Moving On In

This picture of me is dated March 1980. I was on the cusp of ten years old, perhaps around the time TOMY put out its 1:16 scale Smaller Home and Garden dollhouse. Instead of coloring a picture in my striped pink suspenders (WHAT was I thinking???), I should have been begging my Mommy for my very own Smaller Home and Garden.

So...for quite some time I have been keeping my peepers out for one. One of the first scenes I did on this blog was with the bathtub and living room chairs-- just some of the many pieces that were manufactured with the house-- so I have a special fondness for this gem. As a child of the 70s, it speaks to me! For a time warp, check out this YouTube video of the original TV commercial for the house.

Well, the big day arrived and I now am movin' on into my TOMY. Mine came in its original box (with directions):

Here is the front of the house after I put it all together. It's crammed next to my large VERO.

The construction is very straightforward, but the directions were helpful when it came to the smaller roof...tricky, tricky. The chimney is still not completely flush, so I still need to fiddle with that. I was pleased to see that the second floor piece was not warped; I often see these houses for sale with sloped or buckled flooring.

The house is in used, but very good, condition, and I purchased it from a seller on eBay from whom I have acquired other TOMY items, such as my beloved rectangular potted plant. I think I have used that thing in more scenes than any other accessory! Despite my leanings toward complete laziness about the original adhesive wallpaper (not to my liking), I forced myself to address the upper floors over the Christmas holidays. The ground floor does not have any papers at all, which is nice.

Here's what the upper floor pieces looked like:

The papers were in OK condition, but preferred not to leave them. I decided to stay true to the creme and blue color scheme, and used some very nice vintage textured wallpaper that I purchased at a dollhouse store on Long Island for the long bedroom wall (I cleaned the store out of every sheet-- about $3.50 per sheet, on sale).

I love the neutral tone and subtle texture. The small bath adjacent to the bedroom needed a little blue "pop," though. So, I used some Japanese folding paper for an accent wall, and papered the other two with the creme paper.

I neglected to paper the fair right wall by the stairwell, and have left it for now. I'll likely use the same creme paper.

This is a very fun house to photograph. The windows and flooring are great. You'll see that I used a "rug" of sorts in the bedroom -- this is a cut up place mat from West Elm ($4.95 on sale). I finally got a pair of Reac zigzag chairs, too! Love them, but they are smaller than 1:12 scale, which is why they work well here.

Thanks for tuning in to my retro moment! I hope to set up the bottom floors soon.

A reminder about my Love Giveaway: it ends at midnight (EST) TOMORROW, January 15, so hop on over to that post and comment!

Credits: Bath: sink is Dolls House Emporium; light is Lil' Bratz; rug is a window shade sample from Lowes; tub is a soap dish from Crate and Barrel with a Mighty World funnel; table is Re-ment. Bedroom: bed is vintage German; rectangular rug is by Peppercorn Minis; green rug is a West Elm place mat; chairs are Reac; plant and lamp are vintage Lundby. Accessories are minimodernistas, Re-ment, and eBay finds.