Hey guys and gals! So it’s been a while since I’ve posted. Still busy with various things, but I have been itching to post. I still have a few other posts for you guys but I just haven’t sat down to do them. I promise, come December I will be back on track and back in the hobby. Until then I will try to pop in when I can.
So today’s post came from a weird place. I’ve been searching for a table to put in my room so I can work on things there when I don’t feel like sitting in my crafty area. I had found one but the shipping price went up and it’s more than I was prepared to spend. So I am on the hunt again. An idea that came to mind was one my mom came up with. She said I could buy two bookcases, get a piece of wood, and attach it on top of the bookcases. So I have a big table and some storage. Not a bad idea. But since I wanted to do it on the cheap I went to the Walmart website to see what I could find. I found a nice bookcase for 20 dollars within the first page, but I wanted to see if there were any other options. In this search I found a lot of bookcases that could either be used as a doll house as is or could be used as one with some tweaks. So of course the first thing that came to mind was that I had to share my findings with you. 
Ok, so I want to start off with the book shelves that need some tweaks. All of these could either be tweaked for certain size dolls are the concept could be used as a “blueprint” for shelves you’d like to build.
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So this was the first bookcase that caught my eye as a tweaker. Now I’m not sure if 11.5 inch dolls can fit in there, but there are dolls of all sizes. For example Blythe might fit in her because she’s a hair shorter than Barbie. Now this Bookcase would need to be tweaked to be used as a dollhouse because the back is open. You would want to get a piece of wood fitted to the back so you wouldn’t be losing items out of the back side. Also you have the top of this piece that can be used for various things. A full outdoor scene with perhaps the addition of foamcore with a scene on it. This bookcase would be great for someone who doesn’t have a lot of room for dollhouse or wants something simple to display their dolls in. Granted to rooms will be on the small side, but if you are one looking for something that doesn’t take up a lot of room odds are you won’t have a lot of doll stuff so this would work for you.
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This next bookcase is like the first one’s older sibling. You have three more levels to work with. Once again you’d want wood on the back to keep from losing items out of the back. This bookcase gives you more room options. Once again they would be smallish rooms, but with crafty placement you could make some amazing scenes and have them all there on display. Each doll could have their own themed room, leaving plenty of space for other rooms, of course that depends on how many dolls you have. And if you are like me…you’re going to need another one of these bookcases. 
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Another tweaker. Now I’m not sure how many people would find this one of interest, but I see it’s potential. Once again you’d want wood on the back to keep things from falling out of the back. But look at how long the shelves are. You could either have “long” scenes on the shelves or you could break them up into your own size rooms with pieces of wood slide in. Once again, tight squeeze on the furniture, but I think that’s about average for bookshelves anyway.
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This next bookcase is something you’d find in a school library. What I love about it is the shelf looks fairly deep and tall. The top one could be tweaked to be another room with the addition of wood or foamcore. It could also be an outside scene as well. One other thing I love about this shelf is it’s portable. You could move it to vacuum under it or if something happens to fall behind it you can move it to retrieve it.
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Now this is the same concept as the one above, but it has an extra shelf. This could be used for smaller dolls, but this one for me would be used more as a blueprint. I like the idea of extra shelves but I’d want them more spaced out for bigger dolls. It seems this shelf has more on the backside which is also an interesting concept. You could place this flat against the all but when you want to use it you could pull it away and use both sides to set up rooms.
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Ok, this one could technically be used as is for a smaller doll, but this is another blueprint for me. What I’m see is a little something different. On the sides where you kind of lean the books, for me, those would be slots to slid wood into. All sides would have slots actually. I’d have four shelves, or maybe five, as long as the whole unit is not taller than I am or causes me to the stand on tiptoe to use it. It would be spaced out enough so Barbie size dolls can be put in it along with furniture for that size. I’d want the bookcase to be able to be open on all sides so I can get pictures from any angle I want. The other sides would be closed in by the wood slid into the slots I mentioned before. The wood would be decorated on one side to reflect a room the doll was currently in. I would love that. And then this too is portable so it can go against the wall to get out of the way but you don’t have to take down your sets, which is always an irritating issue for me.
