DIY Miniature Dollhouse Makeover Transformation Renovation Project And Tutorial Part I

Enjoy a video of a Hobbies of Dereham Special Georgian No. 244 Dollhouse, circa 1950's, as it is undergoing rehabilitation, and watch as it is magically transformed from beginning to end for the love of a child. To follow along with the actual transformation, see blog:minismidgeon.bl...
Also, be sure to check out Part II which has no captions, just a fun tour of the completed interior, along with doll simulation and a rooftop garden!

[@user-uy5tw9dd1v]

Brilliant restoration, you deserve a pat on the back for your perseverance, i enjoyed everything about this video so thank you!

[@DebbieHoward-jj2fk]

DONE A GRATE JOB , LOOKS A LOT BETTER . THANK YOU FOR RESTORING THE DOLL HOUSE

[@craftingmayhemmorewithkina]

I’m so glad I found this! My old procrastinating self purchased a rehab dollhouse several years ago. Pulling it out the basement this year to begin the rehab! Going to need all the help I can get because a LOT of the wood is brittle and needs replacing…close eyes, take a deep breath and dive in!!!!!

[@kat3910]

WOW. What a labor of love! But it so paid off - very nicely done!

[@vickinoeske1154]

Truly gorgeous. Your attention to detail is marvelous. I do wish you had kept the clunky old electrical system, just because it was original.

[@brendasusanchristensen7058]

Being a miniaturist I truly appreciated your care in the transformation, and your eye for detail! Its just Stunning, Love it!!

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Thank you so much! It means a great deal that a miniaturist appreciates the end result of the transformation.

[@barbaraness4507]

This reminds me of an old house restoration, and that’s exciting to me! I love to see old homes restored to their glory, and that includes dollhouses. Bless you for all your hard work!

[@renaerickson4190]

Its amazing what a little paint! Can do inst it? A lot! Of work! But, so! Much! Fun!!! ❤😂

[@jojosmumdorothy2829]

I'm just about to embark on renovating an old dolls house so I cant wait to watch all ur videos 😀

[@dishobbies3885]

Such a wonderful makeover and I am sure whoever originally made the house is smiling up in heaven. You should be very proud that you took a pitiful, sad dollhouse and made it into a beautiful home. I so want a dollhouse or doll rooms. I have collected many pieces in 1/12 scale to make one but just afraid to attempt such a task. I may start with a room box first to see how well I do at making it look real. Since you put so much work into the house, I hope when you get old and pass away that you leave it to someone like a miniaturist or dollhouse collector who will appreciate it.

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

I started out with little 1:24 kits to ensure I had the dexterity, then moved on to room boxes before graduating to take on this project. It can seem overwhelming but if you try a room box I think you’ll eventually feel ready to take on an entire 1:12 dollhouse. The fact that you already have a collection to fill it will help you immensely during the planning stages. And yes, I renovated this specifically as an heirloom so I’m hoping it will always be treated with respect and love and continues to be passed on to others with a real appreciation for minis. Thanks for watching!

[@dishobbies3885]

Thanks for the encouragement and hopefully one day soon I will create one room box.

[@amandajones6481]

I know you wrote this 4 years ago but I hope you did buy a room box to make into a miniature room of some kind. I just bought a Book Nook box that came in a set of laser cut plywood pieces that you put together with wood glue, and I decided to make it into a Victorian style miniature library. As this is my first ever miniature project it's taking some time to create, but I love doing it, and it's so much fun to make everything for it. The best way to make a Book Nook is to paint/wallpaper the wall pieces, make the floor and ceiling and put in the lighting BEFORE you glue the whole box together. Book Nooks are very small spaces on the inside so it's much, much easier to paint and decorate the separate pieces before you put the whole thing together. I bought a bookcase for my Book Nook, but I made all the rest of the furniture furniture first out of either basswood (which is a great wood for making miniatures) or cardstock, and I watched lots of great videos on how to make miniature furniture. There are lots of lovely, generous people on KZbin who are happy for you to use their templates for making things as long as you don't try to sell their templates as your own property. I recommend going to Ara Bentley's channel, called Bentley House Minis where she makes amazing miniatures and dollhouses. Ara also has a website where she sells great room boxes. Cheers from Amanda in Melbourne

[@renaerickson4190]

Thank! You!!! I thought, i was the only one! 🥰

[@kyekazei5303]

Oh this is the best doll house repair and update I have ever seen (and I love to view them). I love the materials you used to stay so true to the flavor of this beautiful old house. Love this. Nicely Done F.G.G.

