I was surprised by how many questions I got about the little dollhouse sneak peeks I shared on Instagram Stories over the past few weeks while renovating these with the kids. After I polled you and 91% voted for a post, here it is.
These two dollhouses came from Facebook Marketplace after the kids asked for detailed houses to refresh together. You can hear more about how we found them on a recent podcast, but the short version is: the kids wanted to renovate, we found two secondhand houses, and the renovations became a family project.
This makeover was a lot of fun because the kids drove most of the decisions. They chose colors, painted, glued, and arranged furniture. Although this house lives in our son’s room, both kids participated—our daughter’s dollhouse is still a work in progress (you can see it in some of the photos). The takeaway: even tiny houses take a village to fix up.
Below is the quick “before” pic I remembered to snap after we’d already started painting, which is why there’s that dash of white on the façade.
Our son insisted on a white exterior with light blue shutters and gold trim along the peak. He knew exactly what he wanted, and we followed his vision. We used simple craft paint from Michael’s and involved the kids in tasks suited for them—floors, walls, and the main house color—while I handled fine details like trim with a small brush.
The decorative trim around the peak came with the house but had broken off; I re-glued it with wood glue and taped the pieces while they dried. We also reused small decorative items we already had, like the topiaries on the porch that I originally picked up years ago at the wedding aisle in Michael’s. Miniature décor shows up in unexpected places if you look closely.
For the window boxes, I used a small faux plant mat from the craft store and trimmed it into sections. Coupons at Michael’s helped keep costs down for paint, glue, and the faux greenery. I also made tiny potted plants using clippings from that faux mat, gluing them into beads, small pots, and even a clear bead paired with a button to resemble a glass vase on a coaster.
We picked up almost all the furniture in two bulk lots on Facebook Marketplace—about $30 total for enough pieces to furnish both houses. The original interiors had wood floors and cream-colored walls with mostly wooden furniture in traditional colors. Our son requested white walls and light blue floors to match the exterior shutters, and we painted everything with craft paint.
After the floors and walls dried, we painted furniture as the kids liked—gold beds, pink-topped tables, and even pink appliances when they insisted the sink and fridge match the stove from the pink house. Small accessories like pillows came from toys and saved cloth gift bags; those make great miniature bedding.
Some small purchases were made with gift cards and holiday money: two tiny plates of pancakes, a miniature gingerbread kit, and a set of pots and pans. The kids were thrilled to watch those packages arrive in the mail.
A charming detail in one of the secondhand furniture sets was a tiny candlestick with real wax candles. Other pieces, like round wire chairs, had come from years-old decorative items and worked perfectly at scale for the dollhouse.
One quick fix we made after these photos was repairing the front steps. We cut thin craft wood with an X-Acto knife, glued the treads with wood glue, and painted them to match—much easier than a human-sized staircase.
The finished dollhouse sits in the corner of our son’s room. When we first picked it up, I thought it would be shoebox-sized—turns out it was nearly as big as his tall dresser. The other house we found for our daughter was even bigger. The kids love them, so the space they take up is worth it.
The children enjoy interactive elements—rocking horses, chairs, drawers that open, and lids that lift. Our daughter’s house has a tiny Christmas tree with wrapped presents at its base, which is a favorite. Little moving parts and items kids can use to create stories make these houses especially engaging.
For “water” in the tub and sink, we used colorful beads and large sequins from craft kits to give the effect of water without using real liquids. The kids loved bathing their dolls and stuffed animals this way.
That’s the tour of House #1. We hope to share a bigger, more detailed renovation of the larger dollhouse for our daughter someday—she’s already asked for electricity and extra features, so it may be a longer project. In the meantime, the kids are having a blast, and these houses have become a beloved part of playtime.
And a reminder: dollhouses aren’t just for girls—lots of boys who visit love playing with them too.
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