Ideal the Majestic Dollhouse

Dear Readers,

I recently got a new dollhouse!  I still don't have a house for my 6 inches dolls.  The Fisher Price Loving Family House is cute but is really more suited for children.  The bulky furniture and house décor was not truly what I had in mind for my delicate dolls. 

So when I saw the Ideal Majestic Dollhouse in a Tuesday Morning store, I really didn't hesitate to buy it. Once completed, the house will be 3 feet tall and fit dolls under 7 inches.  I thought about my new Ai-Dolls and how I didn't have a house for them yet so I went ahead and bought it.

It has working lights, 2 story tall, 6 rooms and more than 200 pieces of furniture and accessories to customize the dollhouse. It has 6 plug-in lamps that really glow (needs 6 AAA batteries).   For only $29.99, it was a steal.

The walls and floors are made of laminated cardboard and the beams and accessories are made of plastic.  This is obviously not going to be as sturdy as my previous wooden dollhouses.

The assembly of the house took less than one hour.  It was a breezy assembly and the instructions were clear but the cardboard pieces for the roof were too big and I had to trim them to make them fit.

This is the back of the dollhouse:

Once assembled the house looks quite spectacular!  The front wall opens up for each of the six rooms.  The inside is spacious and although it may look dark, the plug-in lamps provide an exciting lighting option.   Here below you see the lamps cords before I tuck them in their position closer to the wall.

The lamp has a cord that you plug in at the base of the room and you can turn the light with the switch located on the back of the room.  There are 3 pairs of plugging hole in each room so you can potentially add more lamps.  The batteries are hidden in the walls.  The picture below shows you the tiny black switch.  There is one for each light.

The dollhouse allows a lot of customization.  The package included 6 pieces of cardboard for the floor and each piece has two designs so you can easily change the look of the floor by flipping over to the other side.

There are also paint, paintbrush, painting rolling, stamps and ribbons but I didn't try them yet.  There is also yarn to weave the laundry basket, blankets and pillows for the beds, and tons of furniture!  A nice touch is that most of the cabinets have working drawers that you can pull out!

Here below are close-up shots of each room.  Please note that I did not add anything but the furniture and pieces that came with the dollhouse.  I did not apply any of the stickers provided or paint any furniture yet.  The holes you see on the walls are pre-cut and are for you to add frames, cabinets, etc.

Although the house structure is made of hard plastic, it is not strong enough to withstand normal children play, let alone rough play.  The floor made of cardboard is also too flimsy to endure any kind of handling by children.  The house itself stands solidly but you can only move it by carrying it carefully at the base otherwise it may break.

Pros:

• Easy assembly
• Working lights
• Easy access to the rooms
• Many furniture pieces
• Great possibility of customization
• Fits 5-6 inches dolls
• Good price

Cons:

• Too fragile for young children
• Roof did not fit unless trimmed
• Cheap linen and furniture

I still like the house despite the flaws because it's an unconventional size that fits my 5-6 inches dolls like Ai-doll, Strawberry Shortcake, Little Dal and Little Pullip, LPS Blythe, etc.  Here below you see how the dolls fit inside the rooms.

This is how the house compares to the Loving Family House:

The options for customization is a truly fun bonus.  The working lamps are a wonderful addition and provide and instant WOW factor!  It sure beats the unsophisticated Fisher Price Loving Family House!  For an adult collector or older children, I would totally recommend buying this dollhouse.