Space & dolls

I still live with my parents, but my boyfriend and I will get our own apartment soon.
But anyway!
Yesterday I got my first boy, whom is a DZ hong 70cm.
I always wanted 2 or 3 large dolls.. but now I'm really rethinking that because he is very large .
I don't even know where to put him now. I was planning on making some room for him, but he came earlier than expected.
So I get the people who say they don't have enough space!

 

I don't have enough space. I have 13 dolls at the moment, most of them are in the book shelf. But I wanted to give them more space. They need to be on their seats instead of squashed in.
I really want a few SD's, but as long as I live in this apartment, they will not come. I have too many other hobbies that take space, and I am not willing to give things up (my house is like a small museum!) People can run out of space

 

In my case, it's not so much a matter of restricted living space as it is neat-freak tendencies and seriously wanting to limit the amount of light exposure my dolls are allowed to get.

As I've said in other threads, the windows of my townhouse are large, and they align almost exactly east and west. There are very, very few areas that aren't in direct sunlight for at least half of the day. While that's great for my houseplants and it definitely makes my cat and my budgies happy campers, it's not a Good Thing for little resin minions. As a preservation tactic, I set up my display cabinets in the only two places that stay shadowed, and I typically confine my dolls to those spaces for their own well-being.

Even if my house wasn't lit up like a solarium, I still wouldn't let the dolls "take over". I don't like clutter... Or having to constantly DUST potential clutter, since I live right off of a very busy street. (The dust situation is what initially prompted me to put my dolls behind glass instead of having an open display-) I prefer everything to be kept orderly and in its proper place, in spite of having what is, by pretty much any objective standard, a Very Large Collection.

Ultimately, space really is what limits the total number of dolls I can have. My cabinets don't have an infinite amount of room, and once I run out of places to put new dolls, I either have to face the idea of selling someone off (Not likely at this point-) or saying "Right, that's the last of them. The crew's complete. 'No more room at the inn." So, when I say that something like a DC Elizabeth (the very cool, but rather sprawling spider-girl) or another EID would take up too much space, I do mean that, even though it might sound odd given the number of dolls that I already deal with. Space in my cabinets is a precious and limited commodity. I have to keep a close eye on how its used.

 

Well, I only have shared space, being married, and my husband does care much for collecting things. So, I try to keep my doll collection on one shelf that is too short for an Iplehouse KID to stand up on. Eventually, after my daughter has her own home, I may turn her room into a hobby room for me. Really it's just a matter of being considerate to the others in my house, who aren't into the dolls at all.

 

I think it depends on a lot of factors. How many people are sharing this space? How much protection is available to the dolls (primarily from sunlight). How does the owner prefer their collectibles to look? And of course, how much physical space is actually there?

Right now, my fiance and I are both sharing my bedroom-we do not have our own home yet so all of our belongings are confined to a single, non-master sized bedroom. We also have a King sized bed that takes up a majority of floor space. Right now, six of my dolls all share one shelf (the floating head sits on one of their laps as I wait for her body to arrive), and four more sit on another shelf. Sure, there's SPACE for them, but I hate the way they're currently set up. I don't have much choice but to leave them as is however as my other shelves hold my jewelry, make-up, books, TMNT collection, MLP collection and craft/sewing supplies. This includes the space under my bed and in my teeny closet that was never meant to hold a wardrobe for two.

So while there is physical space for my dolls currently, I'm not entirely pleased with it. Two of them I can barely even see because the way the shelves are set up nearly cover them completely! Not to mention, in my ideal home all of my dolls with be standing, not sitting, so that will require further space so they're kept in a safe container where they won't get damaged if they happen to tumble. Additionally, I want my dolls to look like a beautiful accent to my home, a piece of art and not a focal point, so I also have to ensure that however they're set up offers that vibe.

 

For me, my parents are divorced so I have two houses (2 rooms). I can't imagine keeping my dolls at my dad's house since there are two other boys living there (my brother & step brother). Honestly, not too sure if I trust them with my dolls or to be around my dolls yet. That's going to take some time. So with that said, I would have to go back and forth and back and forth between my mom's and my dad's WITH my dolls. Keep in mind that I am already having to bring some clothes, my backpack, and my laptop bag with me so imagine all that PLUS my dolls (Only have 2 as of right now, but I will be getting more; just you wait!). There'd be no way. It is already stressful enough.

To answer the question...I think my room is just the right amount of space for me. They may fill up quickly, but I think with them laying on my bed, sitting on my desk, dresser, bookshelf, etc. I think that is WAY too much space. If I fill that up, Lord Jesus help me. I'm not too sure as of right now as to how much space I will need, but I know it won't be very much.

 

I've got a fairly spacious apartment right now, and no roommates, so I've got quite a bit of space to work with. That said, for the most part, I keep the dolls in the (also spacious) bedroom. I'm sitting at 30+ dolls right now, but they're broken into separate narrative groups, and set out in those groups rather than in a single large mass. The three largest groups are on a dedicated doubled-up bookshelf (one group per shelf), with the three smaller ones distributed throughout other parts of the room.

