Antique Dollhouse – The Upstairs

Hey Friends! Life is still on hold here in our part of New York State (outside of Rochester, NY). Schools are closed till at least May 15th and you can only buy one pack of toilet paper at the grocery store 😱. But we will manage.

My husband is an essential worker in property management, so I’m definitely trying to keep it together without having a lot of breaks. The older two are *mostly* enjoying being home with me and the two little ones every day.

We all have our moments and need some personal space now and then, but overall we are getting along fine. I hope the same can be said for you wherever you are and whatever your new normal is.

If you are a regular around here you may remember the antique dollhouse we won in 2018. It was the raffle prize at a local dollhouse show. My two older children and I entered and were ecstatic that we actually won!

I started giving room tours of it back then, but is has been quite awhile. So today, I am taking you on a tour of the upstairs to see all of the vintage miniature details.

The upstairs of this dollhouse, consists of a master bedroom, bathroom, little hallway area and girl’s bedroom. We were told that the woman who donated it to the raffle show had it from the time she was a young girl in the 1930’s. Her father had made it along with most of the furniture which we received with the house.

The master bedroom has pale green painted furniture including a bed, vanity and stool, and a chair. The little bed has hand sewn pillows and blankets and a mattress. There are several adorable accessories including an ornate picture frame, small wooden comb, candle and candle holder, a book and a small canister. The other vintage pieces include a plastic fireplace, dressing screen, old trunk, and a clock and radio. Originally, all of the rooms had curtains and curtain rods which were included but they were no longer attached and the fabric was pretty stained and tattered.

A ton of small cigarette sample rugs came with the house, so I randomly placed those throughout. I added some of my own miniatures to finish off the rooms but the majority of the items shown are original to the house.

The bathroom has a wooden tub, pedestal sink, medicine cabinet and toilet. The paint is a bit dingy and there are no faucets or fixtures but I find them really charming.

In this room I added a porcelain chamber pot I’ve had in my miniature collection since I was kid. I can still remember the day I bought it at a flea market along with some other pieces I still have! Miniatures have always been a passion of mine so it’s no wonder that memory stands out. I can also remember seeing far more expensive miniatures for sale that day but being grateful my dad bought these little pieces for me and I’ve cherished them ever since! Granted, I had no idea what a chamber pot was at the time haha.

The little bar of soap on the tub was also mine from childhood.

Looking beyond the bathroom you can see the top of the staircase and a small hallway area. I put some of the original accessories in here including a wooden iron and ironing board, a small basket and some clothespins.

The last room upstairs is the little girl’s room. It has similar furniture to the master bedroom except that it’s painted pink.

There is also a pink fabric chaise, and other adorable miniature accessories like tiny celluloid dolls, a small picture frame, and a handheld mirror. We put our miniature diy vanity stool in here but everything else came with the house.

Be sure to check out all of the details of the kitchen as well as the living and dining room if you care to see more from this house. I have also shared several posts of our modern dollhouse that I have been renovating for the past few years. I’ve been working on it here and there in the past year and hope to have more progress to show in the next few months.

For those of you who don’t know, I also run my own miniature shop on Etsy called House Small where I offer my modern handmade miniature as well as vintage finds. Making miniatures has become quite a passion for me in the past few years!

I sincerely hope that you are all doing well, staying healthy and getting through this tough time. Thank you for taking the time to visit!

Till next time…