In the box Kaleidoscope Doll House on eBay

Wow, I haven't seen an in the box Kaleidoscope House on eBay for a few years. Asking $1,000 with shipping may seem steep, but there was a time when these in the box houses went for $2,000. 10 years ago used K Houses went for $800-$900. I got mine used with some cracks for $400 back in 2009, I'm not sure how in demand these houses still are.

Ebay listing here: ebay.com/itm/NIB-Kaleidoscope-Doll-House-by-Bozart-MOMA-Miniature-Dollhouse-Acrylic-Color-MCM

I posted a tour of the Kaleidoscope House if you want to see what the interior looks like here.

All of my K House posts are here.

Callsmall started a Flickr Group for Kaleidoscope House owners and fans. There are some inspiring pics that might tempt you to put an offer on this K House. Check it out: flickr.com/groups/kaleidoscope-house/.

7/22 Update: buy it now price dropped from $875 to $795. The $125 for shipping to the US seems a bit excessive, but there is make an offer option.

Laurie Simmons real house for sale

We all know and love the Kaleidoscope House created by artist Laurie Simmons and architect Peter Wheelwright, but I stumbled upon Laurie Simmons' real house in Tribeca New York that is on the market for $6.25 million. The house was featured in her daughter Lena Dunham's movie Tiny Furniture (yep, Lena Dunham of Girls fame). You can check out more pics of the 2 bedroom 2 bath loft here.



"The family that comes with the house is based on the two designers and their children."
"Our individual work in photography and architecture has focused on these issues, and the promptings of our respective children have often figured in our thinking." - Simmons/Wheelwright

For years I had assumed Laurie and Peter were a husband/wife duo because of the references to "their" and "our" children. I mistakenly thought meant belonging to both of them and not their respective kids. Laurie Simmons is married to artist Carroll Dunham and "their" two kids are Lena and Grace. Back when the Kaleidoscope House was being created Lena would have been around 14 or 15 years old and Grace 8 or 9. I'm guessing the smallest of the girl dolls was modeled after Grace, but I'm still trying to figure out which doll was modeled after Lena. Any guesses?

Farewell Kaleidoscope House

We had a good run, but it's time to move on. I love my Kaleidoscope House but the colorful panels make it difficult to get the lighting you want and the floor plan is a bit tricky. I've debated swapping the panels out with clear plexi, but with the time and effort that would take, I might as well just build another house. So the KHouse has been relocated to a corner in the living room for the kids to play with. It's filled with the IKEA Lilabo dollhouse furniture, but is often stuffed with cars and legos.

Here is one last look before saying goodbye to "my" dollhouse.

Living room: Fixation bookcases, Efficient bookcase, trays and designer chair pillows are by me. Stag head by Dotsan (he now has a mini rhino and tiger head too!) Sectional, rug and coffee table are minimodernistas. Framed art, picture frame stand, decor, paintings, art books are PRD Miniatures. Orange barrel chairs are Welcome Home by Maryann Roy.

Kitchen/Dining: 3 piece modern kitchen set on ebay $35. Green IKEA bookcase and table by minimodernistas, chairs are Reac Japan.

Entry: Daybed and rug are PRD Miniatures, chairs are Reach Japan. Vases KHouse accessories and one of mine.

Accessories: Mighty World Town Cafe, Re-ment, Tap Plastics, CW Lubin, Petite Princess, Kaleidoscope House Accessories, ebay and dollhouse shop finds.

Bedroom 1: The bedrooms are so tiny! I took the headboard off the Kaleidoscope House accessories bed and reupholstered the footboard as the headboard. Frames are PRD Miniatures. Rugs, shell art and pillows are minimodernistas. Chair is Petite Princess. Wood cutouts are Kaiser Craft. Dresser is ebay find. Accessories are William Maranville, Gilbert Mena and dollhouse show finds.

Closet (small room between bedrooms, originally was the bathroom): Who needs a closet for clothes when you can have a closet full of toys. Ms. Pac Man arcade game is by Retro Heart. Robot heads are key covers from CB2. Can't remember brand name of animals from mom and pop store that went out of business. Stool is Lil' Bratz. Rug is free fabric sample.

Bathroom (technically bedroom 2): I finally have my modern bathroom set up courtesy of Studio Seven swap (mini*aesthetics); pedestal sink, mirror panel, accessories, bath salts, shorter plant, tub. Hatbox toilet is PRD Miniatures. iPad is lilu. Wood cutout is Kaiser Craft. Brown stools are HBS miniatures.com. Bath faucet is from minismodernas.com. Tower shelf and accessories are ebay find.