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Thanks you for watching, and for your very kind words!

[@treasuremedollsandcraft3162]

Wow what a transformation

[@rae4772]

Wow! What an amazing finished project. Thank you for sharing the journey!

[@francinemiranda8409]

What an amazing transformation, maybe even more of a labor of love than the original build. Great job! 👍🏡👍

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

"If these walls could talk," right? I wish I knew more about the family that owned it previously. I worried as I worked on it that they'd be devasted to see it changed so much.

[@shavinmccrotch9435]

Isn’t it funny how it looks so much like a real house does when it’s being gutted, stripped, scraped, sanded, & refinished??? All the same stains, cracks, piles of dust & debris etc,... just scaled way down. It’s cracking me up. Too bad you didn’t have tiny floor sanders, buckets, ladders, brooms, saws, & saw horses to set up just for the video! 😆

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

The way you describe this! 😂

[@arosefortes6507]

😆 That would've been cute! I was thinking the same thing how real it looked. The remodel looks great. Even that went along like a real remodel dose. She did an amazing job, had to take some patience doing all that. 💗

[@pleaseandthankyou855]

I wanted to watch this but I can't handle the up and down, and in and out motion. It's making me seasick.

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

My sincere apologies, Patty. It's something I hope to address in the future. KZbin has functionality that allows you to slow videos down which might improve your viewing experience in the meantime. Best!

[@Lily_Leonard.]

Lol same

[@jantune]

Lovely!

[@thurmamorgan5484]

Loved this video! You did a beautiful job. I also got some wonderful ideas. I bought a dollhouse from Ebay right after my first grandchild was born with plans to fix it up for her. Fast forward 10 years and it's still sitting in my craft room! It's smaller then yours but just about as old. I swear it's an addiction because now I have 4 houses and boxes of furniture and fabulous do dads to put in them. I'm retired now so I guess it's time to get busy!!

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

It's one of the most rewarding "addictions" there is, I think. I hope you do get busy and tackle those projects. They bring such joy!

[@shavinmccrotch9435]

I can read the captions or watch the video, but not both, unfortunately. 😞

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Yes, it’s an issue I’ll have to address at some point

[@tamarasimmons9706]

I found myself stopping and backing up the video to be able to read description as it flashed across the screen way to fast. Loved the transformation. Beautiful!

[@prettychill6181]

My great grandmother had a similar doll house absolutely stunning

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Thank you! It took me forever to determine its origins. Lovely to know someone recognizes a similar dollhouse that had been part of their own family!

[@cindyfinn4845]

Stunning makeover tfs

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Thanks!

[@samsmom1491]

Fabulous job on renovating an older home. Some would've left it in it's original condition "for historical value." In this house's case, it needed to be renovated and it looks fresh and contemporary. I recognized the wallpaper from Itsy Bitsy Mini and have the same pattern, except not in gray. I use her wallpaper in almost all my projects. I, too use battery operated lights. I've even found the circular battery-operated push button stick up lights used in closets or under cabinets work well in some modern settings and provide a lot of light. I put one in one of my kitchens and in a bathroom that can only be glimpsed through a doorway and a window. It's easy to screw off the battery case to change the batteries.

[@HazelNutz2]

Oh man I have to agree with others. Lots of awesome info here shared so thank you but I really would have preferred a voice over instead of words. Made me a bit nauseous. So hard to keep up with both the image and words too. A bit fast

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Thank you for watching! I do apologize for any issues with descriptions while watching.

[@Kitsune_Kai]

You might consider using KZbin's own functionality to do subtitling, which would be easier, and would allow people to read it in different languages through Google's auto-translation.

[@kyekazei5303]

The descriptions were just a bit fast for me. I wanted too see the filming and have time to read your comments. But two viewings solved that. Exceptional work.

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

@@Kitsune_Kai Thanks! I'll have to look into that as a solution when I find a bit more time to work on the video.

[@lariwyman6273]

I just think that they were too big and blocked the image. Also panning from down and up was very hard to watch...

[@melhalliday]

Absolutely beautiful! It must have taken ages. The detail is exquisite!

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

It took a great deal of planning and time to execute, for sure! Thanks for watching!

