The Ikea Dollhouse is so affordable at $40. But it’s also really boring and plain. So I thought I’d try my best to make it cute! Ready to build miniature furniture and decorate a tiny house with me?! Let’s get going on this Ikea dollhouse hack!

IKEA DOLLHOUSE HACK

Let’s start with the video tutorial so you get an overview on what I did. Then, I’ll dive in with more details below:

If the video doesn’t work here, you can watch it on YouTube here. It’d mean so much if you’d watch the video! I’m trying to get better at my video skills so I can grow my YouTube channel. If you have a few minutes to watch this and/or subscribe, I’d so appreciate it.

BEFORE- IKEA FLISAT

For this project, I’m using the $40 Ikea Flisat dollhouse. Like I said- it’s super plain without windows or fun details. It’s also mostly made of wood which makes the perfect blank slate to make anything possible!

Begin the dollhouse by putting the dollhouse together according to Ikea’s instructions. From my years of doing Ikea hacks, I’ve found some Ikea directions to be better than others. I’m sorry to say, the Flisat instructions are a little hard to follow.

exterior-

For the exterior of the Ikea Dollhouse hack we did three things that I think made a big difference:

Adding windows. Each room needs a window to add some dimension and look more like a real house. We cut the openings with a drill and jigsaw. Then pushed these windows into each opening. I spray painted them gold to add some warmth and sparkle.

Shingles for the roof. The roof is plain wood with a green chimney. I painted the chimney Beloved Pink. Then I’m using shingles to cover the roof. This adds texture and again, gives it a more authentic house look. To install, just draw a line every 1″ on the roof and then glue one shingle on at a time. Start at the bottom of the roof and work to the peak.

Exterior paint. I painted the whole exterior Beloved Pink (a latex paint). For the back that’s laminate, I primed it first and then painted it. On the sides, there’s screw holes, so I covered those in some balsa wood before painting. By having the house a fun color, it gives it personality and breaks up all the brown wood.

I also added scallops along the roof for a cute detail!

Living room-

Next, we’re redoing the rooms! Let’s start with the living room. I made the sofa from foam core and fabric (see below for the tutorial). It’s the cozy spot to read in the house.

The sofa ended up being bigger than I planned, so I made a small coffee table/stool. The coffee table top is a drawer pull and the bottom is part of a candle stick.

The fireplace actually works (aka, the light turns on). The top I decorated with plants. Two of the plants I made from a bead and then put a little greenery from faux flowers in the hole from the bead.

I’ve decorated a few dollhouses. So I have a lot of old furniture and accessories that were just sitting in a drawer. Part of the point of this project is to use as many of those items as possible! So the plants, swan, brass chair, and frames were all from my stash. I filled the frames with printable dollhouse art to decorate the walls.

Kitchen-

And now, let’s take a closet look at the kitchen. For the walls, I covered the top half in rainbow stripe wallpaper (a mini version of the wallpaper I designed for my house!). The bottom half is subway tile wallpaper. Then I used dollhouse trim for chair railing between the two wallpapers.

A lot of the furniture in the kitchen are items that you can buy! The blue painted hutch is affordable and so cute! For the kitchen sink/ cabinets/ stove I used this ceramic piece. Then I found a fridge that actually opens! The wall shelves are currently available too.

For the table, we cut a candlestick down and added a round wood top that I hand painted. I have a more detailed tutorial below. For the chairs, I had a collection of vintage brass dollhouse chairs that are now in every room of this dollhouse.

The rugs in the whole dollhouse are made by printing rug images on velvet fabric. Then I cut them out and put them under the furniture. They’re soft and don’t fray! You can get a similar look from this Spoonflower fabric– order a fat quarter in the performance velvet. Amazon also has some cute rug options too.

Girl’s Room

Next up in the Ikea Dollhouse hack, the girl’s room. For the wallpaper, I put a rainbow cat wallpaper up. On the lower section of the wall, I thought a pink stripe wallpaper could be cute. Then I used dollhouse trim for chair railing between the two wallpapers.

I wanted a mini vanity so I took a wood oval, and some trim from a dollhouse window I took apart. I cut down the trim, painted it mint, and glued the three pieces together. It was so easy! Then I glued a mirror to the wall and put a mini perfume bottle on the vanity!

The big diy for this room is the beds. I made them from foam core, fabric, and hot glue. Below is a full tutorial. First I made the beds, then I covered them in mini quilts I cut from scraps of I quilt I had. Then, I made mini pillows for the top. It was a ton of work, but turned out so cute!

For the wall, I wanted some ledges for holding books. I took some L shaped dollhouse trim and glued scallop trim to it and painted them mint. Then I glued them to the wall and added some dollhouse books to the shelves. The books can be made from foam core and these printables. Or you can buy ready made dollhouse books here.

Nursery

Finally, the tour takes us to the Nursery! I like to start with the wallpaper when I do the room. The theme for this room is travel so I did hot air balloon wallpaper on top and mint stripe wallpaper on bottom. Then I used dollhouse trim for chair railing between the two wallpapers.

