11 Old Dollhouses Families Rescued From Basements and Charity Shops, and One Empty Since the 1980s

“Remodeled my childhood dollhouse”

My dad and I built this almost 40 years ago. It took just over a year to completely remodel and renovate the inside and outside.

My parents gave it to me in the 80s.

To remodel, just look for inspiration to find your theme, then start with one room. It’s time consuming but so rewarding!

“Bought this beautiful dollhouse from a rummage sale, came with all the original building notes and plans. The women who built it put 40 years of love in to it.”

Dreaming of getting the electrical working someday. Have been slowly feeling it with miniatures over the last year.

Its far from period accurate but my boyfriend and me play with it pretty much most days so its getting lots of love for sure.

“I have wanted a dollhouse for 50 years”

I have wanted a dollhouse for my entire life. I was even given a kit as a child, but then I was never allowed to assemble it. I’m now in my 50s and I found this one. I would like to make the interior of the house more modern.

“Abandoned (doll)house renovation underway”

Vacant since late 1980’s; cleanup and renovation just began.

this house lurked in the basement of my childhood home until recently. There was clear evidence of actual mice living there as squatters, prompting a partial gut job. That was my inspo to make it a lot worse before renovating it:)

The furniture in these pics was what I bought or made back in the late 80s (there were multiple independent miniature supply stores in my area back then...all are long closed😢)

I plan to stage it as if it’s getting cleaned out and then demo it “down to the studs”. Eventually I hope to “rehab” the whole house (then start all over again?)

“My finished dollhouse renovation!”

First three pics are the before

It’s taken me most of my spare time since October!!
The outside turned out better than I expected! It was cut up bits of egg carton! Definitely the bit that took the most time! I used pva glue to stick them on, then painted the whole lot white, then used six different colours to paint them.

“My grandfather and i made this house”

My grandfather and i made this back in the 80’s for my younger sister. She used it for a while then it sat in my parents basement for years. She never wanted it when she moved out of state. I recently brought it home as my parents are downsizing to a smaller house. It definitely needs a major makeover!

I do remember cutting the shingles and painting each black and white checkered wood floor pieces. There is one big problem as it stinks like crazy as if mice were in it! I hope to give it a makeover as a winter project and give it to my 2 grandkids.

I plan on replacing the carpet and linoleum. Basically a whole inside makeover but i will leave the checkered floor.

“Charity shop house, first time restorer”

I stumbled across this magnificent dolls house in a local charity shop this weekend, and I just couldn’t let the opportunity pass me by. So it is now sitting rather tall in my living room!

I’ve not restored a house before, so I am going to take it slowly and do it room by room, learning as I go. But here are some pics in it’s charity shop fresh condition, dust and all! (My first job is to dust it!)

I wish I knew it’s history, who made it and how it’s fallen onto the state it is inside. Time to make my own history with it

I made some progress on this but felt a bit unconfident to post the photos. I had a long period of time where I felt completely overwhelmed by it, but have been doing it slowly over the last year.

“Before and after of my dollhouse renovation.”

Purchased this homemade dollhouse. Decided it needs some love. This is my first time working in miniature scale so there’s so much to learn. Decided it best to work in stages so I put my attention to the exterior. I look forward to when I can start furnishing it, but so much work still to do.

For the brick on the siding I used a sheet of 1/4 inch thick cork. l cut long strips of it and then cut 1/2 inch pieces to make tiny bricks. I then glued them to the walls one at a time. It’s tedious work for sure, not gonna lie.

“Fixing up my childhood dollhouse so she can go on and find her new home 🏡 😌”

My dad definitely knew what he was doing when he chose that color!

Eight months later, I’m done! It’s a present for my 10 year old, but she says I’m still allowed to play with it 😁

“Finally completed just in time for granddaughters birthday.”

This is the dollhouse my wife and I built together. I would not suggest this same house as a first time build. It certainly tested our skills. I can point out so many mistakes (like the front doors are upside down). It’s funny though. Nobody that has looked at it even notices... They’re just amazed and call us “so creative” lol.
My granddaughter lost her mind so that’s all I care about. lol

It took about 150 hours between my wife and I over two months. Basically spent all spare time working on house without it becoming a chore.

The best part was working on it together.