[@scrapfancy]

What a great project to play with. Nice job. I do have to say that the wording was hard to read. If it was black print, might be better. Can you change it. I was enjoying the change and the words went away before I finished reading. Look forward to seeing your other vlogs. 🌞🏝

[@jeanassell]

Thank you! Really enjoyed this. ❤️

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Thanks, I'm so glad you enjoyed!

[@renaerickson4190]

I think, i would have just made the house! Myself! If, i were you! Lol.😢😂❤

[@artiscrutial]

Omg this dollhouse is beautiful 💖🤗

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Thanks a lot!

[@modgranny]

Amazing remodel! Patience plus!

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Thank you!

[@barbarakozera4564]

Everything went too quickly - the pictures of repairs and the written descriptions. I give you lots of credit for all the work though.

[@susanbeem6324]

Reading your descriptions was tough.

[@renaerickson4190]

Yes! It is! Very much! So lol.

[@suecox2308]

Fabulous job!

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Thank you, Sue!

[@helenehenkel]

stunning transformation

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Thank you very much!

[@RhiandAmanda]

Lots of pictures seem out of order or doubled up and the way the text scrolls is hard to read but other than that the dollhouse work is great!

[@hasanmurtaza8339]

Yours is the only video i have ever watched at 0.5x speed. Normally i speed up videos to 2x 😂

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

I really wish I had more time to attempt fixing the video so this wasn't a consistent issue. It's certainly flawed but I appreciate the fact that some people, like you, are aware that it could be sped up or slowed down on their end so as to achieve a better individual viewing experience. Thanks ever so much for the comment which might help others to "fix" it on their end until I can get to it.

[@hasanmurtaza8339]

@@fairygoblinsgrin6199 that's coz i really enjoyed looking at the details 😊😍 And yes, most of the problems with any video can be fixed on viewers ends, the volumes can be adjusted, slow/boring videos can be sped up, and interesting ones can be slowed down to better enjoy. Keep up the good work 👍👍

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

@@hasanmurtaza8339 You rock!

[@msdony308]

too bad the original wall & front wall papers are unsavable. A real labor of love . Lots of work but when I'm done building a little house , I'm like bummer , now what do I do , its finished.

[@lenscraftylife]

Looks great. Tfs.

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Thank you!

[@user-hr8bl9td3v]

綺麗です(^^♪　インテリアのセンスが良いと思います。

[@rachele7398]

Great vid. Hadnt even thought about lead in the paint, thanks for pointing that out.

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Glad you enjoyed and found it useful!

[@sarahjohnson7469]

Thank you for making this video. I just bought my 5yo an old wooden dollhouse at the Goodwill that were going to fix up so this gave me some great ideas. Can you elaborate on how you achieved the roof shingles? I'm stumped.

[@samsmom1491]

I think the roof shingles are actually high quality printed paper which you can find on Etsy or dollhouse retail websites.

[@jeanudzinski1780]

The captions moved too quickly and too many fonts. Really couldn't read the captions and watch the video. Too many distractions.

[@gernotbird1383]

I have to agree here. The captions are up for merely 2 seconds. I am quick reader but this requires rocket man reading speed🤣🤣👍

[@kathkwilts]

Just a suggestion... your fabrics are a bit bulky for things like curtains and such... try to use lighter weight, more drapable fabrics to stay in scale. Try sheers and linings, lawn, batiste and the like... try setting the pleats and folds tighter with steam or watered down white glue to stiffen...

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Hmmm...I’m wondering if you meant to reply on a different video, perhaps? I only ask because my dollhouse has no curtains nor makes much use of fabrics

[@kathkwilts]

What about the shower curtain at around 21:50? And the kitchen curtains at around 1:16?

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Ok, yes, I did make the shower curtain and agree it’s not perfect. Definitely a learning curve. The curtains came with the kits I used for the outdoor garden rooms. Appreciate your input. Thanks for watching!

[@treasurejensen7682]

Beautiful

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Thank you!

[@judycee4]

You know, I never even thought about lead paint. Good thing to know.

[@bubbles2868]

Descriptions hard to read....not on the screen long enough . Would be better to have slowed that down

[@annecallender813]

Hi I was given a house for Xmas was wondering if you could give me some advice what do I use to glue tiles on the roof

[@michaelagnew7825]

i love the roof, can you do a vid on it

[@elisabethclancy3949]

How do I see the finished house . The work you did to restore this poor house,amazing . Great work you’re very creative and talented . Thank you for sharing

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Thank you! If you click on the FairyGoblinsGrin Icon it will show the other available videos where you'll find the video tour of the completed dollhouse. Best!

