How to make an American Girl Dollhouse from an old Armoire

I have taken on a pretty big personal project and I’m excited to share it with you.  I’m hoping that this project will give you inspiration of your own!  Before I get too far into the project, I first want to share a little bit of my background so hopefully you will understand me and what makes me tick. ?

I love to be frugal.  I coupon every week when I buy groceries and when there is a good deal out on clothes, toys, you name it, I know about it!  I was on Extreme Couponing a few years back.  That’s when I had a coupon blog and I did coupon classes almost every weekend.  Being a part of the coupon world became a little crazy, especially when TLC made me seem over the top(I’m NOT!), so I stepped away from that and started doing American Girl crafts with my daughter.  I enjoy this blog much better! I am very thrifty when it comes to decorating my house even if that means I need to give an old piece of whatever I find a little elbow grease.  I love old thrift shops, consignment stores, antique shops, and a good ole flea market always gets me excited.  On Saturday mornings I like to cruise around my neighborhoods looking for a yard sale to stop at.  I keep my “doll eyes” open looking for goodies that my daughter can use for her American Girl dolls as I’m sure most of you do.  And even though my husband hates when I do it, I’m not afraid to stop at the dump or on the side of the road when a poor piece of furniture has been thrown out never to have a future again.  I absolutely LOVE bringing things back to life.  Repurposing things excites me and even though many times during a project I’m tired and I want to give up, when it’s finished it’s always worth it.

And that is why I bring you this post.  A few weeks ago I noticed large pieces of furniture had been thrown out at a dump.  Curious me decided to go check them out and boy am I excited that I did!  I found a few huge, wooden armoires that were in great condition.  They are old, but other than that, they are structurally sound.  They are very heavy so I had my husband load two up, and home we went!

Here is a picture of them once I found a place in the house for them.  This is my craft area so it’s the perfect destination. Oh, I’m sure you have figured out by now that I want to turn them into dollhouses right?!  I love the thought of being able to close them when they are not in use.

I started off by brainstorming.  How many levels do I want?  How many levels will fit the dolls comfortably?  Where do I want my rooms?  Should I put the Our Generation Retro Diner in it?  I had to think of these things before I started because I didn’t want to be halfway through and then realize some things wouldn’t fit.  So, if you are going to build a dollhouse, whether it’s from scratch or you are repurposing a piece of furniture for it, think about the things you already have.  What do you have that you want to go in the dollhouse?  Measure them first to make sure they will fit.

I took out the top shelf and saved it.  It just needed to be lowered.  I sanded the spots that were rough.

Once I measured where each level would be, I added supports.  So far I have only used scrap wood from my supply!  Woohoo!  After the supports were in place, I added the levels.  One level was already cut since it came with the armoire.  I just made another one like it to fit into place.

I am painting the top level now.  I might play around with the colors.  Not sure yet.  What do you think?

**New Update**

I have added a wall on my second level to divide the space for two rooms.  The smaller room will be a bathroom.  I am still not sure what I want the room next to the bathroom to be, I am playing with so many options in my head.  Kitchen?  Bedroom?  Changeable room?!  I like the last option the best I think.  It could be my one room that I change the setting/scenery for.

One the wall was in place I painted both rooms the colors of my choice.  A light blue is always good for a bathroom and yellow is always a fun, happy color.  If you look closely, you will notice the floors are in too!  There are so many ways you can do floors.  You can get the sticky back linoleum, peelie tiles, sample hard wood floors, or just paint them!  I chose to do something new as this isn’t my first house and I love exploring new options.  I googled bathroom floors and found an image that I liked.  I printed it on hard card stock and used Mod Podge to stick it on the floor.  Once it was glued in place I did a thick coat of Mod Podge on top of it to seal it on.  That way it doesn’t have the paper feel to it.  Check it out!  I love it!

I decided on this fun pattern for the kitchen of my dollhouse.  It is wrapping paper that I got one year from Target on clearance at 90%off.  I knew it would come in handy one day!  I am slowly putting everything in to place.  I don’t want to rush any room.  I want to make sure it turns out exactly as I’d hoped for, even it takes a little longer!  Plus, the kids are still having fun with it while it’s under construction!

**I will keep updating this post the further along I get in the project.  I would love to hear your thoughts or ideas on this project so far!  Please share a comment below.  Thanks! **