Do-it-yourself doll furniture - setting up a doll house

How to decide on sizes

The dolls, their houses and furnishings are smaller copies of us and our homes. And the most reliable way to make doll furniture with your own hands and not make a mistake is to measure real objects, reduce them several times, and then work with the obtained values.

Furniture for dolls - copies of our furniture

How much to reduce the actual dimensions depends on how small or large the doll is, because they range from 7 cm to 60 cm or even higher. Accordingly, they need furniture of different sizes. To determine the number by which the actual dimensions should be divided, divide the average human height in centimeters (170 cm) by the height of the doll. Let's get some number. This is how you will need to divide the dimensions of real furniture.

For example, the height of the doll is 15 cm. We calculate: 170 cm / 15 cm = 11.3. It is by this number that we divide all the parameters of “human” furniture. It is also worth saying that 14-15 cm is the most popular size among the doll population. Therefore, most of the finished furniture is made in a ratio of 1:12. We can also use the existing dimensions, at least so that we can navigate the scale of the required parts and the amount of materials.

Approximate dimensions of furniture for doll children

So, the most common doll sizes are:

• male doll 150 mm;
• female doll - 140 mm;
• child doll - 75-100 mm;
• toy baby - 65-75 mm.

If you need furniture for dolls of similar sizes, its parameters will be as follows:

• Bed: double – 160*130 mm;
• single - 160*75 mm;

  
  The size of the setting depends on the height of the inhabitants

If the toys you have are slightly larger/smaller, you don’t have to adjust the sizes. If the difference is large, you will have to increase or decrease (or you can calculate it yourself).

Decoration

Decor is the final stage of furniture manufacturing; it is the most important. It determines how much the child will like the furniture and how it will fit into the design of the doll’s home. When decorating products, you can use any available materials that are available in the house.

The main rules for decorating furniture for Barbie:

• Maintain a consistent style throughout the entire furniture set.
• Do not use flammable materials.
• When choosing a decoration method, pay attention to the hypoallergenicity and durability of materials.
• It is dangerous for a child under 5 years old to use small parts, such as beads.
• Take a responsible approach to securing decorative parts so that the child can enjoy playing for a long time without worrying about the safety of the furniture.

Doll furniture made from matchboxes

The easiest way to make furniture for dolls with your own hands is from ordinary matchboxes. They are glued together using PVA glue, creating certain structures, then covered with paper or fabric, self-adhesive film, etc. You can use wooden beads as legs, handles for drawers can be made from small buttons on legs or from long beads.

Simple homemade doll furniture from matchboxes

You can make chairs, a table, a chest of drawers, a bed, and a bedside table from matchboxes. Another thing is that furniture is made for very small dolls, no more than 10 cm high. Although, you can use a larger number of boxes, gluing them into blocks, and from these blocks create furniture for dolls about 15 cm high. Also an option, but work with others materials are not much more complicated, but they are more flexible and allow you to create products of more elegant shapes.

Toy dressing table made from matchboxes

DIY doll desk

Dining table and chairs made from matchboxes for a dollhouse

How to glue boxes

Several design techniques for finishing a homemade toy chest of drawers from matchboxes

This may be your first experience in making doll furniture. Later you can take on something more serious.

Tools and consumables

To make furniture for a dollhouse with your own hands, you will need to prepare special tools and consumables. For most toy interior items you will need the following equipment:

• scissors for cutting not very durable materials;
• saw when working with wood or chipboard;
• glue;
• paper;
• scraps of fabric;
• beads, buttons;
• paints (gouache, acrylic), you can also use nail polish;
• threads with needles for sewing fabric elements or creating patterns and designs on them;
• plasticine or polymer clay - for creating small elements on furniture;
• regular or double-sided tape;
• sheets of paper, cardboard, wallpaper;
• wire.

The list may vary, it all depends on the type of construction and design.

