Non-Traditional Barbie Furniture Ideas

In my last post, I discussed my top five favorite mass produced doll furniture pieces for Barbie & friends. (in case you missed it click here.) Today I'm expanding on a past post regarding looking for doll furniture in more unusual places. (To see that post click here.)

  I have found some of the most incredible and unique doll furniture pieces and accessories in a variety of resale shops and big box stores. Don't head to the toy aisle though..my secret? The home decor aisle!

Trinket box dresser found in my local thrift store.

Some of my favorites are ready to go items such as the painted dresser pictured above. This little gem has three actual working drawers and I found it at my local favorite thrift store. These highly decorative trinket boxes can be found on-line, in stores and even at garage sales. You just have to develop what I call the 1:6 scale eye. To demonstrate scale, I have photographed this dresser next to an actual Barbie chair so you can see how perfectly suited this treasure is for my dollhouse.

Another example of a home decor item re-purposed into doll furniture. 

This particular vignette includes a resin candlestick table base, rectangular craft sign-faux painted to look like a concrete table as well as a faux finished Barbie wicker piece of plastic furniture. It's amazing what a little paint can do to transform a few pieces!!

Oh, and the little drink holder? It is a fun little fairy garden accessory! I just filled with faux ice cubes and a variety of fun beverages. (mine pictured above is a slightly different style).

And can we just mention pin cushion chairs again?? This sweet little pink plaid chair is one of my all time favorites. I finally have a matching pair of these beauties. The seat removes for storage and it comes with a matching ottoman. Be still my heart!!

This lovely nautical themed vignette was another altered piece I've created. The cabinet began life with the drawer & doors and just a plain wood finish. I added the decorative trim detail to the doors, changed out the knobs and created a distressed painted finish. A few accent pieces and coordinating piece of artwork, in a thrifted miniature frame of course and the vignette is complete.

What are some of your favorite home decor pieces you have found to add to your doll collection? Any items you've transformed into something new? I'd love to hear about it!!

Until next time...
Stephanie

Realistic Barbie Furniture-Top Five Favorites

As a collector, one of the most frustrating aspects of finding realistic furniture for Barbie is that most of the mass produced furniture on the market is truly too small. 

I’m here to take the guess work out of it for you. I have bought & sold hundreds of Barbie furniture pieces over the years. My personal collection has grown quite substantially during this time. I have gotten fairly selective in what pieces remain in my collection. Not every piece that stays is 100% suitable for Barbie to use. However, my goal is to create realistic miniature scenes so the realism of the piece outweighs the usefulness of it. I own a mix of mass produced doll furniture pieces and a large collection of non-doll items suitable for playscale use. In this post I will detail the mass produced pieces that I use on a regular basis. These items will be easier for you to find on the secondary market. Some pieces are rare and may command a high price. However, do not be discouraged. You can usually find gently played with items at garage sales & thrift stores. All they need is a little cleaning & maybe a coat of paint and they will be good to go.

Opinions expressed in this post are genuinely my own. I am not affiliated with any doll manufacturer nor am I compensated by them. Let’s get started!

My number one, most favorite 1:6 scale realistic furniture piece(s) is the My First Kenmore Kitchen set. This is NOT produced by Mattel and was not made expressly for Barbie. However, it is perfectly made in scale to fit Barbie and friends. Made by Sears and sold in 2005, this limited run playset was very popular among doll collectors and remains so today. There are a number of lower cost knock off’s of this kitchen in a variety of bright colors. I have not purchased any of the colorful knock off sets, but have heard from other collectors that they are a good substitute.

Here is what the set looked like as sold in stores:

My First Kenmore Kitchen Playset New In the Box

Here’s an example of the set in use in my studio. Notice that I painted the cabinet doors a solid white color rather than the black fake glass that was originally there.

Customized My First Kenmore Kitchen Playset

My second favorite piece is the My Scene My Café play set sofa. This piece is gorgeous in person. The scale is perfect to pose dolls on. The tufting detail, the rolled arms the turned feet, make this a prized piece in my collection. My only complaint is the back of the sofa. There isn’t one. It’s hollow. If you only need a piece that will be photographed from the front, then this is it.

The sofa is from this set originally:

Barbie My Scene My Cafe Playset New in the box

Barbie My Scene My Cafe Playset details

And here is a pic of the sofa in one of my diorama scenes:

Barbie's guard dog.

My third & fourth favorite pieces are from the same set, the 2008 Barbie french door refrigerator and kitchen cart. This refrigerator is even better than the My First Kenmore Kitchen fridge. Double doors to access the interior of the fridge, pull out drawer for the freezer and the amazing little kitchen cart are must have pieces for any serious Barbie furniture collector. The color isn't exactly my favorite, but for now it stays until I decide what to change it to.

2008 Mattel Barbie Kitchen Fridge & Cart Playset

Here's the same fridge used in a diorama scene:

Barbie's Farmhouse Kitchen

Rounding out the top five favorite mass produced furniture pieces for Barbie is the wicker settee found in a variety of 1990's garden playsets.

Barbie So Real So Now Summer Garden Playset

I have several of these wicker pieces and have updated with paint. Here is an example painted white:

Kelly Ladybug Picnic Diorama Scene

And here's an example stained brown:

Barbie's Christmas Porch Scene

Whew!! That post went a little longer than I had intended! This list is far from all inclusive and I will continue my list at another time. What are some of your favorite mass produced doll furniture pieces to use in Barbie scenes? Do you agree with my favorite choices? I will have to say though that part of the reason for my choices thus far have to do with the fact that I LOVE kitchens!! They are my favorite rooms to create and photograph. Probably why I have such a large collection of Rement miniatures as well.

Until next time....

Stephanie

A Little Red Carpet Tablescape...Night At The Oscars Barbie Style

And the Award goes to...BARBIE!! That girl has everything. Happy Oscar's weekend.