Modern Doll House

February 1, 2010
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89 comments

I finished the dollhouse!  At least for now.  I’m sure I’ll never stop making furniture for it.  It’s too much fun.  My son especially loves organizing and arranging the furniture.  The guys in the family are playing with dollhouses and the girls are out riding bicycles.  Nice.

89 Responses
  1. Kylie

    Oh I love it! The furniture is so cool… I think Jack must have his dad's sense of design appreciation :) Very nice. K

  2. Tina

    This is just gorgeous Joel! I would love to have furnishings like those in my real house!! How wonderful that your children have such a lovely doll house to play with. My girls are envious. Great job!! – Tina.

  3. Ork'Idea Atelier

    It's a really great work! Never seen before such a modern design dollhaouse! many compliments,
    Cristina

  4. Rowena

    I love this dollhouse. The simplicity of it, it's so zen. And I'm all for fluid gender roles where there is preference.

    This post rocks.

  11. PUK

    Just found your blog. Looked through all your previous posts. I really like your embroideries. Have you tried to embroider some of your children's drawings? I think that is a great idea too.
    My blog is Danish, but I made a post about embroidering drawings, if you want to have a look:)

  17. amy prior

    te he; glad to discover you have finished the house completely (via Lobster and Swan) it is cuterama-
    I just spied you used our fabric for the bedspread as well!- I have to show Carly :-)

  22. Joel Henriques

    Wow, you are all too nice. Thanks so much for the comments. I am planning on opening an Etsy shop soon. Maybe I will make some dollhouse furniture for that.

  25. Malia

    Hello fellow Portlander! Your doll house is AMAZING! I've passed your post on to a number of my friends. I can't stop looking at it or talking about it!

  28. Marisa@make*happy

    Ditto…to all of the above! You should definitely include dollhouse furniture in your etsy shop. Let us know when it opens!

  32. Meg

    This is absolutely lovely. Thank so much for sharing. I agree with others, I would buy one if it were for sale. I would buy the furniture too. This is a great design because they can get their hands into it better than a reg. dollhouse. Fantastic. So creative.

  33. Joel Henriques

    Thanks. With twins I really wanted it to be approachable from all angles, so there wouldn't be any arguments. It works really well.

    And my Etsy shop is on the way. I plan to sell furniture packs, and maybe an occasional doll house (among other things). Hopefully in two weeks or less. I'll definitely let everyone know.

  34. Geraldine

    Hermoso trabajo!
    Me encantó el blog y fantástico que un papá incursione en el mundo craft!
    Saludos!

  36. sarah

    such a fine little house, and lovely furnishings! i look forward to seeing the etsy shop.
    hope it's okay that i've grabbed a few images for my blog…

  41. neomig

    Dear Joel '
    Your work is so simple and cool .Kids and imaginative enough edults dont need more. In my lost childhood dollhouse I had a veranda and a long chair like that- since I plan on doing my own stuff as well , I'll try to revive that chair.
    I promise to post you!
    Thanks
    Neomig

  44. Tagan Engel

    Your blog and creations are fabulous! It is really wonderful to see a blog on creations of this quality and family/kid oriented from a man. You make really beautiful things and present them so nicely on your blog. i recently started blogging at taganskitchen.blogspot.com still working on finding time to blog as much as I'd like to.

  46. Melissa de la Fuente

    Wow…you have got to be one of the coolest dad's ever! I am so glad I found your site via Holly over at decor8. It is so much fun & so inspiring. This doll house is perfection(trust me, when I was little I spent ALL of my time playing with mine). Your kids are so lucky to have you for a dad!
    xo
    Melissa

  47. moetjatja

    dear Joel, I posted a picture from this post on my blog, just wanted to let you know! I love the homemade furniture. groetjes Hinke

  50. Kendra

    I JUST finished my own copy cat dollhouse which I already love! I just posted a pic on my blog :)

  52. Helen

    Joel,
    Your creativity is inspiring and so simple in its execution but designed so thoughtfully! I love the aquarium box thing and I'm going to have to try one day for my son.

    Regarding your dollhouse – what type of wood did you use? and how did you assemble the pieces? glue? nails?

    thanks for sharing your work with us,
    Helen

  53. Joel Henriques

    Thanks Helen – I used poplar wood and finishing nails. This dollhouse will actually be in my toy making book with full instructions and illustrations for how to make it. You'll have to wait until fall 2011 for that though.

  54. Helen

    I cant wait till 2011! I have a few ideas and will be creating some kind of modern doll house for me.. er, my son, very soon.

  56. Polly

    This looks great. It looks like it's a lot easier to build than the typical cutesy doll house. I also love all those wire furnishings. Brilliant!

  57. Meg

    I've just spent the last hour looking over your blog. I'm amazed… seriously! What an incredible talent you have! I can not wait to try some of these fun things with my son. My poor kid has a mom who for most of his life has been battling cancer or working full time so that I can have health insurance to keep up with the whole "cancer" thing… and my son has spent more time than I care to admit watching TV while mom was sick. Sometimes I find it hard to make our time together really meaningful. I feel like I've found the answer I've been looking for to make life fun for me and my son again. Thank you so much. I really sincerely mean that.

    Meg

  58. Joel Henriques

    Meg – Thanks for the very kind comment. It really means a lot to me to be able to help, even in very simple ways. I'm so glad you found my blog!

  59. louise

    ok, one more comment and I have to get back to work… this is the most stylish dollhouse i’ve seen in ages. I have seen some modern doll houses online, but they range in the 300 to 500 dollar range. This is great!

  61. birrrd

    are there already people living inside that cool space or is it yet more architectural playground for your boy..? i feel like instantly starting to also do some furniture for doll houses though there is no such around. looks so pretty!

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  79. Amanda

    This is sparking my imagination. I’m imagining a little block of wood for a stove, with nickel and dime burners.

    1. Joel

      Great idea! That actually gives me ideas. I’ve been thinking the last couple days now about making a little kitchen play set with bent wire pots and stuff. I think the kids would love it. Good thinking Amanda!

  82. Esme

    Hi Joel! I really like the doll house you made! And I’m wondering how do you make the chair? Do you have any techniques for doing it?

    1. Joel

      Thanks Esme. The chairs are fun to make! I actually have instructions for how to do it in my book, Made to Play. You can check it out at the library if you want, or look at it in a book store.

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