Children's furniture in Provence style, interesting interior ideas

Furniture for a dollhouse made of cardboard

You can try your hand at making furniture for dolls using cardboard. The material is inexpensive, accessible, you can try and make mistakes, redo it. Cardboard is usually joined using PVA glue; you can use a glue gun or any universal glue that can glue cardboard, fabric, or wood. By simply making furniture for dolls with your own hands from cardboard, you will also use these materials. If we talk about convenience, then a glue gun is preferable - it glues quickly, it’s convenient to work, and the connection is reliable.

Without finishing, doll furniture made of cardboard does not look very good

To make furniture for dolls, you can use regular packaging cardboard. It is cheap, but the furniture it makes is very delicate. It is unlikely that it will be enough for a child for a long time. But, as a “first experience”, this is a good option. Cardboard products for scrapbooking are more reliable. It is more dense, homogeneous, has different thicknesses (from 2 mm and more), and can have a textured surface, embossed monochromatic patterns, or a pattern on one or both sides. The disadvantage of such cardboard is that you have to buy it, and some types of such cardboard are not very cheap.

Cardboard bed for a doll

This cardboard doll bed is designed for a large doll - up to 50 cm in height. If necessary, all specified dimensions can be reduced.

You can make such a bed out of cardboard in a few minutes

This option can be done in literally 10-20 minutes. There is no need for glue or other fixatives. The parts are held in place by grooves cut into the cardboard. The width of the groove is equal to the thickness of the cardboard, the length of the slots and the dimensions of the workpieces are indicated in the diagram.

Bed diagram for dolls

Green and yellow dots indicate compatible cuts. They are inserted one into the other, where the assembly ends. If you like this model, it can also be made from plywood.

Schemes for making cardboard doll furniture

Basically, furniture for dolls made of cardboard is glued. It is unlikely that it will be possible to make something delicate or very complex from this material, but making simple models will not take much time. Having a diagram with dimensions, you can even do without explanations. Everything is clear.

Chair diagram for dolls

Such models can be made “by eye”. Without the “upholstery” they look unsightly, but after that they look quite decent

It’s not difficult to make a bed, but with kitchen cabinets you’ll have to be a little tricky

A bedside table with doors and an open shelf - one design, different designs

Another bedside table model for making from cardboard or plywood

Making a toy table for dolls with your own hands using this scheme is not a problem

Floor lamp for dolls made of cardboard

Furniture patterns for dolls can be used not only for making from cardboard. They can be transferred to plywood and cut out using a jigsaw.

Dresser or dressing table

It is very convenient to cut from a small box, where the cabinet is about 7 cm, the wall for the mirror is 16 cm, the width is 8 cm. Connect everything by gluing foil as a mirror and handles with beads. Decorate according to your desire and imagination.

Another simplified version of a chest of drawers is glued matchboxes. All children will like it because it has drawers.

It is enough to glue the boxes tightly to each other, or you can additionally attach a cardboard frame. Cover with wallpaper, napkins or other decor.

Wardrobe for dolls made from scrap materials

The toy cabinet can be made of plywood, painted or covered with wrapping paper or self-adhesive film. There probably won’t be any questions here - everything is clear, and if you have questions, you can see their solution in the “natural” closet. But it can be made from very inexpensive materials. The good thing about making do-it-yourself furniture for dolls is that its cost is very low.

From a cardboard box

The main task is to find a thick cardboard box of the appropriate size. Moreover, it will be easier to work if it is packaging - with folded edges. This folding part is a ready-made door. All that remains is to finish it - hang a mirror, attach a handle, etc.

One of the options for homemade furniture for dolls is a wardrobe

What do you need for work?

To work, you will need good tape, preferably paper-based, as it will be easier to glue the trim to it later. If you have a glue gun or a construction stapler (a large stationery one will do) with staples, that’s also good. If you will use other materials in addition to cardboard and paper, it is better to find a universal glue that glues paper, cardboard, fabric, and plastic. You will also need scissors, a stationery knife, and a ruler.

How to make a doll wardrobe from a cardboard box

If the box you find is too large, you can make it smaller by cutting off the excess. To ensure that the folds are even, take a ruler. We apply it to the place of the future fold, we pass along the ruler several times with a blunt hard object (the stem of a spoon or fork). After this, the cardboard will be easy to bend.

