Doll Furniture

I love doll furniture but generally limit it to my tiny dolls because of storage issues. I have a few big pieces but have nowhere to either set it up for photos or store it when I'm not using it.

 

What is your opinion of the currently available doll furniture?
A lot of it looks quite nice, and there are some options out there if you look.

What do you wish was available?
I don't have the money or the space right now, but I'd say furniture in proper scale for 70cm dolls.

What prices do you really think are 'affordable'?
(Yes, I know this is a hobby where we spend hundreds of dollars on dolls, but for some reason $55 eyes are too expensive. )
This would depend on the piece. I used to have a couch I got at a Volks store for about $40, which I thought was quite affordable. For the antique replicas somebody on the MP is gearing up to make, I'd expect to pay quite a bit more.

Who says $55 eyes are too expensive? My dolls all wear urethane eyes, ranging from about $45 to $70 per pair.

And finally, have you ever thought of setting your doll up with traditional-styled Japanese furniture? (I know I have! )
That could be fun, but I'd probably prefer to just have enough to fake it for a photoshoot, not a full set of solid stuff for that.

 

eBay or Y!J are goldmine source for any and all sizes/types of doll! It's as good as a zillion flea-markets, & you don't have to wait for the third Saturday of every month. ;>

Both Dollmore & VolksUSA have some lovely SD-size & MSD-size furniture. Volks is pricier, but their quality is awesome. Dollmore has more variety, with a lot of more flamboyant styles; I have two gaudy 70cm-Model-sized couches in tufted velvet (it comes in different colors), which I absolutely love for the ambience they give to a plain photograph. From Volks I love the low sleek black-leather Danish-modern couch that seats 3 large dolls.

A large couch will run you maybe $75-100 Dollmore, $100-250 Volks; I consider it a good investment, for displaying these fancy dolls on whom I've already lavished so much money and attention-to-detail. (The link in my sig shows everybody relaxing on all that furniture on their days off. ^^)

But even the largest couches I've found still require added height, in order to keep the extra-long legs of 65cm+ dolls out of the way. (I raise my couches up on stacks of ancient volumes of BeBoy. xD) I do wish doll companies would have more taller furniture for long-legged giants. On eBay sometimes you find antique salesman-sample furniture that's just about sized for extra-large dolls. And Dollmore does make a very large 70cm-sized rocking chair, which is almost high enough off the ground for an EID, and which can seat two SD13s comfortably side-by-side. Dollmore's non-upholstered furniture is pretty reasonably priced.


PS re the shipping cost of couches: Yes, indeed, it's brutal! ;;_;; But if you're buying from a place that has seasonal offers of free shipping, likesay Dollmore's christmas events, you can wait for an opportunity like that & save some big bucks.

 

I've found a few cute things for my boys (two MSD and one pukifee). It's definitely easier to find stuff for the smaller sizes than the larger. I like the 'finish it yourself' things at hobby lobby. It's basically wooden items (chairs, chests, chests of drawers, etc) in various sizes made of unfinished wood. It's good prices too, only a couple dollars each. I got my puki a little toy chest and I'm going to get a couple chairs too. But a lot of the stuff I plan on making myself, so it can be fully customized for each little dolly personality

 

I've found plenty of interesting furniture pieces at places like Goodwill. I have a cabinet of a type with glass doors and two drawers that looks like it was hand-made for someone's little girl. I paid $5 for it and repainted it and now I have a lovely little Victorian-esque prop for my girl. I found a perfect msd sized chair at JoAnn Fabrics for $7 in black metal and plan on getting at least one more of those. I found a jewelry box at a thriftstore for about $2 that is a perfect msd sized dresser. American Girl furniture seems to be pretty close to size for msds. What I wish is that people would make little accessories for msds easier to find, like cellphones, food, laptops, etc. Tons of cute props and little books and things for yosd sizes, but very little for msd. Oh and my favorite find? $1.50 for a bird cage holiday ornament that is perfect size for my msd girl. Does a birdcage count as furniture? :P

I think over all though it's the shipping that kills it for me, when I do find really neat pieces online. I would love a couch like the ones on Dollmore.

 

Dollmore has some stuff, but the selection isn't fantastic.

It would be cool to see a doll company with a very wide range of furniture. I'm surprised DM doesn't have more.

 

Welll...I did consider it. I know Ikea has a bed that can fit a 1/3, but I have a carpenter at hand to get my doll's furniture done ^^ Alot of other thins need to be searched for though, so I always like to keep my eyes open for possible furniture pieces. However, my room is tiny, so theres a huge limitation space wise.

 

The real prioblem withthe furniture that *is* available (especially for SD size dolls) is the scale. My SD size dolls are mostly children, so for the furniture to be in the right scale for them it needs to be "too big" so they look liek kids on adult-size furniture.

1/3 scale is too small as it assumes the dolls are adult height when they're not, it needs to be about 1/2 scale which would assume a 60cm doll was a 4ft child. I have a couple of chairs that work, but that's about it.

