For the apple of your eye

The Apple House and Pear House would make cute starter dollhouses for any of your real life minis. (Although, not for kids too small as the furniture pieces could be choking hazards.)

The Apple House is just under 12" and the Pear House is under 16".

Sold by ROCK & PEBBLE for $110, the initial launch includes a set of peg dolls and free US shipping. More information at http://rockandpebble.com/

MoMA Modern Play House Review

Petite Nouveau posted a ton of detailed pictures of the contents of the new MoMA Modern Play House, that you can check out here.

There are so many things I love about this house, first it's only $19.99! At that price I was really impressed by the quality. The sturdy cardboard of the reversible nesting boxes and thick glossy furniture/flooring look like they will hold up well with continued use.

The furniture is a snap to assemble. You just punch it out, insert the tabs into the slots, and you are ready to decorate. The table tops and seat cushions are reversible offering multiple options for the furniture. The vibrant walls and flooring along with the modern accessories lend to the "out of the box" approach to creating any design you can imagine.

The best part for me is that you can actually fit everything back in the boxes, making this a truly portable house that you can take anywhere. My 3 1/2-year-old son and I set up these rooms together and his favorite part was decorating with the vinyl clings. I can see this being hours of fun for kids of all ages, and young at heart adults as well.


ChronicleBooks.com:
MoMA Modern Play House $19.99
MoMA Modern Play Family $12.99

KidKraft Designer Dollhouse

I have to send a HUGE Thank You to KidKraft for building a truly modern kids dollhouse. The KidKraft Designer Dollhouse is 33.54" x 13.58" x 45.66" and 39 lbs, 1:6 scale and perfect for Barbie. Darn it! If only it came in 1:12 then I'd really be jumping for joy, but at least I know what my daughter's first dollhouse will be.


I love the couch and Flos Arco Floor lamp, and the faux orange Arne Jacobsen "Egg" chairs. The kitchen furniture is clean lined but dull compared to the modern Hoppy style bar stools and Eero Saarinen Tulip Table & Chairs in the dining room. Besides the great modern bed and nightstand, the bedroom boasts a faux Eero Aarnio Bubble Chair. Too cool!

I love the spiral staircase and the ultra modern bathtub. The Designer Dollhouse scores 5 stars from reviews on Amazon. It takes about 1-2 hours to assemble, but people are surprised by the quality and think the pictures don't do it justice. I own a KidKraft garage, kitchen, train table and train set for my son, and I'd agree that KidKraft makes durable and quality products, and has great customer service. This will definitely be in my, er um, I mean my daughter's dollhouse collection. Price ranges from $102.54-$170 depending on where you shop.

(all images from Sears.com)

WoodyClick (Hape) Modern Doll Houses

WoodyClick (Hape) has a great line of modern doll houses. Sadly 1/36 scale, but a great way to start your kids off in modern design. The houses are modular so new levels are easily added and homes can take on a variety of shapes.

Above is the Family Home that runs $70 fully furnished at landbridgetoys.com.



I will definitely be using a similar spiral staircase in one of my designs to come. I wish they sold the bathroom in 1/12 scale. This Holiday Home is available for $75 at landbridgetoys.com and the smaller Holiday Lounge runs $25 at landbridgetoys.com


(All images from landbridgetoys.com)

Designer's go playground

"Designer's go playground", is a dollhouse and furniture conecept by textile designer Sari Syväluoma and furniture designer Johan Ørbeck Aase that was at the ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair).

Sari Syväluoma from Finland and Norwegian Johan Ørbeck Aase exhibited a modular dollhouse system that can turn into a complete play area. “It’s a play system based on architectural boxes in miniature,” says Aase. “It’s not as ready-made as a regular dollhouse and therefore more open for a child’s imagination. And when your child outgrows it, you can use the boxes as bookshelves or for storing toys. We worked on the idea for two years, and decided to participate in this fair 3-4 months ago. We are looking for manufacturers, as this is only a prototype.” (quoted from Nordic Reach)


(First image from Kids Modern Blog. All smaller images from Johan Ørbeck Aase's website.)

Simple DIY Design

Here's a simple design from KidInfo blog that would be a good starter build.

(Image from KidInfo blog)

Momoll Wooden Dollhouses

There are lots of modern wooden dollhouses readily available on the market. I hope this trend in modern designs for kids dollhoues will translate into more modern designs in collectible versions.

The Swiss company Momoll, produces the following houses:


Dollhouse Ray Ray (Puppenstube Ray Ray) by Momoll goes for around $215. Details on Momoll.com.




Playtower Thing 3 (Spielturm Ding 3) starts at $250 and each additional floor is around $130.



They also produce this Furniture set Legno (Spielmöbel Set Legno) to furnish the houses for $40 of $55.


(All images from Momoll.com)