Patio: The wood cord and ModFire is from Meagan (tinyfixation) built from plans by Pepper (MitchyMooMiniatures). Verde plant and Ribb Chaise is PRD Miniatures. Green topiaries are place card holders from minis2b. White stools are HBS miniatures.com. Pillows by minimodernistas. Watch dog and chairs are CB2.

You wallpapered the K House!?!

Okay, so I know the point of the K House is it's open, light and airy feeling, and covering the windows/walls with dark grey wallpaper is kinda crazy, but after 4 hours of cutting and folding craft paper, I'm loving it. I don't think the photos do it justice. My husband is going to laugh, but I think I'm actually going to have to read my camera's owners manual to learn to take better photos (who am I kidding, my husband doesn't read this).
I was inspired by this photo of Graham & Brown's Gradient Purple Wallpaper. The craft paper is cut to size and folded to hold it in place. The fireplace paper is taped together but there is nothing adhering to the house so it can be easily removed. Here are some shots from around the room.



The black dining room table top was in the scrap bin at TAP Plastics for a few dollars, I had them cut down a clear cylinder tube and glued that on as the base.
Yea or Ney? I'd love to know what you think.

Furniture: Le Corbusier chairs from eTradersplace.com; TV - Hallmark ornament (Modern MC tip); TV stand is a Fisher-Price 1:16 scale coffee table; White couch is the Jasper Morrison sofa from "Bozart Kaleidoscope White Living Room" (check ebay for $45); clear glass coffee table is from "Bozart Kaleidoscope Green Living Room" (check ebay for $15); black/white lamps and pillows are from 2 "Bozart Kaleidoscope House Accessories" sets; metal and plastic end tables flanking Jasper Morrison couch - ebay find. Other Stuff: lamp in corner from AG Mini's blue room and purple room (MC tip); glasses/trays/food from Mighty World Town Cafe (MC tip).

Kaleidoscope Home Tour

The Kaleidoscope House was the brainchild of architect, Peter Wheelwright, and artist/photographer, Laurie Simmons, and produced by Bozart Toys 2001/2002. I'm sure everyone is familiar with this shot, but for those who don't own one, or who are contemplating buying one, I wanted to take you on a little tour. So here it is out of the box in all of its glory.



The front door opens to a salon/foyer/dining room/lounge (depends on whose photos you're looking at). The left pink side wall is fixed, but the front has a sliding panel. If we go upstairs we find two bedrooms and connected by a Brady Bunch bathroom.



The room on the left, directly above the entrance, has purple umbrella wallpaper. If you climb the ladder you can see through the attic/crawl space/yellow skylight over staircase to the other room. The yellow wall on the front of the house is fixed to the frame, and the side panel slides for access. Through the open door is the bathroom, then second bedroom.



Walking back through the hallway, we reach the sailboat bedroom that is the exact same size as the umbrella bedroom. It also has the same fixed yellow wall in front and sliding panel on the side.



The Brady Bunch style shared bathroom that connects the two bedrooms, is about the size of a postage stamp. The Kaleidoscope House bathroom set is not 1:12 scale and barely fits in this bathroom. At best, it's a half bath with room for a sink and toilet but no tub or shower. In almost every K House I've seen the owner has opted to renovate one of the upstairs bedrooms into a bathroom, and use this for a closet/office/reading room. (I will post another time on the Kaleidoscope House accessories and furniture, but there is a great post on minimodern.blogspot.com about the bedroom sets and house notes.)



Heading back downstairs the great room has a floor to ceiling red fireplace with blue and pink fixed walls flanking it on the back. The upper level side walls are fixed but the lower side wall panels slide open for access. There is also a battery operated dome light under the balcony hallway.



The house does come with this oddly sized kitchen. If you line up one end with one doorway, it protrudes into the other doorway. The island is shorter but a little bit taller, and they both have a slight lean to them. The flooring on the lower level is grey with some interesting blue speckled stickers in the great room and the next room. The upstairs floors are white.



The last room has a fixed interior purple wall, but shares sliding panels with great room and entrance. I've seen this room used beautifully as an outdoor terrace space, but also as dining room/TV room/garage.



The roof has a rectangular skylight that runs the width of the house. The white plastic will eventually turn yellow with age, nothing you can do about that. The blue curved roof has a skylight above the staircase. Mine is warped so it just rests on the support posts and doesn't snap in place. Which is fine by me, because I remove it to take photos anyway, but if you are buying one, you may want to ask.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the tour. Next post will have furniture.

(Top image from Museum of Childhood which also has a rotational video of the Kaleidoscope House. All other images are mine which display my lack of photography skills. )