Filling for a toy cabinet

We cut out shelves from scraps or another box. They should be slightly - 5-8 mm - longer and wider than the internal space of the cabinet. We bend the excess so that sides are formed on all sides. Folds form in the corners; carefully cut them off. We bend one of the parts 180° and glue it to the shelf itself. This side of the shelf will “look into the world.” We bend the other three parts at an angle of 90°, coat them with glue and glue the shelves into the cabinet. The photo on the right shows how the shelves are glued. But so that the gluing points are not conspicuous, it is better to turn the sides down.

Making furniture for dolls with your own hands is no less fun than playing with it later.

In addition to shelves, you can also make a crossbar for hangers. It can be made from bamboo skewers, for example, you can try using a juice straw, wire, etc. Hangers can also be twisted from colored wire or cut from juice bags, plastic bottles, etc.

Finishing is a creative process

Next comes the finishing touches. You can paint the cardboard with watercolor or acrylic (preferably) paints, glue it with wrapping paper, fabric, felt. You can imitate a mirror surface by covering it with foil (food foil, for example). If you want to make a “plastic” surface, look for water bottles of the desired color, cut off the neck and bottom, and use the “body” as a finishing material.

Finishing is a creative process, but first, use simpler, softer, thinner materials; they are easier to work with

Handles can be made from wire, beads, or long beads. For larger toy cabinets, you can find buttons or buttons. We glue all this “beauty” after we have “lined” the cabinet.

Doll wardrobe made from newspapers

You will need old newspapers, PVA glue with a brush, a glue gun, a couple of pieces of wire or thread, wrapping paper for finishing the cabinet or paint.

We roll up tight tubes from newspapers, coat them with PVA around the edges and leave them to dry. Then the tubes can be glued together. A glue gun is better suited for this operation. There are two ways: first collect large blocks, then cut them into fragments of the required length, or immediately cut the tubes of the required length and immediately glue the blanks to size. The second way is more painstaking, but there is less waste.

Assembling planes from newspaper tubes

The finished cabinet walls must be fastened together. To firmly fix an angle of 90°, it is better to use a thin wire. First coat the joints with glue, then use wire to pull the walls together. If the wires are in the way, they can be removed after the glue has dried.

We glue holders under the shelves

Using the same technology, the bottom, top, and shelves are glued. The doors will need to be made a little differently. To make them open, two strips about 1.5 cm wide are cut out of tape. Tape is glued along the edge of the door so that a little more than half hangs in the air. We glue the door to the wall with this loose tape, but so that there is a gap of 2-3 mm between the wall and the door (it’s just tape there). This will make it possible to close the doors. We fix the glued door on the other side with a second strip of tape.

Fastening the door with wire

The second way to secure the doors is with wire. Only this time it should be tough and thick enough. Cut a piece that is 2 cm longer than the height of the cabinet. Immediately make a loop on the wire on one side using 1 cm. We bend the loop at an angle of 90° to the wire. We make holes in the bottom and roof, pass a wire through the bottom, the loop remains at the bottom. We put the door on the wire, using the outer tube instead of hinges. Slightly bending the wire, we thread it through the hole in the cabinet roof, bend the excess, fixing the door. We repeat the same operation with the other door. Please note that you need to attach the door with tape before finishing the cabinet, but you can attach it with wire after.

Ready-made wardrobe for dolls made from newspapers

There are still some little things that need to be said a few words. Cabinet legs and handles can also be made from paper tubes. You just need to roll them from the paper you use to decorate the toy. Roll it into a tight roll, glue the edge with glue, then cut it into pieces of the required length and glue it in the right places. Instead of tubes there can be wooden sticks, beads, etc.

Bed

A bedroom set is an integral part of a modern home. It usually includes a bed and two paired bedside tables. Let's start with the main piece of furniture. The most popular bed model consists of two parts: the body and the mattress.