With the larger groups, at least, I'm hoping to switch from the bookshelf to some "room boxes" that I can decorate up to make them look a little more cozy, but for now they do have some nice furniture. One group has a pair of benches they sit on, another is "piled" (not literally, but the way people will "pile" when cozy with each other) on a daybed, with a couple of extras on a beanbag chair next to it. The group of tinies above them have some Ikea furniture, so they kind of already have a little room box set up! With the others, the two SDs share a "teddy bear" chair I've had for ages (they're finally the ones who fit it). One of the tinies has a chair, with the other in his group sitting on the edge of the shelf next to him, and the last group of tinies... well, they'll find a permanent home eventually.

Space, honestly, has never been a concern for me on the number of dolls I have. I've found that I can always find a good spot for them, out of range of hazards like light, clumsiness, or kitchen messes. They've got a nice amount of space right now, and my only reason for wanting to change it is for appearances, rather than actual space concerns. And I'm sure as things change, I'll be able to find more space for them.

 

Space is a concern for me c although I haven't run into it as a problem yet. I live in a small apartment with my husband and a dog. Both our jobs require us to have a lot of stuff (uniforms, equipment, etc) that have to be hung or stored very specifically. Because if this, almost all our shelf and closet space had been designated for something already.

I only have one shelf for all my doll things and it's starting to get crowded. I've put off getting furniture and props because there's simply no room. I also currently keep my dolls 2 or 3 to a doll box, all MSD. I actually have no surface area to set them out when I'm not specifically working with them. Sucks sometimes but space management comes first!

 

I only have my bedroom as I still live with my parents. If I could utilize lofting I could probably make more space for myself... If I could also clear out half my closet that might also help. XD

 

I only have my bedroom as of now because I still live with my mom. I have a bunch of other hobbies and that takes space away from my dolls. I try to keep my dolls on the dresser next to my bed because I don't want to put them in my bookshelf. They'll collect more dust there than anywhere else. I still buy dolls even if I have limited space because I can always just move things around and hope that they'll fit. Soon I hope that I'll be able to get a house of my own and just have a hobby room.

 

my dolls ar too many to out in the display shelf that some has to be kept away in the cabinet
thats y i started to think too many dolls may not be a gd idea for me esoecially we have very small living space in hong kong

 

I live in a house with two extra bedrooms now, so space isn't that much of an issue, except for the fact I like my dolls to have 'rooms' set up for them and that gets difficult.

Before living here, I lived in an apartment with my husband and sister. It had almost no storage space at all. At the time I had 5 MSDs and not nearly enough space. They stayed sitting on an American Girl bed in a corner of my room. If I had had any more, or larger dolls, they would have been spilling out into the floor and probably gotten stepped on. I can definitely see how people living in dorm rooms, small apartments or a single room in their parents' house would have a hard time owning large collections.

 

Space is definitely an issue for me. It's not just the dolls but also the wigs, clothes and props and when you have dolls of different sizes they definitely add up! I'm married with kids and can only have my dolls out in my craft room or bedroom. I have a trunk that I keep my MSDs in, of which I keep a couple out on display, a lot of my dolls stay in their boxes. I then keep all the boxes for wigs etc under my bed. I don't have a shelf or anywhere that I could keep my dolls permanently out on display. The only shelf I have free houses my off topic dolls.

 

We are currently living in a one bedroom apartment, so if I had more than a few BJDs, they would be in a box, which is a space issue for me, because I bought them to look at them, not store them in the closet. So 17 would not be a manageable number for us. Plus my hubby wouldn't want dolls to take over the room. Lol

 

Space has never really been an issue. I live in a fairly large apartment, and they stay in their boxes most of the time so I just stack them in one of my closets and it has never been an issue. Having them in their boxes keeps them nice, and I never have to dust them or worry about the sun. If I had them all displayed it might get a little crazy, but that's why I only have a few out at a time and rotate between them so it's not too cluttered.

 

I am a hoarder when it comes to dolls. I have collected dolls a long time and have a house that is filled with them. I live alone so they are not a problem for anyone else. If I can walk through the house, there is room for another doll!

 

My problem is, Hubby and I live in a house that still technically belongs to his parents (we're moving out once his mother finally retires), so we haven't gotten rid of any of their tchotchkes. This means lots of shelves--but none of them have enough SPACE. This is why I collect tinies. (And books, which just makes the space problem worse.)

Also, am I the only one who saw the title of this thread and thought, "Dolls! In! SPAAAAAACE!!"

 

Hehe, yes cleverLC, I thought of that too! ^_~

As for the question, lack of space is something that I am dealing with right now.

I live in a small house with my husband (who is generally disinterested in my dolls and doesn't really want to see them everywhere, though understands they are important to me) and...we just had a baby. There are two bedrooms in our house which are 10' x 10'. One is our bedroom, the other used to be my craft room and is now the nursery. So basically there has been a mass exodus of dolls. As others have mentioned, I want to store my dolls someplace out of the sun. So that is one limitation. I also want a place that is up out of the reach of soon to be grabby little hands so that both dolls and baby are safe in the house together. Given the number of dolls I own, and the size of my dolls (almost all of them are 60cm and up) that becomes more an more difficult. Some of them have been relegated to their boxes and put up in my closet. The rest are in the living room in the area that I used to have set up as a small parlor display for a couple of dolls. I cleared out all of the props and set up all of my dolls chairs so that I can sit dolls all the way across the space instead. It's not nearly as pretty, but at least I can still see many of my dolls this way.