Dandridge House Dolls

   Molly’s dollhouse bedroom is finished! This spunky 1940’s girl and her patriotic colored collection are now displayed in a room that suits her well.

I started this room about a year and a half ago but at the time I was still working on completing my Molly collection. It took me quite awhile to find her vanity new in the box and alarm clock. I really wanted the Pleasant Company clock but after stalking eBay for over a year, I finally decided to get the American Girl version. Molly’s room is complete for now, but there are still a couple sets that I’d like to add in the future.😉

Let’s start at the beginning. The room is 25” tall, 22.5” deep and 39” wide. The base cabinet is an IKEA Pax closet system frame and is divided into three rooms with Molly’s bedroom being the top “floor”. The middle “floor” will be Molly’s Kitchen (in progress) and the bottom will be a space for Nanea.

When deciding what to use for the wall paper I knew wanted to have an open star pattern like Molly’s room in the Pleasant Company Scenes and Settings. In 1996 Pleasant Company released five giant book-like backgrounds for a child to play with as a backdrop for their dolls and furniture. As a kid I wanted these so badly but never had any until I purchased them in adulthood. Here is Molly’s bedroom scene and my inspiration for her room.

I searched high and low for a white scrapbook paper, wallpaper or a wrapping paper that had a red, open star with no luck. At the craft store one day, I found an open star stamp that was the perfect size and decided to make my own using white textured cardstock and red ink. After stamping the paper, I attached it to the walls using ModPodge. Next I laid the blonde, faux wood floor and the hubs cut pieces of trim to install as a chair rail and base. I used Molly’s bedspread as my guide to choose my ink and paint.

The hubs made two ten inch shelves for me to display pieces of Molly’s collection. The back wall shelf holds Molly’s radio, snow globe, report card and Nancy Drew book. The side wall shelf has Molly’s hair curling kit and a framed picture of Dad. I photo copied the picture of Molly’s dad from one of her books and added a tiny frame normally used for scrapbooking.

In the Scenes and Settings picture, Molly’s door has three hooks for her things to hang. I wanted to make something similar but also wanted several pieces to be visible and not piled on top of each other. In the end, I decided to hang three hooks spaced far enough apart to hang her school bag, purse, camp hat, Halloween sack and jump rope. Below the items sit her shoes and metal lunch box.

The vanity is such a neat piece with a pretty floral curtain and a round stool that tucks underneath. On top of the vanity, I have Molly’s hair dryer, Bobby pins, necklace and her camp letter and picture. The camp letter, envelope and picture are photo copies of the originals. I currently don’t have those pieces and made a copy of a fellow collector’s set until I can replace them with my own set.

Molly’s nightstand holds her lamp, clock (that really works), glasses and an extra pen I had from Kit’s reporter set. On the shelf underneath I placed her school books and hot water bottle.

Molly’s plaid suitcase sits on the floor next to the nightstand along with her dude ranch boots and a yellow dollhouse. The Scenes and Settings show a yellow dollhouse in Molly’s room and I thought this dollar store one would work.

Above the bed is Molly’s window. The window frame is a picture frame from the dollar store that I painted red to match the trim. The outdoor scene is the same view from the window in Molly’s Scenes and Settings. For the curtains, I bought a second, damaged vanity and removed the skirt for the fabric to make matching curtains. The whole window was quite time consuming but I’m really please with the way it turned out. Next to the window is a copy of Molly’s Winter Pastimes poster. (I photocopied the original because I did not want to ModPodge that pricey little piece to the wall.😉)

On the wall to the side of the bed, Hubs made two four-inch shelves. I felt like Emily also needed a few things in the room. Emily is the British girl that stays with the McIntire family during the war. Sitting on the shelves are Emily’s scrapbook and tags, Molly’s tortoise shell combs, and a small framed picture of the Royal Princesses (Emily’s obsession😊). The horse picture is also from Molly’s Scenes and Settings framed in a dollar store frame I painted to match the room.

Molly’s nurse doll sits comfortably on her bed. The bed is the ’90s PC version but I added the throw pillow and rug from the AG 2000s version because they help fill everything in nicely. I hope you have enjoyed Molly’s room tour! She and Emily have settled in and are enjoying the new space!

To see more historical doll rooms check these out:  Julie’s Room, Addy’s Bedroom, Samantha’s Bedroom, Rebecca’s Parlor, Kit’s Attic Bedroom and Maryellen’s 1950s Diner.