Victorian Dollhouse

by KR&C Staff

A Victorian dollhouse may be the perfect decorative addition to a little girl’s room. For more than a century, little girls have loved playing with little homes for their dolls, and for decades that has included the Victorian dollhouse. Now you can help your own daughter to create her own perfect example of this toy and decoration, using your knowledge and creativity together.

With the popularity of the Victorian dollhouse today, there are lots of different options available in many different sizes, styles, and levels of authenticity. This particular era is so well beloved because of its elegance and special attention to detail. This explains why children and adults alike enjoy playing with these pieces or collecting them for display.

If you decide that a Victorian dollhouse is right for your own daughter, it is best to make an effort to try to keep its style and contents consistent to the time. The quality versions of Victorian dollhouse pieces are exceptionally detailed from the exterior of the building down to the doilies resting upon the surfaces of the furniture. They are often wallpapered and have curtains for the windows, beaded shades on the lamps, and embroidered scarves on the furniture.

One of the central rooms in a Victorian dollhouse is its parlor, because this was where people brought their guests in order to entertain them for a cup of tea or to enjoy some music, as it often contained a piano. The pianos from this time were decorated in a thick decorative material, and so are the model-sized versions within their miniature counterparts of today.

A Victorian dollhouse should also contain a library, which should have wooden bookcases that contain tiny books. Some of the better miniature libraries even have titles on the spines of the books. Elegant chairs at smooth tables should also be included, as well as a large fireplace, which would provide light and warmth.

The kitchen and dining rooms should both be quite large in a Victorian dollhouse, since the families of dolls – if accurate to the time – should be quite large. As there should be multiple floors – perhaps two or three – curved staircases should provide the dolls access from one floor to another. Though not absolutely required, towers and turrets give the house style and elegance and provide the dolls with secret little nooks in which to hide. On the second floor of the Victorian dollhouse should be the bedrooms in addition to a nursery, which may also include a playroom as well.

Though there are a few rules in order to remain true to the time period, A Victorian dollhouse still allows you to use your daughter’s own taste, color preference, and creativity to decorate its interior. It was a flamboyant and extravagant time for decorating, so it allowed for a great deal of excess, and mixing-and-matching for furniture styles. As long as your daughter is having fun with her Victorian dollhouse, you’re doing it right.