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.

Goldilocks House for Little Dal

I was going through my dollhouses collection to put them for sale when I stumbled upon this one ...



Ever since I have my Little Dal Dolls, I had been looking for a dollhouse that would fit them.  My biggest Sylvanian Families Dollhouse was slightly too small for them.  My new Ivy Cottage was also too small.

I then tried all the dollhouses I had, including my camping trailer and treehouse... but in vain as they were all too small.  The only house which was too big was the Play Wonder Wood House for my Licca dolls. And so I still didn't find the perfect Goldilocks dollhouse that would fit my Little Dal.

I finally got lucky when I unexpectedly became the new owner of a Vintage 1993 Fisher-Price Loving Family Deam Dollhouse.  I say unexpectedly because it was not my intention to buy it!  You see, I was looking for some 1:6 furniture for my Licca dolls and I found a Barbie furniture lot.  In the lot was many other toys and to my surprise, a vintage Fisher-Price dollhouse!

I had seen a modern Loving Family Grand Dollhouse in store and I disliked it immediately because of its garish green and dark pink colors!  The setup was not attractive and the furniture were boring and of the same awful color combination.

I knew the height of the Loving Family dolls were about the same as the Little Dall dolls (about 11 cm or 5 inches tall) but there was no way I was going to put my pretty dolls in that ugly house!

So imagine my surprise when I saw this super cute Victorian dollhouse with scalloped roof shingles, elegant French doors, a spacious balcony and front porch!  It was an old house but in good condition.  Very solid and easy to clean too as it was made with the usual Fisher-Price thick and smooth plastic!  The floor and window edges are pink but I didn't mind so much because the house was mostly white and light blue.

The front porch is adorable! With a little step and a mailbox, and enough space for a rocker or a swing!  Here below are my two Little Dal checking out the new house!

For once Lady Vixy could walk into a door without having to lower her head!

There is a balcony with plenty of space for them to set up a little garden!

"I don't feel safe!  This balcony needs some railing!"

Inside the dollhouse it's bright and open with a lot of space for furniture.  The staircase going from the first floor to the second floor is really cute and there is closet underneath just like in a real house!  The two sides of the house do open up if you want to make more room for play.

The built-in kitchen is practical but obviously lacking storage space.  But the oven and fridge doors do open which is really nice.

The kitchen is slightly too big for Little Dal but it's not a big difference.

"Where is my Easy-Off Oven Cleaner?"

There were some of the original dollhouse furniture in the lot so the Little Dal tried a few for size comparison.  Remember how Princess Tulip's feet were dangling over the Calico Critter's bed (HERE)?  Well this time the bed fits her just right!

"Finally! Furniture that fits!"

The third floor is smaller than the other floors but it still fits the Little Dal.  And unlike most highest floor dedicated to nursery rooms, this one does not boast too  many nursery decoration so it can easily be utilized as another type of room (I was thinking about making this the music room).

The house folds up easily for storage too but it's still very big compared to my other houses.  I am really on the fence with this one.  To sell or not to sell.  I can just imagine the house with a new floor and curtains on the windows and it would look soooo cute!

Although I am in the process of cleaning out my dollhouse collection, I am having second thoughts about this one.  Do you think I should keep it?  I think Princess Tulip and Lady Vixy already feel comfortable in it ;-)