Reader project: Joanne Pittaras
Starting her dolls house journey in the Edwardian era, we find out how Joanne Pittaras became so much more attracted to the creation of a modern build…
Not one but two modern makes detailed by Joanne; a Greek villa and a lake view house.
Although I’d always been attracted to the idea of building a modern dolls house, my first two houses were decorated in the Edwardian style, simply because of the lighting options that were available to dolls house enthusiasts when I started twenty years ago. However, in the last ten years, the availability of LEDs has really opened things up, and makes it much easier to recreate modern lighting in a miniature setting. During a clear-out at the onset of the pandemic, I found myself flicking through some old magazines and was drawn once again into the absorbing world of miniatures! I started spending my free time searching online for potential dolls house refurbishment projects.
Lake View refurbishment
Having decided to go for something contemporary, I settled on a second-hand DHE Lake View house, which had originally been built for a child and needed a complete refit. I loved the floor-to-ceiling windows, as once the lights are on, a lot can be seen without opening the house at the front.
It was important for it to have predominantly plain walls, since my dad, who’s an energetic 80-something, had offered to do some miniature acrylic paintings for it, and I didn’t want the walls to detract from them. I thought it would be easy to strip the old patterned wallpaper and just paint over it, but soon realised I’d have to re-paper the whole house before painting, since the walls were very bumpy, even with heavy sanding. I removed the spiral stairs, since I felt they took up too much vital space, and added false staircases to the right-hand side, with lighting on the landings to give the impression that they were leading somewhere. The window
panes were badly scratched, and the heavilypainted door hinges were impossible to clean up, so I replaced them with new ones. The roof had been laid with real terracotta tiles, several of which were chipped, so I repaired and painted it in a slate colour to be reminiscent of the houses in the Lake District in the north of England, where I used to go hiking in my teens.
The bedroom was moved to the ground floor, to enable it to have a narrow but manageable en suite bathroom, which has Elf fittings, although the chrome towel rails were made from car trim and grommets. I got a bit carried away with making bottles with beads, and now have enough for several houses! I also used Elf kits to make the fitted wardrobes, adding LED recessed lighting, and made the steel and glass console table from belt buckles. The 1970s-inspired veneered bed was made to fit exactly in front of the wardrobes.
The sunburst mirror was fashioned from a vintage brooch, and the textured wallpaper lends a slight shimmer to the room.
The first floor kitchen, which was again made from a kit by Elf Miniatures, was an absolute joy to put together, and the granite worktops look so realistic! This was where LED strip lighting really came into its own, and I think it creates a warm ambience. The bar chairs around the island were originally black, but were repainted and reupholstered to fit in with the décor. The fabulous monstera plant in the hallway was a kit by Moonflower Miniatures, and looks perfect in what would otherwise have been an awkward space.
On the top floor, the area next to the lounge was quite tricky to work on, since
I’d installed a fixed door for the false stairs and it’s therefore quite narrow. I decided to create a cosy reading area, and remodelled the fitted bookshelves from simple basswood ones I bought online. Whilst making the many books (mostly printables from Jessica Cloe Minis on Etsy) was timeconsuming, it was well worth it, as they give the house more of a ‘lived-in’ feel, with clues to the characters of the inhabitants!
The top floor originally had a small attic mezzanine level which was intended for a bedroom, but after poring over gorgeous photos of other Lake View houses on the internet, I realised it just had to be knocked into one level, to allow space for a vaulted ceiling and a full-height stone chimney breast with a ‘working’ cassette fireplace. The stone cladding, from Bromley Crafts, was great fun to do, as you can see how it’s going to look as soon as you peel away the stencil! LED lighting enhanced the ‘real’ stone, too. A YouTube tutorial guided me through making the suede L-shaped sofa, and I reupholstered a 1970s Bodo Hennig swivel chair to match it. I think my dad’s paintings really add depth to this room. The industrial-looking table lamp is actually a remodelled and repainted Victorian ceiling light, with glass spheres replacing the original tulip ones, and the candle in the glass storm lantern is made from a lollipop stick, although the sand is real!
