DESIGN
The $25 Dollhouse Refurbish
I didn’t have a real wooden dollhouse growing up. he sturdy, heirloom kind felt out of reach. As a kid, it seemed unattainable. As an adult, I found one on Facebook Marketplace for $25 — and refurbished it myself.
If You Can’t Afford It, You Make It
Growing up, if we couldn’t afford something, we figured out how to make it. That mindset shaped me more than I realized at the time. It’s probably why I became an artist.
This dollhouse felt like a full-circle moment.
For $25, I got the dollhouse and a box full of wooden furniture. I sanded, primed, and painted everything. I used leftover paint from a mural job I had done in December. I incorporated wallpaper from my own line — including designs I created in collaboration with Liza Pruitt, whose gallery I sell with.
What once felt financially out of reach became a creative project made from scraps, leftovers, and imagination.
Where I Started
French Countryside Meets Cottage
The exterior had been painted a stark blue — not quite the vibe. I transformed it into a soft French blue, trimming it with hand-painted florals. I wanted it to feel like French countryside meets cozy cottage.
Inside, I lined the walls with my custom wallpaper designs. I painted the wooden furniture in soft complementary tones. I sewed a mattress and pillow from leftover table linen fabric. I even tucked dried baby’s breath (leftover from holiday decorating) into the tiny window planters.
It became less of a refurbishing job and more of a miniature design challenge.
I loved figuring out how to translate my aesthetic — normally used in larger-scale murals and paintings — into something that fit inside four tiny wooden rooms.
The Process
The Reality of Refurbishing
In hindsight, I wish I’d started with a flat, unassembled dollhouse. Wallpapering and painting interior walls after the structure was already built? Not ideal.
But Facebook Marketplace delivered, so who am I to question the process?
The imperfections are part of it.
And honestly, the challenge made it more interesting.
The End Result
Why Making Matters
You don’t have to call yourself creative to make something.
Making reconnects you to resourcefulness. It pulls you out of the scroll and into the present moment.
This $25 dollhouse wasn’t just a refurbishment. It was nostalgia, a love letter to my niece, and a thank you to my childhood — a reminder that creativity often begins with “we’ll just make it.”
Maybe that’s the best kind of art — the kind that leaves your hands and lives in someone else’s story.
Shop My Wallpaper Collection Used for the Dollhouse
