DIY dollhouse turntable?

[sarahsthreads]

DD1 tries to play with her dollhouse, but it's not working for her. The lower level is too low unless she's laying on the floor on her tummy. The middle level has a divider down the center, and with the dollhouse in the corner of her room it's impossible to get to the back. The top level is just fine, but obviously too small for three levels worth of furniture!

So I was thinking. (Dangerous, I know.) The base is approximately 20" x 24". If I got one of those Target itso storage units that's 14.75" x 29.5" and put a 14.5" flat wooden lazy susan on it, then the dollhouse on top...is that a recipe for disaster, or might it work? The dollhouse would overhang the storage unit by about 2" on either side. (It's somewhat less than 20" deep, but more than 18" - I was using a 12" ruler and wasn't measuring that accurately!)

Has anyone tried anything like this, or does anyone have a better (but still not too expensive) solution? This will work out to about $65, maybe a little more if I get fancy and get some of those canvas bins to put in the storage unit for easier clean-up.

Since we got this dollhouse in 2007 from Santa and DD1 is just now showing interest in it, I'd like to do something soon so she's not so frustrated!

Thanks!
Sarah :)

[caleymama]

We have this (http://www.kidsurplus.com/itemDetail-item-62%20MLD%20795%7E-%7Efromsearch-true.asp) dollhouse and to solve a similar issue (it has a solid back, so it is up against the wall = no turntable, but I did want it raised slightly) I did the following:

I bought two unfinished plywood crates at AC Moore, flipped them over, and zip-tied them together. I put a fabric scrap that I already had over top so stuff wouldn't constantly be falling through the spaces, and voila - a perfect height dollhouse surface for floor play. The are zip-tied together so that the long sides are together. Bonus that the unfinished bins match the unfinished wood of the dollhouse. The crates were less than $10 each and then I used 40% off coupons to make them even cheaper. The crates are similar to this (http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=cp0178) one I found at Michaels.com.

I would totally add a turntable if the dollhouse needed access from both sides!

ETA: Although there is not a lot of room left on the crate surface, there is enough for some small pieces. Since it's not too far off the floor, the pool and "outside" toys go on the floor just fine.

[sarahsthreads]

I think if she wants the people to go outside she'll probably just play with them on the floor (which is what she does now anyway). But that's a good idea with the side table - I wonder if my parents have anything they're not using right now...

Sarah :)

[sarahsthreads]

We have this (http://www.kidsurplus.com/itemDetail-item-62%20MLD%20795%7E-%7Efromsearch-true.asp) dollhouse and to solve a similar issue (it has a solid back, so it is up against the wall = no turntable, but I did want it raised slightly) I did the following:

I bought two unfinished plywood crates at AC Moore, flipped them over, and zip-tied them together. I put a fabric scrap that I already had over top so stuff wouldn't constantly be falling through the spaces, and voila - a perfect height dollhouse surface for floor play. The are zip-tied together so that the long sides are together. Bonus that the unfinished bins match the unfinished wood of the dollhouse. The crates were less than $10 each and then I used 40% off coupons to make them even cheaper. The crates are similar to this (http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=cp0178) one I found at Michaels.com.

I would totally add a turntable if the dollhouse needed access from both sides!

ETA: Although there is not a lot of room left on the crate surface, there is enough for some small pieces. Since it's not too far off the floor, the pool and "outside" toys go on the floor just fine.

Ooh, I like this idea too! The thing I really liked about the itso storage unit is that it could potentially be storage for the pieces not in use, but I am a bit worried about whether the dollhouse being wider than the base is going to be a problem. The crates are definitely a good idea to ponder...

Sarah :)

[sarahsthreads]

Ok still pondering this lazy suzan aspect- I think 14" might be small unless you could secure it to both the table/shelf surface and the bottom of the dollhouse. Seems you would have to have it away from the wall though in order for it to spin which might make the spinning unnecessary as then you could just walk around it.

Actually, the way the dollhouse is set up in the corner it could spin right now, it's sort of on an angle and there's enough clearance to turn it. I just can't pull it far enough out into the middle of the room so that DD can walk behind it - her room just really isn't that big.

Ideally we'd do the build-it-yourself type of thing, as you can get lazy susan "innards" for just a few dollars and build it into the surface of the table, but as it's January and *way* too cold for woodworking out in the garage I think I'm going to have to do something less custom. :(

I'll definitely try to find a way to secure the lazy susan to the base, but I think that the weight of the dollhouse will (hopefully) be enough to keep it where we put it. Otherwise we'll just have to drill a little hole and cover it up with a mini dollhouse rug. ;)

Sarah

[caleymama]

I hear you on wanting to use the piece itself for storage. I tried to figure a way to do that with the crates, but just couldn't get it to work. Initially I had wanted to put the two bottoms together so that the sides were open but it wasn't quite big enough.

Right now for "extra" storage I have a tall, oval Rubbermaid (Sterilite?)bin from Walmart that has a hinged lid. It fits right next to the dollhouse on the floor.

I have to go get DD from preschool right now but I took a couple of pics that I'm going to try to upload later.

ETA pics:
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj263/justwatchingthemgrow/dollhouse/IMG00525.jpg

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj263/justwatchingthemgrow/dollhouse/IMG00524.jpg

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj263/justwatchingthemgrow/dollhouse/IMG00527.jpg

[vonfirmath]

Growing up, our dollhouses were on a storage cabinet my dad made. When we were little, we played with them on a long "bench" step stool he made for us. As we got taller, we could reach ourselves.

We never used the other side of the house. Once our babysitter took both dollhouses into the living room so we could play together. But mostly we just played in the houses. If we wanted to "go visiting" we just took the people to the other girl's room and did it that way.

The dollhouses stayed out all the time. The storage cabinets were used to store other stuff.

[sarahsthreads]

I hear you on wanting to use the piece itself for storage. I tried to figure a way to do that with the crates, but just couldn't get it to work. Initially I had wanted to put the two bottoms together so that the sides were open but it wasn't quite big enough.

Right now for "extra" storage I have a tall, oval Rubbermaid (Sterilite?)bin from Walmart that has a hinged lid. It fits right next to the dollhouse on the floor.

I have to go get DD from preschool right now but I took a couple of pics that I'm going to try to upload later.


That looks really cute! (And very tidy. I'm impressed!) I took a good look at the itso in person at Target today and I'm not in love. They did have a TV cart that would be the perfect size, that was only $20...but it's black. Ugh. And of course the maple finish is on their website, and will only cost $25 more to have it shipped. :(

I may just have to give up my dream of storage and go with the crates!

Sarah :)