Key West Palm Island Estate Dollhouse

This is the Palm Island Estate Dollhouse. It started out as an Alison JR. kit. A lot of modifications were done to make it much more interesting, and realistic. The original kit is a bit box like, so by adding more windows and doors, the house just opens up, and has a flow. It becomes a beautiful airy tropical home full of light and decorating potential.

The front and side steps are done in a Spanish tile look, similar to those often seen on Key West homes like the "Southern Most", and Earnest Hemmingway"s. Accents of beautiful patterned Spanish tiles are found all over, especially in the private gardens.

The landscape design includes two focal , artisan made palm trees. There is a large variety of tropical fruit trees and plants, including papaya, banana, and mango. Along the fence are colorful crotons, lush green palms, and a mix of assorted plants and textures contrasting against the crisp white pickets. Most of the tropical flowering plants were hand made in Thailand out of clay, and the tiny detailing is stunning.

The walkway is a matching tile, a crisp white with the printed tile for stepping. The small touch of the fancy pattern compliments the complex textures in the plants. The trendy coral/orange color is enhanced by the rich colorful tones in the lush foliage. Just a touch of this color from the Martha Stewart paint line was painted just under the roof line under the tower. This small "pop" of color creates a nice visual balance, and pulls some of that fun colorful tropical feeling up on to the house. The rest of the house is painted a soft white.

The house front door has stained glass windows, as well as three other windows in the downstairs. Aqua blues and orange shades are the main colors that run through the house. Tropical bird theme wallpapers were selected for the main entry room and the large top floor room. 

Three large oval windows were aded to the tower, making it the perfect place to look out over the endless ocean, or watch a beautiful golden sunset.

New Gothic Victorian Dollhouse

This Gothic Victorian inspired dollhouse began as a Tennyson. I liked the basic footprint for the house however, felt it needed major design changes. i added extra doors and windows, changed window sizes, and created a special brick chimney. The interior staircase was also moved.
Siding was a must, and for contrast the bay was done in a vertical siding. After all the architectural construction issues were dealt with, the color pallet was next....
I had picked up a flyer at the paint store with a house I loved done in red and green. so using that for basic inspiration, i moved to a fresher updated version. most of the paint colors finally chosen are from the Martha Stewart paint line. this was a very fun pallet to work with!





The hand cut and painted bricks used on the front and side steps and chimney were just the right texture and tone to pull it all together.
Front doors are always an important focal point, and this door has a wonderful stained glass window in an oval design of lilies, landscape, and delicate border.












Staining the interior trim gives the house a warm homey feeling, yet the printed all and floor papers make it light and fun.

Another addition was the fireplace. A lovely one from England with a nice slim profile. To carry through the terra cotta, more of the same bricks made for the outside were used on the base and surround area.




The staircase was moved to the other side of the house and a second staircase was added to the third floor.

In doing the gardens and flower selections, the color choices were very important. The green moss usually used was to "green" and had to be changed to a more light spring green color.

The colors in the flowers are strong and add another layer to the design, yet they do not take away from, or overpower the house. For this reason coordinating all the garden colors with the house was a challenge.