Step-by-step instruction:

1. For the body we use a 15x15 cm square. We outline the central axes.
2. Fold the bottom and top edges 1/3.
3. And bend it towards the central axis.
4. We fully open all the folds, and then assemble the figure with a zigzag in the direction of the arrow.
5. We outline the diagonal folds.
6. We open the sides from the inside, as shown in the diagram.
7. And flatten it.
8. We bend the right edge of the workpiece.
9. We place the triangular “legs” at right angles to the base of the bed.
10. Raise the left side up. This is the headboard.
11. We put the bed on legs.

Mattress:

1. We outline the vertical axis of the square.
2. We bend the right and left edges towards it.
3. Let's turn it over again.
4. We open all the folds.
5. Fold the left side back along the dotted line.
6. We fold the right edge in the same way, but forward.
7. Bend the figure in half from top to bottom.
8. We outline the horizontal axis.
9. Fold the top and bottom 1/3.
10. We lower the sides at a right angle.
11. The mattress is ready. We place it on the base of the bed.

Origami bedside tables are assembled according to the principle of Japanese “masu” boxes. Place them vertically, with the open side inward.

Model No. 2

The second type of bed is made from one sheet. It comes with a blanket and pillow, which makes the model surprisingly realistic and elegant. For the bed you will need a sheet of paper 15x15 cm, as well as a ruler and pencil.

Detailed instructions are in the video tutorial:

For the blanket we use a square of 8x8 cm. It is advisable to take paper with a beautiful contrasting pattern. We will also make a pillow from it, loosely rolling a strip measuring 4x8cm.

Doll bookcase or shelf made of rulers

You can make furniture for dolls with your own hands from school wooden rulers. They are good because they are already processed and have the same width and thickness. In the stationery store you can find the right size - larger/smaller, wider/narrower - as desired. For example, to make a doll bookcase you need 6 rulers 15 cm long.

Making a toy bookshelf from wooden rulers is easy.

You will also need a jigsaw for the job. If you have an electric one, great; if not, a manual one will do, since there’s not too much work. You also need fine-grain sandpaper, glue (PVA or wood glue) and paints (acrylic or gouache).

We cut segments from the rulers: 4 pieces of 6 cm, one - 8 cm. Sand the edges until smooth, and also remove the markings and barcodes. Between the two rulers we place the shelves (which are 6 cm each), on top we leave approximately the same distance - under the lid (a segment of 8 cm). We coat the joints with PVA or carpentry glue, connect them and tighten them with masking tape, and leave them for a day. When the glue dries, glue on the very last part - the lid on top. Actually, the shelf itself is ready, all that remains is to paint it.

You can use rulers to make other pieces of furniture for dolls.

To obtain an even and bright color, it is better to cover the structure with white, and after drying, paint it with the desired shade. You can also decorate doll furniture made by yourself using the decoupage technique.

Other furniture contents

A photo of do-it-yourself furniture for dolls will help you decide on those interior items that your daughter needs for her ideal house.

A sofa made from small kitchen sponges, a kitchen wall made from cardboard blocks, a sink made from the bottom of a plastic cup or miniature plate, a faucet made from a plastic straw, etc. can serve as a complement to the decor.

Household appliances:

• Microwave – sharpener, with a removable lid;
• Refrigerator – tea box;
• TV – a matchbox with a picture pasted on;
• A floor lamp or lamp - a tube and an old wooden spool of thread.

The variety of ideas is huge, the main thing is desire, and the materials will be found on your own. Encourage your little housewife to create furniture, then these items will be filled not only with new creative thoughts, but also with great love.

Furniture for dolls: photo ideas

You can make furniture for dolls with your own hands from the most unexpected materials. You have already seen how to use newspapers and wooden rulers. But you can make tables, chairs, armchairs, sofas, beds, shelves, cabinets, etc. from ice cream sticks.

It’s better to start with something simple: a table and chairs for dolls made from ice cream sticks

You can make armchairs and sofas

Garden bench or sofa - depending on the finish

Almost the same designs with soft upholstery

Making a chest of drawers like this for dolls = this is a more difficult task

You can also assemble a crib

You probably already understand why this material is good - it has rounded, processed edges, is the same in size and is well processed. If the sticks seem too rough, sand them down smooth using fine-grit sandpaper.

