OOAK Repaints: Custom 1978 A Frame Barbie Dreamhouses

All of these can be seen in greater detail on Feebay under the search terms "barbie ooak house'.

I was stunned when I first saw this. It is different, a total departure from any direction I have ever seen this house taken in. I am torn between loving it because it is ultra modern and kind of looks like a 1980's dance club, and hating it because they painted the walls silver and not white. I generally do not like a mixture of the original 70's colors and the hot pink 1980's colors. 

The room matches so I hope the person is aware they are trapped in the year 1985

Well, it was bold and revolutionary, but how many are following this revolution?  (or perhaps evolution)

The actual A Frame house (nay Beach house from early 90's) This is an Egyptian tomb reincarnation of the house for Monster High its actually quite well done if you take a closer look on Ebay. 

Another blue house. 

Midnight blue roof, love it! Sort of looks like it could be slate.  Flat grey floors, um as a patio absolutely, but as interior floors its a bit cold and confusing. This house has no doors or windows so looked like a good project that could use some more finishing. 

Ta da! I really like the attention to detail on the planters and lanterns. The highlighted raised panels on the center section are good, I dont like that the front doors are the same as everything else. I think they could be a different color (black, silver, red, brown?) to provide a focal point to the front of the house and look more realistic. 

Great job on the furniture, wise choices in scale and design. I'm not sure I like the roof and floors both being brown. it makes the house look like its partially made of chocolate. There are only two colors white and brown, although in this photo it almost looks like the roof is a darker brown which would be cool.  

Rear, I'm okay with the pin striping on the lower level panels beneath the windows, but I dont love it on the doors. I like the doors a sold, 'other' color. The brown edging around the glass doors turned out well. 

Roof in brown, high end repaint on Gloria office set, I approve. See how a smaller scale sofa really opens up the room? 

The decidedly attractive home owners and pup. Looks like they have a Chemlawn! 

This isnt a repainted house, just a close up of that vanilla colored effect 35 years in an attic or garage has on the house. For some reason its just a little appealing to me. I suppose I like my houses with either crisp oxy clean white parts or a decidedly creamy beige (so long as its uniform). And I wonder what one would look like with cream walls, red roof and  maybe brown or green floors. 

This is a repaint of pink house. As far as restoring a pink house to its original glory I think they did a great job, the color choices make sense and its a special house now since the color is just a bit off, but still works. However, they are asking $400 plus shipping, so I just wish I could do a respray and make $300 profit. 

keyword terms: barbie doll house dollhouse vintage 1970s 1978 1979 a frame malibu chalet orange yellow red white pink hot free for sale ebay pinterest etsy new old renovated dolls fashion clothes clothing lot estate parts wall walls door doors window windows part balcony closet flower flowers planters planter plant plants box boxes accessory accessories small pieces info information instructions how to put together where to find buy purchase locate available collector collectible gold silver platinum label individual post posts covers sides custom 3 three section sections patio triangles floor floors dark light build scres pictures club group rare custom ook htf oop in mint clean complete 1980 1981 cottage 1982 1983 1980s color colors anniversary 1984 1985 1986 large bog 3 ft 4 feet long high tall huge large open moveable arrangeable craigslist online forum question questions 40th 50th 45th 55th 60th 35th reproduction remade retro nostalgia nostalgic memories childhood play display mini miniature set up sections  mid mod mid century modern 60s kitsch fun playful open new design designer interior decorator decor designer  

architect architects idea ideas goal aesthetic eames eichler palm springs by the sea malibu granola earth tones earthy autumn wexler wood slats open playful fun 1960s 60s open playful play timeless heirloom 

Paperwork: The A Frame Cottage Instructions

Many of you may never have seen these before. I didnt until I scored a boxed Cottage a few years back. I did sell the box and paperwork for $35 as I dont collect Barbie packaging. These are the scans of the those instructions. They are the accordian fold out style versus a stapled booklet as in the large 1978 house. The large 1985 house also had fold out instructions. I wish I would have scanned those before selling. But here you go, these are ready for saving and printing for your A Frame Cottage.

Paperwork: 1978 A Frame Unfurnished Dream House Instructions

So many have asked for it, so here are the instructions. Feel free to right click and save and or print, they are my gift to you. Its the same instructions folks are selling on ebay. the orange and white image is the old correspondence card you could send in if you needed help with anything. I guess it was cheaper than  call centers or maybe they didnt have 800 numbers in the 70's? I remember my 1987 Ghostbusters firehouse didnt have the instruction so we just called them up and they sent out replacements for free. =-) Those were the days!

SO, all I can think of when I see these rare pieces are, 'Does the person who pays $500 for an unassembled house peel the stickers and pick the small pieces off the trees?' I hope not!! 

Real Life Examples: A Frame Mortuary

Forgive the quality, I was driving at 75 miles an hour in Southern California when I took these. Well now I really have seen everything. 

And there is even an A Frame, asymetrical, shed roof chicken coop, available as a kit online, and one could easily paint the familiar red, yellow and white we all know and love:

OOAK Custom Repaints: Black Roof with Brown Floors

On this installment, we see another repaint. I wish the images could come out crisper, but you know how Evilbay has disallowed right clicks for the past 2 years or so. This is very close to how I would like to redo a beat up old pink A Frame. This was likely a red and yellow as you can see the patio triangles. It appears to be well done, it is missing the upstairs planters and I think the downstairs ones could be a little more full especially with non flower plants, but overall I like it and it does get my seal of approval. These have been popping up with more frequency it seems this year and fetching a little over $200 plus shipping. I find it very time and labor intensive cleaning up an old house (properly) and respraying just the white pieces, so I am sure repainting everything is a much larger project for someone. So, they deserve the $100ish profit and in the end the house is a one of a kind, nice collectors item. I think a non Barbie person would see that in someones collection and say, 'Wow, what a cool toy, when did that come out?'  Because the truth is they really dont make them like this anymore, not the scale or quality. Though I could never repaint a red and yellow A Frame the occasional reinvention is fun and interesting.

I have found this paint to be the best:
plan to pick up 2 cans to get the entire job done.

Custom Repaints: Black Roof with Blue Floors and Complete

Well, here is a different reinvention of the home. Whenever I see this country blue color scheme I always think of the 80's decor style, you know ducks and dried flowers with pink and green to match. Anyway, this looks like it was done by someone who knows there way around a spray can and paint brush and it did end up selling for just over $200 plus shipping. I am still licking my wounds that I only got $109 for my last red and yellow renovation (breaking even with what I had invested with house, paint, flowers, etc) after being online for about 2 months! The roof looks real sharp and crisp, but I think since I would never live in a blue and white house I dont like my favorite small house blue and white. Still, its interesting to look at and the buyer who is okay with blue will love it I am sure. 

Furniture: Pics of Some Seriously Faded Merch

I purposefully bought very discolored furniture because for a few bucks I got a whole lot of different colors that is a fraction of the color variation of the international Dream Furniture line as featured in other posts. So enjoy this feast for the eyes. The vanity has a mirror I just flipped it around so you could see the color better. The sink is Arco, but what a perfect match. Maybe its more pastel orange, but it does play off the green China well.

So, for those of you wanting a different color or rare furniture piece and cannot afford foreign variations and dont want painted plastic, this is the solution for you! I still dont know exactly how some pieces fare so well and others not so much other than just storing in a cool, dry place and taking really good care not to scratch or bang it about.

This oven has clearly been cooked. I have never seen a white 80's oven so faded to tan. I think in this case it is ripe for making avocado green or leaving it and calling it 1980's cream colored stove or even the color d'jour 'bisque'.