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Depth of Houses


Sylvie_Sobel

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We are noticing while working on our first dollhouse, my friend and I are coming to terms with how actually "Shallow" the house is. 

We are working with an Orchid. I know that the rooms can't be too deep - you have to see and be able to "play" into them, but we're now wondering if different models have different interior depths or if this is just a standard part of the medium that must be accepted. We realize also, that in a real home there would be items pressed against that 4th wall that we've removed for our own viewing pleasure. 

We've already begun discussing building on - adding a basement, extending the house of the side, etc. Are there ways to "deepen" a house, or do we need to start saving for a larger one already, lol. 

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I am working on the Willow by Greenleaf, and it has very deep rooms......You can do whatever modifications you want to your house. It is called 'bashing'......Try doing a google search. here is a really nice one http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=gallery&module=gallery&controller=view&id=113310&browse=1

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1 hour ago, Mid-life madness said:

I am working on the Willow by Greenleaf, and it has very deep rooms......You can do whatever modifications you want to your house. It is called 'bashing'......Try doing a google search. here is a really nice one http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=gallery&module=gallery&controller=view&id=113310&browse=1

Definitely love this add-on. It is a very intricate house! <3

I'm quite sure we're going to be adding on at least one downstairs room this weekend. For most houses you'll be building it out (length-wise) and up (to add more stories), correct?

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I’m glad you shared that album Carrie, I missed that build altogether. Beautiful addition. I normally don’t care for too many add ons because they look like add ons, I like the lines of the houses as they were designed. I feel that way about real life houses too.  That one is exceptional though. The Beacon Hill has nice deep rooms, but not too deep. I definitely think you should get a second house :) (were enablers). 

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1 hour ago, havanaholly said:

I work with the room dimensions by making the furniture & accessories to fit.

We had been working from some real furniture dimensions, but has to size it down a little from 1:12 for fit properly. Our "copper tub" and bed we've made are smaller than what they ought to be, ahaha

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56 minutes ago, Sylvie_Sobel said:

We had been working from some real furniture dimensions, but has to size it down a little from 1:12 for fit properly. Our "copper tub" and bed we've made are smaller than what they ought to be, ahaha

One thing we have discovered is that there is scale and there is scale in miniature as well as real life furniture. Just as there is real furniture designed for large spaces (think over-sized, puffy leather recliners) there is furniture made for smaller spaces (think a delicate, silk upholstered Queen Anne chair). Even three 1:12 dining room chairs from three different makers can vary widely in size/scale.

Your reworked copper tub and bed are just the right size for the space they occupy -- precisely what they ought to be. :D 

You may not have been around long enough to see my mantra: smoke and mirrors! The point being that what looks right, is right!

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Different models of houses will definitely have different depths. On some of the larger houses, 16" is about standard, especially if the house has a porch. I think the depth limit to most houses is 22", if you want to get them through a doorway. At that point, some houses split that depth and are two rooms deep. Usually the side opens up in order to view and work on the front room.

There's a lot you can do to maximize the space in your small houses. You can delete a staircase, add a small addition on, build in furniture, or just use fewer pieces. Instead of a large living room, have simply a small fireplace and two chairs, then fill in around them. Never think you have to have a huge house to make it charming. Crowded doesn't exist in dollhouses.

There are also many items you can use for your dollhouses to make those small ones look a little larger. There are narrow doors, narrow staircases, and some companies like Earth and Tree sell smaller sized windows. If you can score a plastic Renwal or Ideal bathroom set on Ebay, those are 3/4" to 1' and they work well with a small room. Occasionally so does Petite Princess furniture or Lundy furniture, which is also 3/4" to 1'.

I bought a standard single bed and then took it apart and cut off about an inch on the side rails to make it a little shorter. It's in a shadowbox I'm making where the rooms are only 5" x 8" (and 7" high). That's another option for dealing with small spaces.

A small house will really challenge you where a larger one is may not. Check out what Wenlaine did with her Orchid library:

 

This is the Greenleaf Storybook Cottage which I think is about the same size as the Orchid. Scroll down almost to the end and see how a simple small addition allowed a staircase to be repositioned and what was done to make this little house look absolutely spacious.

https://my-miniaturemadness.blogspot.com/search/label/Storybook%20Cottage%20Dollhouse?updated-max=2018-06-29T08:47:00-07:00&max-results=20&start=12&by-date=false

 

Sometimes less is lots and lots more.

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On 2018-09-24, 7:19:59, Mid-life madness said:

I am working on the Willow by Greenleaf, and it has very deep rooms......You can do whatever modifications you want to your house. It is called 'bashing'......Try doing a google search. here is a really nice one http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=gallery&module=gallery&controller=view&id=113310&browse=1

Wow! I’d swear I was looking at a real house in some of those photos.

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