Clothespins make good armchairs and stools. They are disassembled into halves and joined using wood glue. Curly products are obtained in almost a few tens of minutes.

This sofa can be assembled from wooden clothespins

A chair, a table - can also be made from clothespins

If you add a few holes, you get an openwork product

It’s not difficult to make a round table for dolls from clothespins

Original legs made from three halves of clothespins

Rocking chair for dolls

Toy stools

Chairs with armrests for dollhouse

Wooden clothespins are almost always used to make doll furniture. But no one forbids taking plastic ones. Working with them is exactly the same, only the difficulty is that wooden ones are easier to modify by changing the thickness, shape, etc. If the product is simple and does not require any modification, you can use plastic ones. They are more varied in shape and size, and are already painted, so there is less fuss with them.

As your skill increases, you can move on to more complex materials - plywood or wood. The difficulty is that turning and cutting out miniature parts requires filigree precision, perseverance and takes a lot of time. But you can do whatever you want.

You can make furniture for dolls with your own hands of any size, style

Several models of plywood doll chairs

Toy bed for baby doll

For those who have a lot of patience

Carved wooden doll bed

Corner desk for a doll….just like the real thing

Styles vary

Kitchen furniture in a dollhouse

Wardrobe for dolls made of plywood - very high reproduction accuracy

Kitchen cabinet with filling

Plywood bed for dolls

DIY toy kitchen tables made of plywood

Chairs for playing with dolls

Decorating ideas

Like an ordinary house, a dollhouse can be decorated endlessly - adding new details, updating dishes or textiles, moving furniture. Moreover, accessories are easy to create from scrap materials:

• Pillows are stuffed with padding polyester, just like upholstered furniture.
• Buttons are useful not only for the handles of chests of drawers or bedside tables, but also for decorating pillowcases, blankets, and other textiles.
• Plastic corks can be used to make ottomans, and wine corks can be used under tables and armchairs.
• Straws and toothpicks are suitable for slats - both frame and external, and they also make a good base for floor lamps.
• Fabrics add the most comfort. You can change bedding, update curtains for the season, or even recreate different styles, from country to classic.
• Wallpaper can also be made from scraps of fabric or pasted over the walls with decorative tape (the size of the pattern on it is more suitable in proportion to a doll's house).
• Foil will make a mirror in a dressing table or closet.
• You can even use chocolate egg containers or shoe covers - they make great pans and pots.

When choosing decor material, you need to take into account the age of the child. For example, beads, like any other small parts, should only be used with children over 5 years old. Paints must be safe, as well as varnish.

Despite the huge range of products for dolls, hand-made items still remain unrivaled. Accessories and furniture made of cardboard, plywood or plain paper help develop a child’s imagination; they have more warmth than factory-made ones. In addition, it is not necessary to settle on complex models - assembling a chest of drawers from matchboxes will take no more than half an hour (including drying), and an ottoman made from cork, despite its simplicity, will look better than a factory one.

Variety of wardrobes for children's rooms, reasons for their popularity

However, if you wish, you can take advantage of master classes for professionals - they tell in detail how to make furniture for Barbie that looks like it came out of a designer’s workshop. Everything goes into use, from used plastic containers to specialized tools. A little effort - and the decor of the house will be the envy of any furniture department of designer toys. Such items will be completely exclusive, which will also delight children.

Master class on sculpting Monster High from polymer clay:

1. First you need to draw a sketch of the keychain. There are a lot of logos and emblems with the image of the Hi monster on the Internet, so it won’t be difficult for you to print out the finished drawing or redraw the image on a sheet of paper. You choose the size of the sketch yourself, based on the personal wishes of the child and his age. Cut out the drawn or printed design with scissors. Photo 2.

2. White polymer clay must be rolled out either using a pasta machine at its maximum thickness and folding a layer of clay into two layers, or using a rolling pin, but then make sure that the width of the layer is at least 7 mm. Photo 3.

