Dear reader...

DOLL’S HOUSES HAVE always fascinated me. It’s not so much the perfect replicas of period homes that draw me, but the interiors and the notion of crafting a miniature dwelling. Over the years, I have made my own; as a child, from shoe boxes and, later, using bits of reclaimed furniture.

So, when I spotted a rather sorry-looking wooden one in a charity shop, I couldn’t resist. It was badly damaged: the opening facade was missing, and it had undergone quite a few clumsy renovations, but this was of little concern. It was the tiny quarters that piqued my interest and the fact that the rooms, the staircase and the internal doors, with their minuscule hinges, were all in proportion.

I relished the idea of choosing wallpaper and carpet for my project. My head was buzzing with questions, mostly to do with scale. Where would I find paper with a small enough pattern to paste on the walls? What could I use for light fittings, and how would I make the diminutive pieces of furniture? I didn’t want to simply buy these things, I wanted to fashion my own; that was, to me, the whole point.

Before long, I was tipping matches out of their box to create a bed or a bookcase; snipping tiny bits of crochet and lace for rugs, and using pieces of broken jewellery for light fittings. I even used a hat pin as a curtain rail. I could decorate the whole house with one little tester pot of emulsion, and lolly sticks, bottle tops and scraps of paper were all put to use. These challenges became the focus of my project; not finishing, as it will probably never be finished, but enjoying the process, the ingenuity, and the escapism of creating a cosy home and all its contents with my own hands.