Ocean Drive new-build from kit
Once the Lake View was finished, we had entered another lockdown and I really needed another project! Reading an inspiring article in the March issue of DHMS, about the amazing 1/24th Cycladic miniature houses by Andreas Rousounelis, brought back memories of holidays on the Greek islands (which we often visit as my husband is from Athens), so I set about finding a 1/12th house that had simple, mid-century lines, with the aim of creating a modern Greek villa. Fortunately, an unbuilt DHE Ocean Drive kit popped up on eBay at around the same time, so I seized my chance! It only had two floors, a flat roof and two enclosed rooms, with a staircase that was open to the elements, so I remodelled it by adding an en suite bathroom, an enclosed kitchen with removable walls for access, and moved the stairway leading to the roof terrace from the lounge to the first floor balcony instead. The great feature of this dolls house is that it has clear sliding windows, and like the Lake View, it’s easy to see inside when the lights are on. All of the dimmable lighting is either from LED bulbs or LED strips, which are fantastic for dolls houses, since they never need replacing and don’t heat up. The selfadhesive marble effect flooring tiles came from my local hardware store.
Although seeing the transformation of a refurbished older house is very satisfying, building from a kit is a lot less labourintensive than refurbishing an older house and access into the tiny spaces is so much easier, especially if you are able to build one floor up at a time. I started with the en suite, which had to be ultra-sleek, but with a rustic touch. The shower fittings, glass sink and toilet are from Elf and I created the look of a pebbled shower floor by using a glue gun to make small bobbles, then painting them in neutral colours. The stone-effect floors and walls are cut from grey self-adhesive tiles stuck onto cardboard templates.
As the kit had come with a selection of wooden play furniture, I was able to use it for the heavier white pieces that are found in a lot of Greek island villas. I made all of the soft furnishings myself, as there’s always a stash of remnants of materials to hand due to my love of sewing. The sleek mirror, which definitely has a super-modern feel and makes the room seem larger by reflecting the light, was bought at the Kensington Dolls House Festival some time ago and the vintage lamp had a new shade fitted, using some ivory ribbon. The area around the bed is lit by LED bulbs, behind cardboard lightshades, all painted in the same shade of white as the rest of the house.
The bijou but state-of-the-art kitchen is all constructed from another Elf Miniatures kit, apart from the washing machine which I made from scratch, as I’d found a curtain ring that was perfect for the door! I added a ‘glass’ banister to the stairs, to avoid any nasty accidents for
the inhabitants and the steel covers hiding the screws at the sides are metal nail art studs.
The lounge on the first floor includes a wall display of white pots (one of the many ideas gleaned from Pinterest), a sofa I made by following a Mitchy Moo tutorial and a chimney breast made from a plastic bottle and covered with wood filler to create a masonry look. Even though it’s a contemporary villa, I wanted to retain some ‘original’ architectural features of an older building, which I’ve attempted to do with the fireplace and the stone wall (again using Bromley Miniatures brick compound). The candles in the hearth were made from modelling clay. The miniature shells, urchins and pebbles were collected by my son from a beach on the island of Spetses and the painting is another of my dad’s impressive artistic creations – he seems to have caught the miniatures bug!
Stepping outside onto the balcony, the roof is in limed wood with beams for a bit of authenticity, and has a globe lightshade that came from a string of inexpensive fairy lights. The white floor tiles are glass mosaics, in contrast to the rough stone walls. I added some candles with LED bulbs to the wooden garden lanterns, to create a more intimate atmosphere. The vibrant bougainvillea, which is growing up towards the roof terrace, was made from pieces of silk flowers and fabric leaves stuck onto wire branches that
I’d covered in florist’s tape and the steps are again covered with wood filler to give the impression of aged, whitewashed masonry, which can be seen all over Greece and in many other Mediterranean countries.
The roof terrace required a chic, relaxing atmosphere with soft lighting, to recreate past evenings on the islands, and a spot-lit hot tub was a necessary luxury! It was made using a food container that had a wedge cut out of it to make a seat; the water jets are nail art studs stuck onto chrome-painted buttons; the lights are on a short LED strip stuck underneath the seat, with grommets to make them look like spotlights; and the water is a ripple-effect acrylic sheet. The platform it sits in was constructed from MDF and given the masonry treatment, while fabric for the cushions was sourced from a charity shop, as I needed small prints in matching shades of blue. All of the outdoor furniture was changed from neon colours to plain white and I added seat pads. It’s lovely to imagine oneself in this tiny setting, cocktail in hand, enjoying the view in the warm breeze and listening to the waves gently lapping against the nearby shore!
Even though there are some beautiful contemporary accessories and furniture available nowadays, the thing I enjoy most about building and decorating modern houses is the creativity; there’s so much scope for making your own items, without the constraints of a particular era and there’s no limit to the interior design options. My next project is already underway; an art gallery for my parents, to display more of my dad’s mini masterpieces!