my friends have opinions about me with miniatures but my lifelong friends know I've always played, created, and loved dollhouses and miniatures.

[MLI Designs]

@Deb Wow, I would love that. That's a lifetime and a small fortune. So crazy cool. That's a little girl's dream room

[havanaholly]

Michele, if you ever pass through Seminole, AL, and we are at home you are welcome to come play with my dollhouses with me.

[stickyfingers]

I'm starting my third house, and have 5 kits waiting (just bought a big one) and I'm starting to have that "uh oh..." feeling. Where will they go? We have plenty of room, so I'll find a place, but still...

I have one kit that I think I'll probably sell. I bought a Linfield off of Craigslist when all of this started, and I just can't seem to love it. I've looked at the box, looked at the directions, looked at other houses people have built, looked all over the internet, and still "meh." Building from a kit is far too much time, work, money and effort for a house that you don't love.

If you have limited space to work, you might consider a rolling utility cart. I just got one from Walmart, $30, plus I invested in better casters from the hardware store. The top is big enough to hold a medium sized house, plus it has two shelves and hooks on the side to stow all of the project gear. If you really wanted to be thrifty, you could use the cart for the build, then cover it with a tablecloth and use it for display.