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

Baby It's Cold Outside

Brrrr…I hope you are all staying warm! This early dip in temperature has me reaching for something to warm me up on the inside. What better way to do that then with some yummy hot cocoa!

I have enough to share. Please help yourself.

There is warm milk in the teapot and hot cocoa mix in the tall apothecary jar. Don't you just love those jars? I wish I had ten of them to fill with all kinds of sweet treats.

Marshmallows or whip cream? Which do you prefer? Me, I'm all about the whip cream. And maybe a splash of a little something, Rumchata perhaps? That will really get you toasty!

I'm so glad you stopped by for a visit and to enjoy some refreshments. Bundle up and stay warm. This is just the beginning of the cold weather round these parts.

Enjoy!!

Have YOU played today??

Stephanie

Diorama Prop Alert

With winter holiday season just around the corner, check the Christmas ornament aisle at your local retail stores.  Craft, big box, hardware, home decor and even grocery stores sell tree ornaments.  You can find many items suitable for Barbie in amongst the holiday decor. 

 Wally world is selling these adorable faux chandeliers. I found black & blue. They are covered with glitter and have the most charming sparkly beads. You can make these even more charming by stringing beads between the arms. Even though they do not light up, they still add a layer of glamour to your dollhouse or diorama scene.

They also have these delightful trees that look like they are made out of peppermint candy ribbons. Look for this tree to make an appearance in an upcoming holiday diorama. 

Picture frame ornaments are fantastic too. These black ones are from Wally world. I love the ornate details. Made out of resin, they are meant to hold a photograph. You could put in a craft mirror, printable artwork, images from cards or old books, and even your own photo to create custom art for Barbie & friends.

What great treasures have you found lately? Any tips for using non-doll items in a doll setting? I'd love to hear your comments!

Thanks for stopping by~

Happy Crafting!

Stephiejo

Red Hot Penthouse Decor

This is what I imagine Barbie's Fifth Avenue penthouse apartment might look like.

Red leather chaise, modern glass coffee table, acrylic nesting end tables, chrome wall sconces and a fabulous damask wallpaper accent. 

The perfect retreat and sanctuary...

A place to entertain guests...

Or just a place to relax after a long day of work.

You can achieve this look with a few simple techniques. The papered walls are two silver colored doll boxes. If you do not have any boxes that are already silver-cover them in grey construction paper, contact paper, gift wrap or scrapbook paper. The damask pattern is a scrapbook piece. I left a large section of the grey visible to visually heighten the room. The chaise is a piece from the My Scene Party Pad. Originally purple, the legs were finished with a chrome color. The faux leather look was achieved with layers of paint. Each tufted button is a sparkly crystal accent. The coffee table base began as a bench in another My Scene bedroom playset. I removed the seat-painted it to look like wrought iron then used a smoke colored piece of oval glass for the table top.

The wall sconces are custom made using mirrored tiles, beads, jewelry findings, plastic pieces, super glue and silver paint.

Thanks for stopping by...

Happy Crafting!

Stephiejo