It really is a small world

TARA Collins things by halves.

Instead, she builds them on a miniature scale of 1/12.

The mother of two designs petite, modern homewares and furniture for tiny bungalows.

Fridges are 14cm tall, towels 3cm long and fig leaves on plants just 1cm wide.

“I’m following my passion for interior design on a small scale,” she said, adding it all started 18 months ago when she couldn’t find anything modern for her daughter’s dollhouse.

Despite working in human resources full-time, Ms Collins tries to devote some of her weekend or time after work to spend with her father, Daryl, who helps her to make the furniture.

Ms Collins said she and her father used fabrics, MDF, Tasmanian oak and plywood to create the items, painting and doesn’t do sewing everything by hand.

It takes more than a day to cut the bungalow and a few days for the furnishings to dry.

Ms Collins said it only took her minutes to sew together cushions and up to two weeks to put the entire bungalow together – but she worked for months on designing the interior through research.

“I don’t think (doll houses) are just for children,” Ms Collins said, adding mothers had bought the bungalow sets under the premise it was for their children.

“But they get more out of it than the kids do.”

The Carrara resident said she had sold about a dozen of the bungalows with more than 100 furnishings, but was now concentrating on her sixweek-old baby and family.

She said she hoped to see her tiny bungalows transformed into larger, life-size homes.

Ms Collins’ handiwork can be seen at @_tinybungalow.