While going through some old toys and things at my mother's house towards the end of last year, I happened to come across a dollhouse, stashed away in the back of a closet. Now, I use the phrase "stashed away" pretty loosely here - this thing is enormous; I remember many years ago, when I was about 6 or so, my mother having fits trying to assemble the quaint "little" Victorian mansion. And then the annex. And then the carpeting. It became an ongoing project for her, and though I think it was supposed to be a birthday present (in April), I didn't actually get the thing until Christmas.
Having discovered the dollhouse again was intriguing. What struck me the most was the extent to which my taste in interior decorating had changed over the past twenty-ish years. The pastel wall-to-wall carpeting. The vulgar, broad striped vinyl wallpaper borders. The total waste of space dedicated to three children's bedrooms. The thorough lack of interior architecture, with no walls or doors separating the master bedroom from what, I think, was supposed to be an ad-hoc hallway. The gaping void at the top of each railing-less staircase.
Not to mention the fact that I had absolutely no place to put this box of despair. My boyfriend offered to help carry the cumbersome monstrosity down to the basement for storage.
It seemed the logical thing to do, his reasoning was perfect: "Well, it's not like you still play with it anymore. Just get it out of the way."
It seemed the logical thing to do, his reasoning was perfect: "Well, it's not like you still play with it anymore. Just get it out of the way."
But yet I hesitated.
And then, it occurred to me - it wasn't a matter of "playing" with the house. I couldn't even recall what I'd even named the dolls in my youth. This house, this ugly, ugly house, had nothing whatsoever to do with dolls. It was a matter of principle.
It was about me, and my obsession with historical accuracy. And my loathing for wall-to-wall carpeting and vinyl wallpaper. And the onset of foul weather, putting my actual home renovation projects on hold 'til Spring thaw.
A project was in the making.
I decided then and there that I was not going to "play" with the dollhouse. I was going to fix it.
I was going to make it beautiful, bring out all the potential of Victorian and Art Deco splendor that lurked beneath the vinyl.
I was going to make it beautiful, bring out all the potential of Victorian and Art Deco splendor that lurked beneath the vinyl.
Thus began my new hobby and most recent obsession, the progress of which I intend to document for anybody out there who's reading this thing.
