Decorating With Dollhouse Furntiture

Well, it's official, fall is here and Mother Nature is dishing out some appropriate weather.

Now, normally, I'd be kicking and screaming as summer slipped away.

However this year, when my husband closed the pool, I barely noticed.


Seriously.

You see, this year, I knew I had a very large stash of thrifty finds in need of attention waiting for me.

And trust me, I haven't wasted anytime digging into that pile.

I started with, what I think, is the most darling makeover I've ever tackled. It's literally dripping with sweetness...which is quite appropriate, since it started out as doll furniture.

Remember this?

It's an American Doll Wooden Washstand.


I picked it up for $4.99 at the thrift store in August. I honestly had no idea what I was going to do with it.

I don't have babies in the house anymore, but for some reason, I had to have it.

I was a little miffed about the price, it should've been less as it was in horrible shape. The finish was scratched.


The wood was chipped and gouged in places.


It was missing a towel bar on one side.

And the drawer knob, as well.


But, as I've said before, I'm a sucker for an underdog (like my wooden candle holder), so I bought it...

Once Mother Nature hid the sun and I was forced inside, I took it out of the bag, started to survey the damage and make a plan.

Paint is usually my go to, but I never considered painting it, the wood was lovely.

It just needed a bit of TLC.

*As an aside, I took this wooden thrift store find from trash to treasure to decorate my home, but you could totally use this process to restore wooden dollhouse furniture for your collection or little one.

First things first though, I needed to remove the dirt, so I washed it down with vinegar and water.


Then I removed the old furniture staples that formerly secured the missing towel bar.


Next, I had to do something to restore that beautiful wood finish. Since I'm a quick and easy DIY girl, sanding and staining was not even a consideration.

Instead, I grabbed my antiquing gel, like this one, and coated the entire piece.


I worked that gel into the scratched and chipped areas until they were well covered.

I thought about using walnuts again to fix the scratches, but because the whole washstand was in need of help, I decided the gel was better suited for this job.

In addition, I used my trusty furniture markers on the areas that had deep gouges.

With the wood looking good, I was ready to doll up my treasure. Sorry, I couldn't resist. 😉

I considered using furniture transfers, but once I started playing around with them, I realized the wash stand looked better in its natural state.

On the outside, anyway. On the inside of the drawer, I added some floral paper. I traced the drawer and cut the paper to fit. 

Then I used a little decoupage medium to make it stick.

Of course, without a knob to open the drawer, no one would ever see that pretty paper. I didn't have any cabinet hardware small enough to work, so I put on my thinking cap and raided my mother's old button jar.


The one that still holds the scent of her perfume...and makes me feel hugged every time I open it up.

As the memories spilled out into my hand, I tried not to get distracted and looked for a button that resembled a drawer pull and a back piece that would allow it to protrude enough to function well.

One that would allow me to grab it and open the drawer.

Luckily, I found one. I did need to pinch the wire loop on the back a bit to make it fit into the hole on the drawer front, but that was a quick task.

Then I added a little hot glue and tucked the wire into it.

When I was done it was ready for its big debut in my bathroom.