For a nursery, I think a lamp is always nice, so I made one from beads, string, and a skewer! The full tutorial is below and I’m so happy with how it turned out!

I also wanted a hot air ballon for a mobile. So I made one! I took a bead and then molded air dry clay to give it a light bulb shape. Then I took a dollhouse canister and wrapped it in faux leather and painted it a lighter brown. I covered the balloon section in fabric and glue. Then hung it from the ceiling. I think it’s a cute little moment!

The crib can be found here. I can’t find a source for the little dresser- sorry! Here’s a link for the train. I cut down this wall map and put it in a mini picture frame.

dollhouse supplies

Dollhouse- Ikea Flisat

Cat Family- Calico Critters

Exterior- windows, shingles, scallop trim, paint color- Beloved Pink (latex paint).

Kitchen- hutch, sink/cabinets, frid ge, shelves, wallpaper stripes, wallpaper subway tile, brass chairs, pink plates (similar), teapot (similar), light fixture, candlestick for table base, round wood for table top, chair railing, rug (similar)

Living room- fireplace, brass chair, house plants (similar), gingham fabric, dollhouse art, mini frames, swan

Girl’s room- mini pink dollhouse, wallpaper cats, wallpaper pink stripes, brass chair, book covers, chair railing, perfume, mirror, mini dollhouse books,

Nursery- wallpaper- hot air balloons, wallpaper- mint stripes, brass rocking chair, crib, chair railing, train, wall map

Note- for wallpaper I ordered a sample size with the peel and stick finish. The sample was more than big enough for a dollhouse room.

dollhouse DIY- sofa

To make a dollhouse sofa, start with 1/4″ foam core. Cut the foam core with a ruler and an exact-o knife to the following dimensions- sofa back 5″x2″. Sofa seat 5″x2″. Sofa arm 2.5″x2.75 (cut two). Sofa front bottom 5″x1″. Support piece 5″x1/2″.

Cut a piece of batting for the seat back and seat cushion.

Around each piece of foam core (besides the support pieces), wrap with felt and glue in place. Fold the corners like a present and glue into place.

Then cut fabric so it’s 2″ larger than the foam core pieces. Wrap the fabric over the felt, the batting (for the sofa seat and back) and glue the fabric into place. Fold the corners like a present and glue the corners so the lay as smoothly as possible. I like this YouTube video for showing how to glue the corners.

Repeat for each piece of the sofa- to be honest, this takes a while to do.

But it leads to the fun part! Gluing the sofa together! Start by gluing the sofa front bottom to the front of the sofa seat. Then glue the sofa support piece underneath the back of the sofa seat. Next, glue the sofa back to the support piece and the sofa seat.

Finally, glue the arms of the sofa to either side of the sofa. I felt like my sofa needed a few pillows. So I cut two pieces of 4″x2″ fabric. I folded them in half and sewed the sides. I added stuffing to the inside. Then glued the pillows closed. And that gives you a finished sofa!

dollhouse diy- floor lamp

To make a dollhouse floor lamp, start with a skewer and put beads onto the skewer.

Add a wood circle to the bottom to make a base. Glue each of the beads together. Add a bigger bead on top. This will hold the lamp shade in place.

Take a piece of card stock and draw a 4.5″ circle on the paper. In the middle, draw a 2″ circle. I found random household items that were the right dimension to get the circle- like a small bowl from the kitchen.

Cut the circles out of the paper. Cut in half with scissors. This portion makes the lamp shade! Roll to make the shade shape and glue the paper in place.

It would be fine to leave the lamp just white card stock (though a little fragile) at this step. So I took baker’s twine and wrapped the shade with it. I used glue to hold it in place.

This was a pretty quick project (the twine wrapping took the longest time). And I am so happy with how it turned out!

dollhouse diy- dining table

For the dining room Ikea Dollhouse hack, I needed a table. And good news- this is a super simple DIY! First I cut a wood candlestick with a chop saw.

The top of the table will be a small wood circle.

This project could be as easy as gluing the circle to the candlestick. For the top, I’m doing some folk painting to give it some personality. I painted a starburst in the center and added some dots and a border. It was simple and really fun to do.

Then I used hot glue to attach the candlestick to the top and I have a cute table!

dollhouse diy- bed

For our last project, let’s make beds for the girl’s room. First, I cut foam core to the following sizes-

Next, I wrapped each piece of foam core in bamboo batting (felt also works).

After that, I covered the batting in fabric and glued it in place. This step is slow.

Finally, I took my pieces and glued them together. On the footboard and headboard, I measured 1″ up and glued the support beam in place. Then I glued the box springs to the support beams to finish off the bed.

This makes a super cute kid’s dollhouse bed!

And that’s the finished dollhouse! I thought I’d share a few more pictures of the exterior. The back is meant to be plain. I thought about adding shutters, but this took a few more days than I budgeted so I kept it simple.

Well, it took me about 8 days to decorate the Ikea dollhouse hack. It was a fun project! Each little build can be done pretty quickly and seeing a room come together is fulfilling. Redoing a dollhouse is a great way to scratch that redecorating itch, but for less money! Which room is your favorite? Have questions? Let me know in the comments.

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