So I started off by clearing out a section of my closet. Then I added a carpet, or rather a small fuzzy blanket that I'm using as a carpet. I recommend using small bathroom sized carpets and/or small blankets, unless you're fine with just the carpeting that's in your room already.
There is a DIY doll carpet tutorial I will do in another post. It's simple, resourceful, and consists of utilizing an old blanket and going at it with a pair of scissors. Oh and an artistic flair of course. If you want to get fancy with it, you can stitch designs on it as well.
Anyway, the next thing I focused on was wallpaper and since I don't have wallpaper to fully cover the walls of my closet, I decided to make it simple and resourceful; I decorated the wall with posters and hung up a few things as well like a mirror and some paintings.
Just get creative with it, you don't have to make the doll room so basic; just make sure to have the essentials and then give it your own unique touch. Also make sure to add some stuff in there that represent your dolls, since the room is going to be for them. The room I'm working on is for my American Girl dolls. I added in a violin for my doll Emily, because she is a musical soul. And some paintings of food for my doll Camille, because she loves to cook. For my doll Kirsten, I gave it a touch of Sweden to remind her of her homeland; I made a sign for their door that says "Valkommen!" I also made a little area for her beloved doll Sari. And a little book shelf/mini library for them because they all love to read.
Also think about the theme you're going after, or maybe you have various themes you just want to throw together which is fine; variety is good. Keep things spiced up as well, add things, exchange things. Maybe your doll is a vampire and you want to give her a dark room with a spooky vibe. Or maybe she's an undercover spy who needs a secret base full of all her gadgets and spy equipment. Think about what type of room you're trying to create so you can have an idea of what you're going after; it'll make decorating easier.
Next comes the furniture, which you can make most of on your own. If you have any unused boxes, they're great for making all sorts of doll furniture: tables, beds, couches, and pretty much all the basics. I will be featuring a DIY cardboard couch which saves you from buying store bought doll furniture that can be pricey.
Think about doll sized things that could go in the room, for example maybe you can use your jewelry box as their dresser or a little chest. If you have a little bedside lamp, it can be put in a corner of your doll room, on top of a cardboard box that you turned into a table. Be resourceful, you'll notice when you're creative how many things you actually have around you that can be put to use, instead of spending unecessary money. Take your little bathroom stool, put a small rag or blanket over it, and use it as a table. Take 4 big hardbacks and make a row, double stacked. Then take a small long pillow as a mini matress (if you have one) and wrap a small blanket around the books and pillow, making a doll sized bed. You can fill socks with cotton or some kind of soft material and make small doll sized pillows. Find another small blanket to put over the bed and add some small stuffed animals on the bed for decoration. If you don't have small blankets, take an old blanket and cut it into smaller separate blankets.
I will be featuring a DIY doll sized fish tank. It will consist of an empty jar of jam, gravy, etc. Basically, some kind of glass jar that's been emptied and washed out. Add small rocks/pebbles you can find outside or if you have any beads or jewels you don't mind soaking in water, then you can add those in. Decorate the fish tank and then add water or vice versa. Make sure the decorations are heavy enough so they don't float when you add in the water. Take a toy fish if you have one, like those little fish you can find in the toy machines outside of stores or any little sea creature toys; turtles, dolphins, jellyfish, etc. A DIY on miniature fish will also be featured in another post to go with the DIY fish tank.
