Looking for a getaway? You know, the kind of place you go to escape the stress and pressure of, well, just living. If that’s what you’re looking for, then you need a hobby. And the hobby I’d like you to consider is building, or at least collecting, modern dollhouses.
Your initial reaction is likely: “You’ve got to be kidding! How’s that an escape…or an escape? Sounds like a child’s toy.”
Well, actually, I was right where you are a while back. I probably wasn’t looking for a hobby…and even if I was, anything dollhouse related would be the furthest thing from my mind.
In fact, I did not find a dollhouse hobby. she found me. And I have my granddaughter to thank for that.
It all started with wanting to get him the perfect Christmas present. Since she had a lot of dolls, my wife suggested that we start looking for dollhouses. Before long, we found one we liked on the internet and ordered it.
The dollhouse arrived a few days before Christmas and I began the not so easy task of putting the house together. On Christmas Eve we proudly placed the finished dollhouse next to the Christmas tree, anticipating that our granddaughter would love her gift.
Then Christmas day came and sure enough, our granddaughter loved her gift. Quickly, she ran to find her dolls, picked them up and brought them to her new dollhouse. But suddenly, her joy turned to sadness when she discovered that her dolls were like giants compared to her house. When I ordered the house, I had no idea that only certain houses accommodate today’s most popular doll sizes. “Houston, we have a problem!”
So, we came up with two possible solutions. We could order another scale dollhouse for your dolls or we could order dolls and accessories to match the size of the existing dollhouse. After some discussion, we all agreed, including the granddaughter, that the house was really wonderful and that the best solution was to customize the new house.
With one failed effort under my belt, I was determined never to go wrong again. This time I did a lot of research before making additional purchases.
The first thing I learned was quite a surprise. What I thought was a simple children’s toy turned out to be a great hobby for adults. Dollhouse Hobbyists… both builders and collectors are incredibly passionate about their hobbies and love to talk about their chosen trade. The information he needed was abundantly available.
In the process, we discovered that just about anything available in the form of architecture, furniture, and accessories has found its way into the world of miniature dollhouses. And the first question we were always asked when talking to a dollhouse collector was “what kind of house do you have?”
The house we had purchased of all styles was a modern dollhouse. Actually, we were just looking for something we thought our granddaughter would like. But the more we researched modern dollhouses, the more we realized that modern dollhouses offered more material options and greater opportunities for creativity.
I suppose you may have noticed that at that time we were hooked on dollhouses, and modern dollhouses in particular. What followed was an obsession with decorating, furnishing, and finding the perfect dolls (and clothes) for our granddaughter’s modern-day dollhouse.
Now we had something that was not only of great interest to our granddaughter, but also something that had captured our imagination.
So, we worked “together” on the project, and the accessory ordering process took us all over the world. That is, we order select pieces from all over the world thanks to the help of the World Wide Web.
When you’re passionate about a hobby, it grabs you so much that it actually becomes a place of escape. You quickly learn that in stressful times you can put your mind and energy into your project and forget about your problems. Also, it’s not something you can only do a couple of times a year when it’s time for vacation, but something you can do every day if you want to.
There is also this wonderful fraternity of like-minded people who love to share their related experiences. And if you come across a hobby that involves the people you love, then it’s really special.
Modern dollhouses are a wonderful hobby. Unlike other styles, like Victorian and ranch houses, modern dollhouses allow you to dream without limits. The sky is the limit.
The most important thing is to find a hobby that you can passionately pursue. No matter how old you are… it’s great to dream again. It will do you a world of good. My recommendation is modern dollhouses. If not that… then find your thing. you will be glad you did.