[@renaerickson4190]

That musics gonna make me have! Fits!!!! 🙄😬😒🤯

[@lindafaucz9120]

Awesome finish! You did a great job. Wanna fix mine?

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Thanks! These projects are pretty overwhelming, aren't they? If you decide to take your own on, I wish you all the luck!

[@toniroesslein7873]

Hi - you mentioned being careful when dealing with lead paint. How do I do that? Is it safe to play with?

[@valeryjurado1155]

This video is so annoying! Im sorry u did an awesome job on the house but maybe next time do a voice over an instead of pictures actually record the inside I couldn’t keep up The fonts were hard to read and u took forever to get to the point

[@lettymel23]

Where did you get the lights

[@lalabellejones810]

Hello, what a wonderful vid!!! please please can you tell me the name of the clamp that you use to hold the holes for your hinges? (18:35)

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Thanks! So you can find this on Amazon and there should be others like it to choose from: copy/paste into their search bar and it will take you to the listing for the one I used: “CAIDU Vises Universal Mini Walnut Vise Clamp Table Bench Vice for Jewelry Nuclear Clip On DIY Carving Tool”

[@treasurejensen7682]

It reminds me of my mom's doll house

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

I love imagining more of these old dollhouses still exist and continue to get love somewhere out there in the world!

[@courtneytesoriero7938]

That was fun

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Thanks!

[@debraray5786]

I can't find the minismidgeon on ETSY. Are you still there?

[@khaylaterry3429]

My daughter got a old antique dollhouse and wants to restore it do u have any suggestions?

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

First and foremost, I'd recommend she do dollhouse image searches and/or look on sites like Pinterest or Instagram etc to determine what her "style" preference is. It's always best to know the look one is hoping to achieve before taking on a dollhouse restoration. It can be incredibly time-consuming, labor-intensive, not to mention expensive. She'll need to have patience. Researching and planning prior to taking it on will make the process so much more enjoyable. Best!

[@rinasummers7782]

Too much movements on both pics and writing. I feel sea sick. Please consider this next time, because I’d love to see your work.

[@libertyblueskyes2564]

the music! I had to mute it.

[@agrimonyscrafts2089]

I love the music and video. It does jump around a bit but it is still a great video. The music caused my feet to tap.

[@crafterlex]

How did you remove the windows and molding?

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Very gentle prodding with a tiny flathead screwdriver

[@gustieszumko5315]

Video goes a bit to fast to read the comments and tips.

[@melmill1164]

I’d say you had a lot of time in your hands. LOL

[@BillGrates1]

allow more time to read the captions

[@melmill1164]

Fixer Upper miniature version

[@247snob6]

Anyone know the name of the song played in the beginning?

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

It’s an iMovie sound effect called “Playful”

[@247snob6]

@@fairygoblinsgrin6199 ahhhh, I've asked 100 ppl! Thank You!!!!

[@247snob6]

@@fairygoblinsgrin6199 thank you again!! looking for about a year or more! Xo

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

You’re welcome. Happy I could help!

[@kiuakakirstine8257]

I think it looked better before 😢

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

It did have charm in its original state and I must admit that I worried over the question of restoration vs. renovation as well as spent a considerable amount of time assessing the situation before I settled on a renovation. The dollhouse had been stored in humid conditions in the deep south and sadly had a severe mold issue and rusty nails. To make it safe going forward for a child, I didn't have any choice but to address those issues. Thanks for watching though!

[@kiuakakirstine8257]

FairyGoblinsGrin I fully understand your point. I know that old stuff can look great, but be in a dire state. Love that you gave it a try instead of throwing it away. If you make more videos, I'll be watching 😊🌸🌸

[@kellybliss6163]

The music is annoying !!!

[@belzepute]

In my opinion as a furniture conservator-restorator, dollhouse enthusiast and collector, this house has been quite botched... it has lost all its antique look, value and interest as a antique piece. The ethic with this kind of piece requires minimalistic intervention. Just look now like a average precut dollhouse. Do not do the same please for the sake of ancient craftsmanship and history 🙏

[@ShweMyaukMyauk]

That’s the worlds worst music

[@rainbowpanda6960]

I would rather jump off a bridge than go near that thing! Two things I hate: •Dolls •Creepy abandon looking houses

[@qtello]

Then why tf did you click on this video you bitch

[@elisabethclancy3949]

Beautiful

[@fairygoblinsgrin6199]

Thanks!