And I want old-fashioned/Victorian style, not modern stuff so that complicats matters too.

Then, of ocurse, there would be the mattrer of enough space to store or display such large items of furniture.

I can find plenty of stuff that works for MSD size (although the cool American Girl doll stuff isn't available much outside of the US, it does shop up occasionally on th secondary market and is prefect for MSD). Boneka does lovely MSD size chairs (some of them are folding ones which are great for storagge and/or transporting to meets etc.

Teddy

 

What is your opinion of the currently available doll furniture?

I'm pretty disappointed with how little variety of quality furniture there is actually.
There are beautiful sofas and such available everywhere but for more in depth set ups there isn't a whole lot that I see worth the price tag.

What do you wish was available?

More of everything and more variety between what is available. Many of the seats look the same to me, or too similar to have much diversity.
It disheartens me a bit to think of how much custom work will have to go into my MSD's "house" compared to the 1/6th scale. There just isn't enough of a market for my particular tastes sadly.

What prices do you really think are 'affordable'?

For me it's all quality. A beautifully detail wooden piece (I.E. not a flat wood box shape piece, but one with quality wood hand detailing) I'd happily pay a nice penny for.
When it comes to dishes and everything else. again it's all quality I'm actually planning to buy a chair and custom cushions from someone here on DOA and with shipping I'll be paying around $70?

I'm happy to pay the price for beautiful quality furniture, just finding pieces that are my taste is tricky.

And finally, have you ever thought of setting your doll up with traditional-styled Japanese furniture?

No. My doll family will be of Chinese influence and so will their home.

 

What is your opinion of the currently available doll furniture?
They are either too few sizes available, too few variety or too expensive ~_~

What do you wish was available?
More bigger sizes and affordable furnitures. More variety and designs.

What prices do you really think are 'affordable'?
It depends on the quality and design I guess. That was a chair I really like, it suit the concept for my future SD boy perfectly (though I would prefer other colors) and I LOVE it to bits, but the price tag is around 300 USD, which is way too hefty for me T_T

And finally, have you ever thought of setting your doll up with traditional-styled Japanese furniture? (I know I have! )
Considering my boys are Asians like Korean and Japanese, yes I have!

 

What is your opinion of the currently available doll furniture?
It can be hard to find, but I've had pretty good luck getting pieces at goodwill and such. There are some good options online, but like it's been said, I wish there was more. Seating furniture seems to be the most common find on doll sites. I'd like to see more options for setting up a full-room set.


What do you wish was available?
This might sound weird, but...a dinner table. I would very much like a dinner table with chairs. Also a bookshelf. ^_^; I know there are ways to make things like these, but I would really like to see some that are sold for this purpose.


What prices do you really think are 'affordable'?
Okay, yeah, dolls are expensive....but personally I can't justify spending over $100 on something that is pretty much props for photoshoots. ^_^;;


And finally, have you ever thought of setting your doll up with traditional-styled Japanese furniture? (I know I have! )
I have only one doll that is of Japanese descent, but his boyfriend isn't, so they tend to have more European furniture. Yoru's bed is a Japanese futon, though.

 

I made a sofa for my dolls:



Idea: Decy

 

Beautiful, where did you get the scroll pattering on the back?

 

I have an old american girl doll bed and furniture for my guys, but I also found a mini locker that fit them well, and I put up poster board to make 'walls', so now my 2 msds have a little room ^_^

 

I've gotten a few furnitures for my dolls. Actually went as far as to make an old second hand shelf into a "home" ^^; I've debated on some nice beds that are originally for dogs (you'd be surprised at how some nice wood-carved bed are made that are perfect scale for larger dolls are out there)

 

I really want to buy one, but buying one makes me feel like buying another doll. Because the funiture is really pricy and you can alsmot buy another doll. Therefore , I am thnking to make funiture myself. Let me ask my friend to help me build one.

 

I found some doll furniture in this yard sale for my SD. It was kind of weird because it was handmade by the father of that family and it was suppose to be for their child and Barbie doll.

 

I already have a simple bed, a chair, a iron bench and chair set for my boys. And of course sweet pastries for then to nibble on.

 

Tovarious has a sofa that I made and a wooden rocking chair that my father in law made. I like having someplace to sit him. Dunno how much I'd sell something like that for. Really depends on the quality of the work. The woodwork my FiL did was fairly detailed and I think if I were to sell it I could probably get $20-25 for it? It's MSD sized. But it's special to me cuz he made it for my doll as a surprise. If it were plainer and I were to sell it, I might only sell it for $5-10. So really it depends on the size, quality, and material.

 

We used to build a lot of dollhouse furniture and hubby is currently rescaling a lot of the patterns to make stuff in 1/4 and 1/3 sizes for our doll gang. He's also working on an original design for an SD sized opium bed where the boys can hang out during the day. Living with an Industrial Engineer/woodworker is *awesome*!