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Now this one would be a little bit trickier to use, especially at this size and shape, but it still has potential, especially as a blueprint for me. I would want it bigger for Barbie size, and still keep it’s turntable pedestal. I’d want to be able to have several rooms so I can just spin it around and access which room I currently needed. I’d want the shelves to be a little longer, deeper, and bigger so I could fit a doll and scene comfortably. I believe a shelf like the one I am thinking of would take a lot of room though because of how big the shelves would have to be to fit dolls and furniture. But it’s a cool idea nonetheless.
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This next one I like because it’s leaning more towards the house shape. I believe Barbie can fit in those bottom shelves and with some work I’m sure the upper shelves could be used for something as well. The upper shelves would need some wood or foamcore as well, but once in you’d have a nice little house with some small scenes.
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Now this bookcase looks just like a small house to me. It’s not marketed as house mind you, but it easily could be. You could perhaps use it to make an apartment for a photostory. You’d have your bedroom, bathroom, and joint kitchen, dining, and living area. So while it would be a small space or small apartment, it’s got potential. If you make the walls a neutral color then you can stretch the imagination even more. But maybe you are looking for a real house shape. Just helps the mind work better if you actually feel you are building everything in a house, right? Well you are in luck. Walmart had some of those too. Check it out.
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So, am I getting a little warmer for you? Thought so. Now these two bookcases are so confusing to me. They both are divided the same way, they are the same measurements, and they look exactly the same. Only difference is one is $14 dollars cheaper. I don’t know if Walmart just forgot they had the house already and made another sale page for it, or if this house is generic and any company that wants to buy it and slap their name on it can. You know that’s how they do it with peanut butter right? Most peanut butter is the same stuff, it’s just the name and brand that’s different. So I am wonder if these two house are the same concept? Well either way, the shelves are cute and in a house shape. They are marketed as either a bookcase or a playhouse for toys. The shelves are 15 inches tall, so plenty of room for Babs and any tall furniture she may have. Only drawback for me is that those shelves look short and not like they will fit a lot on them. I know most Barbie stuff is smaller than they should be so I guess it could potentially work, but it just looks like you’d have to squeeze your stuff together to make it fit.
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This one is one of my favorites. It caught my eye because it already has a doll in it, so you know they will fit. And it looks like you could fit a good amount of furniture on the shelf with her. Not much mind you, but a good amount. And hey, who doesn’t love a pink roof?
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Here’s another favorite. This bookcase I really think is made for dolls. Look how much room is on the shelves. Look at the window cut outs. And you see the window on the bottom right with the hole next to it? You can open that and it’s a little storage area. This bookcase looks more like a house than any other bookcase I have seen. Look at the top of it, looks just like a roof with shingles detailing. So awesome. Once again I think furniture would be a tight fit, but with the nicely spaced larger areas it could work.
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Now these two are made by the same company as the doll house above. The two are a 10 dollar difference between each other and I wasn’t sure why until I did a little research. One is deeper while the other one is taller. Only by a few inches either way, but I guess it would come down to what you preferred. These also have the storage at the bottom where the garage door is. These are cute also because they have a little fire bell at the top and a black fire pole to slide down. So cute and detailed. I’d have to let my son or daughter play with this as a doll house instead of a bookcase. It’s just too cool not to use it as that.
The next few houses are more for dioramas or really small dolls. I suppose they could be used as blueprints, but I really just seem them as perfect for the smaller dolls in our lives.
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This one I LOVE. I used to love this cartoon called “The Littles” when I was a kid. I always had a fascination with small beings living in walls or in trees or what have you. I saw this bookcase as a perfect means to bring those thoughts to life. Polly Pocket, Mini Blythe dolls, Mini Littlest Pet Shop Blythe, Mini Dal dolls, Mini Pullip dolls, and little ball joint dolls would fit nicely into this “house”. You could easily find doll house furniture to fit in it or make your own from found things as little beings tend to do that themselves. This house seems like it has three sides so you could really get creative in forming your own small world.
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Now these four are all from the same company. They have 1-2 small shelves you can create on. I love that they are themed and you could easily add to the theme with your own imagination. Once again these are for the little dolls in your life to call home. Two benefits to these shelves is they are small and they rotate so you can work on them from all angles. I think they are super, but I have to admit for my mini tiny army I would so want the tree bookcase. It’s just too cool.
And well that brings this post to an end. I hope I was either able to show you something cool, give you ideas for your own doll homes, or help lead you to a future purchase. Doll people helping doll people, what’s not to love?
Loves ya 
Mouse
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