Birth of a Doll Room

I am starting this Blog to hopefully share some of what I have done and inspire others in their doll collecting hobbies. I know that I have been so inspired by what other collectors have shared so I wanted to “do my part” so to speak. Let me first say that I am overwhelmed by the wonderful people I have met through this hobby and I continue to be amazed at how giving and wonderfully creative this group as a whole is. I get inspiration every day from the photos of other collectors work (photography, dioramas, redressing and OOAK art). Last year I embarked on a project that is the holy grail of many collectors. I had the opportunity to plan out and have my own doll room constructed from a spare bedroom we have in our house. I started with an standard 12 ‘ by 12’ bedroom.

Then the planning began…..what should I do, what should I do????? I must have drawn up a thousand different plans and consulted every picture on Doll Rooms that I could find. There were and are some phenominal examples on the Barbie Fan Club board ( BFC). After researching I knew I wanted a number of things:

Shelving for displaying dolls
Larger shelving for diorama displays
storage for clothing, boxed dolls, accessories and diorama items
a table or work surface
ability to make the room multifunctional –wall bed?
lighting in the display cabinets
easy access to electrical outlets on diorama display shelves
large display area (2′ x 3′ and at least 18 inches tall) for Barbie Vintage Fashion Shop display
Better overall lighting in the room – possible addition of chandelier or track lighting.

A very long list right. So I decided to call a professional for help. I worked with Pacific Wallbeds Northwest to design a system of shelving and wallbed that would meet the needs of the list above. They were able to accomodate each and every one and made the process so enjoyable along the way. They came in on budget and one time – a match made in heaven. Their team even put in extra items that I had not thought of. There is a large corner in the room when you come in the door and the designer with WBNW suggested a radius cabinet to maximize display space. I had a couple of IKEA display cases that I wanted to use in the room and the designer suggested we set them up on cabinets so you could see the displays better and that offered storage underneath – brilliant!. Here is how it turned out.

This entry was posted on September 1, 2009 by raberry65. It was filed under Doll Room and was tagged with Doll Room.

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2 responses

Kimberly

Rebecca your room is just fabulous. Thank you for discussing the list of items that were important to you and for giving us the name of the people who helped you reach your vision. All I can say is WOW….what a dream come true!!!

September 1, 2009 at 8:03 pm

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Teresa Martens

Hi Rebecca,

I just finished spending the afternoon and evening going through and reading your blog. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed reading and looking at your pictures! So much inspiration here! I also like the fact that you added in where you got items (like the Bethany Lowe Christmas trees!).

I just started collecting vintage Barbie and Silkstone dolls and am having a blast! I will be back to your blog often for more eye candy and inspiration. Thank you so much for sharing your love of this hobby!

Your doll room is incredible! Me thinks me needs to clean out a bedroom! LOL!

Thank you again!

Blessings,
Teresa

December 3, 2013 at 8:13 pm

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Inside the Fashion Doll Studio Barbie for big girls.