Remodeling

More than 20 years ago, my grandmother built a doll house for me. I remember the weeks of time that she and my grandfather spent on it. I remember her painting the house blue, and then changing her mind and painting the house pink. I remember her meticulous handling of miniatures, how she created little picture frames and rugs and houseplants out of things she had in her sewing basket. I remember how proud she was of her work. And it was beautiful work.

The house lived with me for many years and saw hours of play. It would be decorated for different holidays, serve as a hideout for my brother's GI Joe guys, and spent ample time as a clothes hanger.

For the last 10 years or so, the house has been rotting in my parents' garage. Pieces broken off, inhabited by small creatures of various kinds, covered in dust, but still occupying enough space in my heart to keep me standing between my memories and the dumpster.

Possessed by I don't know what, I have declared this year The Christmas of the Dollhouse. We snuck it out of mom & dad's and into our garage where it's undergoing an extreme home makeover of miniature proportions. At first it was daunting, mainly because I have a serious aversion to dust. And grime. But mom helped me give it a good cleaning and it started to come to life. With another good cleaning it was practically smiling. Some glue, new paint and a few loving repairs and it seems to be renovating itself. The best part: The girls have no idea.

Here's the house after being cleaned but before being attended to. The porch railings are missing, the white trim is more off-white than white.

Here's the interior. You can see it's missing a roof panel on the top right and some baseboards in the lower right hand living room. But isn't it cute? Look, there's a chair rail in the dining room! And a moosehead hanging on the wall in the upstairs playroom!


Missing shingles - Matt to the rescue!



To give you an idea of the size...here we are.