3. Without removing the paper sketch from the surface of the plastic, use a blade to carefully cut out the figure along the contours of the sketch. Photo 4.

4. We put on disposable gloves and smooth out all the bumps and sharp corners. When working with white clay, wet wipes are necessary, since white plastic collects a lot of lint and fine dust, and by wiping the surface of the layer with wipes, you will remove all these specks without problems. Photo 5.

5. We make the decor of the bow - roll out raspberry-colored plastic on the thinnest setting of the pasta machine and carefully wrap it around the bow. In this case, we press the crimson plastic only in the upper part of the bow, carefully fixing it in each hollow. The layer that falls on the front side of the keychain - do not press it! Photo 6.

6. On the back side of the accessory, excess crimson plastic should be cut off with a blade or a stationery knife. Photo 7.

7. Place the paper sketch on the workpiece again and carefully press the outline of the lower edge of the bow with the point of a needle. Remove the paper design and carefully use a blade to cut out the bottom edge of the bow along the pressed contour. Photo 8, 9.

8. Take a modeling elastic stack and trim the bottom edges of the bow with it so that they become rounded and give the bow volume. Photo 10.

9. Use the sharp part of a needle or toothpick to separate the middle of the bow and press small grooves from the middle in the center of each half of the bow. Photo 11.

10. Form the eyes. Roll out black plastic to a minimum thickness and place a paper sketch on its surface. Use the point of a needle to push through the eye sockets. Photo 12.

11. Remove the paper sketch from the layer and use a scalpel to cut out the eye sockets according to the pressed contours, not forgetting about the two small eyelashes on the outer sides of the eyes. Photo 13.

12. Place the eyes on the surface of the blank keychain and use a modeling stack with a soft spatula to round all the sides of the eye sockets. Photo 14.

13. Roll a small ball out of black plastic and press it with your finger to make it flat (its diameter should not exceed 4 mm). Photo 15.

14. Place the flattened ball under the eye sockets and press it down lightly for better adhesion to the bottom layer of clay. Place the keychain blank in the oven for firing. Photo 16.

Armchair

Among the pieces of paper origami furniture for children, the chair occupies a special place. It creates an atmosphere of comfort both in a real house and in a doll house. It’s hard to imagine a living room without an armchair; it would also be appropriate in a bedroom or office. For the most common model, you will need a square sheet of 15x15 cm.

Step-by-step instruction:

1. We start from the underside of the sheet.
2. We make a zigzag fold “mountain and valley” as shown in the diagram.
3. In this case, the square is divided into 3 sections.
4. We open the product.
5. We make a similar zigzag fold, but now vertically.
6. We open the sheet. We apply preparatory folds diagonally, following the diagram.

1. Using the lines outlined in step 6, we assemble a three-dimensional figure.
2. We bend the protruding triangular valves along the dotted line.
3. Rotate the product 90° to the right. In front of us is the left side of the model.
4. Open the right valve.
5. Glue the area outlined by the ellipse.
6. This is what should happen.

1. We close the right side. Turn the model to the other side.
2. Repeat steps 10 – 13.

The chair is ready. This is what it looks like from different sides. The model can be combined with a coffee table, sofa and other furniture, creating elegant ensembles.

Advantages of origami technique

The main advantage of origami is that working in this technique involves limited use of materials. The absence or minimal use of glue and other improvised means in this technique greatly facilitates the work and also guarantees the cleanliness of the workplace. Fans of origami are also attracted by the simplicity of the forms and method of execution.

Sofa

The simplest sofa model is assembled in just 11 steps. We use a standard 15x15 cm square for it.

Step-by-step instruction:

1. We outline the horizontal and vertical axis.
2. Fold the bottom edge 1/3.
3. Fold the product in half.
4. We bend the right and left edges by 1/3. Let's reveal.
5. We repeat the technique we used for “House”: straighten the side “pockets” and press.
6. Fold the figure along the dotted lines.
7. Raise the central lower part.
8. We bend it in half.
9. Fold the sides.
10. We omit the central part from step 7. This is the seat of the sofa.

You can make “soft” origami furniture in another way: