Rebecca’s Parlor

   Welcome to the Rubin’s parlor! Rebecca Rubin lives in New York City during 1914. Her family is Jewish and her grandparents and mother are immigrants from Russia. Rebecca’s books are full of touching stories about family and tradition making her one of my favorite historical characters. This is my interpretation of the Rubin parlor.

Rebecca’s parlor is the bottom floor of a 78″ tall IKEA PAX cabinet. The room is 39″ wide, 22.5″ deep and 25″ tall. There are two identical sized “rooms” above; Rebecca’s Bedroom and Samantha’s Bedroom.

The flooring is a faux, dark hardwood peel-and-stick vinyl. I found scrapbook paper that looked period appropriate and glued it on with Mod Podge. The hubs cut decorative trim to size for chair rail, crown molding and base. It is the same trim we used in Rebecca’s Bedroom but instead of painting it white, I stained it with a dark mahogany stain to match the woodwork on Rebecca’s settee. Above the settee, I hung two antique-looking cream picture frames. For the art, I printed out two paintings of the European countryside that would have been available in 1914.

Rebecca has some beautiful furniture pieces and her sideboard is definitely one of my favorites. When I began arranging the room, no matter how I placed the furniture it looked bare. It sat that way for months as I struggled with how to arrange it. When American Girl released Melody’s upright piano, I knew it was a perfect fit for the room. The piano is supposed to be Melody’s grandmother’s, making the piano historically accurate for the space!

Above the piano hangs an old framed photo my mom picked up at a yard sale for me. (She keeps an eye out for doll sized items she thinks I can use.) Even though the photo is faded, I think it is perfect for the space. For décor on the piano, I placed a glass egg holder that looks like a decorative dish and a pitcher I found at Goodwill. Rebecca’s music book from her School Set sits on the piano.

When our local Pier 1 store closed, they sold all of their rug samples 3 for $5.00. I chose this one for Rebecca’s Parlor since the colors matched well. The room was still looking a little bare so I made a coffee table for the center of the room. I glued together pieces of unfinished wood from Hobby Lobby and then stained it to match the trim. On the coffee table is a doily from Rebecca’s Bedroom Accessories Set and Candlesticks from her Sabbath Set.

Sitting on Rebecca’s sideboard is the rest of her Sabbath Set. One of Rebecca’s coolest pieces is her phonograph and it really plays music. I rarely go in the doll room without giving the crank a turn and listening to Maple Rag (my favorite song that it plays). The phonograph needed a stand so I spray painted a sewing table from the My Life Sewing Set. (Awhile back, I shared the deal I got on a bunch of these sets from Walmart in the posts Christmas in Mrs. Ford’s Dress Shop and Ella’s Room: Christmas Edition .)

 

Above the phonograph are two small shelves the hubs made. They display Rebecca’s menorah, records and other pieces from her collection.

 

 

My Rebecca rooms are finished and her collection is nicely displayed in the dollhouse. Rebecca and her cousin Ana are already enjoying the new parlor.

Check the other historical dollhouse rooms I’ve created for  Julie, Addy, Maryellen, Kirsten, Samantha and Kit.