It all started with a 24.99 thrifted dollhouse that my husband found.  He nearly bought it but  changed his mind at the last minute thinking that it was too ugly lol.  Right away I knew I wanted to DIY this dollhouse.  If nothing else, it wasn’t a huge investment and the project would be a good creative boost!  I went back days later and the giant dollhouse was still there waiting for us:)

I had heard about dollhouse Reno’s but had no idea the fun I would have turning this deserted dollhouse into a beautiful modern farmhouse style dollhouse.

Here is the before:

I had been drooling over the Hearth and Hand by Magnolia dollhouse for a few years but being in Canada we sadly don’t have access to Target and truthfully the cost of exchange and shipping would have been too much!

So, I decided to refresh this thrifted dollhouse using the Magnolia one for inspiration!  My goal was to spend no more than $100 including the original $24.99 investment.

I managed to stay on budget for the actual renovation itself but have spent a bit more “furnishing” the new place (I’ve discovered that there is a whole world of miniatures out there and I’m here for it!)

Here are all the details of this DIY Modern Farmhouse Dollhouse

Paint

I used all leftover paint I already had on hand.  The all over colour is Classic Grey, Benjamin Moore.  The shutters are Clary Sage, Sherwin Williams and the black I used was a random matte black sample size I had picked up for a craft project a few years ago

Feature Walls

I used scrapbook paper as “wallpaper” in the bedroom and purchased printables from Jessica Chloe Mini’s on Etsy for the “shiplap walls”.  Also from the same shop I ordered printable subway tile and hex tile which I had laminated at a local print shop to use for tile backsplash in the kitchen and bath.

In the living room I only “installed shiplap” 3/4 of the way and then used cut coffee stir sticks as a trim pieces.

Flooring

I used contact paper that looked like wood flooring for the living room and bedrooms and found a fun contact paper that looked like tile for the kitchen! For the bathroom I used that laminated faux hex tile.

Kitchen

The kitchen was the most time consuming project but also the most rewarding.  To see the full tutorial, head to my Instagram story highlight.

Here are the supplies used for the kitchen:

Foam board | Cardboard | Marble look contact paper | Black pins | Kindling for the open shelf

Supplies

Here is a list of supplies to have on hand if you want to do a DIY Dollhouse refresh of your own! Almost everything can be found at a dollar store.

Small foam paint rollers

Foam paint brushes

Sample size paint or leftover paint

Coffee stir sticks & popsicle sticks

Utility knife (x-acto knife)

Glue gun and glue sticks

Scrapbook paper

Foam board

Contact paper

This was one of the most rewarding projects I’ve done and gave me so much creative joy!

I wanted to give a special shout out to Bethany Fontaine who is an incredible dollhouse renovator and gave me so much advice and helped me so much!  Be sure to check her out on Instagram as well as her YouTube Channel.

Also, if you decide to tackle a DIY Dollhouse Refresh, please be sure to tag me!  I love seeing your creative projects as well!

Until next time,