My Dream Dollhouse

Hi, I am Sumaiya Mehreen and you are welcome to my Dollhouse. Here you will find some of the dollhouse miniatures that catch my fancy! Feel free to email me at smehreen@gmail.com if you want me to showcase YOUR favorite dollhouse on this blog!

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Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Dollhouse Animation



This stop-motion animation was part of my MFA project at The University of Texas at Dallas. It was filmed inside the Garfield Manor I have been building since last year. The Heidi Ott dolls were bought and costumed specially for the project: their ball-jointed articulation made them the perfect mini actors for my movie!

To read more about the creation of the animated movie, visit http://dollhouseanimation.blogspot.com

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Sunday, October 14, 2007

The Red Brick Orchid


So here it is, my latest from a long line of Orchids. This one is extra special to me, since it is my first try at both paper-clay bricks and internal wiring for lights. It sports 4 lights: 3 tulip sconces and a ceiling light. The exterior foundation is covered in river rocks and moss, which has become a signature of sorts for all my houses.

The interior is done in harmonious tones of cream and beige, creating an excellent backdrop for furniture and decorations. The floor, and ceiling moldings match the mahogany floor and window frames. Little details, such as the golden doorknob, or the raised details on the exterior trims, makes this dollhouse a truly one-of-a-kind creation.


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Friday, March 23, 2007

My Cafe Ole Cottage


This house is on eBay right now! Here is the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item
=290095876482&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:11

As I stood on my balcony this morning, enjoying the sweet breeze and spring blooms, I thought it was the perfect day for me to take pictures of my latest dollhouse, the Cafe Ole Cottage! My coffee-loving hubby, Shah, picked out the colors for me ~ needless to say, it was after a trip to Starbucks!

This dollhouse was an experiment of sorts; this was my first attempt at creating clay roof shingles. I used self-hardening Marblex clay and painted the roof with dark chocolate acrylic paint and a soft latte wash. My hats off to the paper-clay dollhouse artists: the process was indeed a test of my patience!

And now on to my love affair with fabric wallpaper! I discovered the perfect fabric to create my faux wood panels: it has a crackle print and comes in various colors. For this Coffee and Cream inspired home, I picked out fabrics in warm beige and pale coffee. The chair rail and moldings were created with lace, which was considerably cheaper than wood molding, and a lot easier to apply. I am in love with this combination: so much so, that I bought a yard more of the fabrics for my next dollhouse!


This house is on eBay right now! Here is the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item
=290095876482&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:11

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Tuesday, January 16, 2007

My Sage & Gold Victorian Cottage


I finished my latest Sage & Gold Victorian Cottage. This is a product of my recent experiments with fabric covered walls. I found this lovely printed calico cotton fabric to line the walls and the attic. The sage green is a perfect complement to the print. Golden scrap-booking stickers add interesting details to the green painted walls. Silk ribbons in sage and cream are inexpensive and easy solutions to chair rail molding and crown molding.

The outside is painted in garnet and wine red, with crisp white door and window casings that stand out. The mahogany stained roof matches the stained mahogany floor inside. I found the cutest golden door knobs with key-holes for both the front and the interior doors. Hand drawn golden details and faux ruby rhinestones on the window shutters add just the right touch of elegance to finish this quaint Victorian cottage!

This dollhouse is on auction on eBay right now. Here is the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=
290073986687&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:11


I hope this cottage becomes a Valentine's Day gift for someone special!


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Monday, December 11, 2006

My French Country Cottage


Welcome to my French Country Cottage! I finally finished working on it last night, and couldn't wait to post photos on my blog to share with you!


For this house, Shah and I chose a cooler color palette, which is very different from the warm colors we favored for the last few dollhouses. We were inspired by Debbie Travis' Painted House on HGTV.


Our inspiration for the color palette came from a fabric we bought. Instead of using wallpaper, we decided to experiment with fabric on the walls; the results were brilliant beyond our expectations! I decided to leave most of the divider wall white, and paint the door a baby blue to add a hint of playful informality. Above the main door is an intricately curved wooden detail that I painted in white and blue, and then distressed slightly to lend an aged look.


To match the bright and sunny mood of the country cottage, I stained the floor with light oak glossy finish varnish. Instead of electrifying this dollhouse, I chose to put simple wall sconces for candles in each room, to remain true to the rustic simplicity of the house.


I had the most fun decorating the front porch! I added a similar wooden curved panel above the front entrance, but this one is stained in light oak and stands out against the darker gray-blue wall color. The porch has mosaic done in white and gray tiles. The foundation is covered in stones and moss.


On both sides of the house, there are two trees with pink and yellow blossoms. The gnarly moss covered roots and the scraggly branches transport this quaint country cottage to a lazy summer's day in France.


This house is being auctioned right now on ebay. The link:

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Christmas in Poland


My Oriental Resthouse is off to Poland right now! It is going to the home of Joanna and her darling daughter Julia as a Christmas surprise. Please pray for the house that it reaches them safe and sound in time for Christmas!

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Thursday, November 23, 2006

My Lafayette House Makeover

Remember the Lafayette Dollhouse I got at the beginning of the month? It was featured as My Lafayette Dollhouse. I had promised you photos once I am done with the makeover. So, here it is, my Oriental Lafayette!


As beautiful as it was to begin with, I decided to have some fun decoring the house. I began by painting the outside in lovely buttercream and dark chocolate. I used gold paint to accent some of the trims. I finished the outside with terra cotta roof tiles.


The inside took a little longer to complete. I usually finish the wallpaper before assembling the house. Since this house came already assembled, I had to be really careful about trimming the wallpaper around the intricate window frames. Since the floor was stained in places, I decided varnish would draw attention to the flaws. So I covered the floor in burgandy carpet.


Then came the most fun part -- making the dollhouse a custom SMehreen piece! I added stones all around the foundation, and filled the gaps with moss. There is grass all around the border above the foundation. Don't you just love the basement windows peeking through the stones?


Like all of my dollhouses, my Lafayette had to have flowers and plants! Since one side already has the gorgeous bay window, I covered the other wall with tall blooming greenery. To give the house its Oriental flare, the trims, windows and door are detailed in ruby rhinestones and hand embellished faux stonework details. Now tell me, how do you like the transformation?

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Sunday, November 19, 2006

Butterfly Lights in the Nepalese Resthouse

I can't help myself! Whenever I feel like the Nepalese Dollhouse could not be any more perfect, I find something more exquisite to do with it! I am losing sleep over the new butterfly light fixture that I put in last week. I had to take photos and post them on my blog so that I could show it off! By the way, the Nepalese Dollhouse is on auction now on ebay.


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Friday, November 17, 2006

My Country Kitchen Set


If you haven't noticed already -- I love dollhouse furniture! What I love even more is to set them up inside my dollhouse and to take pictures of them to share with you!

I bought this sage & oak country kitchen set today. I adore the tiny spice compartments in the cabinet, and the ample storage space. It is not as big as my other kitchen sets, which makes it perfect for smaller dollhouse kitchens. The color and the design give a cozy feel to my country kitchen. It is a welcoming space where the children can come in for their lemonade, after playing all evening in the sunny backyard!

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