Real Life Examples: Summer 2014 Edition

Some of these are a stretch, but I think the relation to our beloved house is clear. I was especially surprised to find a stereo version of the red 1980 BBQ set.

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Blanche has a green vanity like the green desk in the Dream Furniture line.

Thrift store for $80. 

Appliances and Furnishings: Kitchen Sink and Counter Solutions

In the top two photos you can see I painted and retro fitted a yellow door to a 1990's Mattel sink and counter. I am totally happy with the dimensions and overall look. Alternately, you can get the circa 1980 Arco Barbie scale orange/brown counter and sink. The only downside is that it has an oven and fridge (lower right cab) as part of it. you could cover the left side of the counter that is the range top with a cutting board or something. I use butcher block style samples from the hardware store kitchen section for Barbie cutting boards. The Sindy line from Marx toys looks perfectly adequate, but they are rare, so when you find one it likely won't be cheap. The Arco one usually goes for about $12-$25, and the one I redid is anywhere from $5-$10 or so when you can find them. I did used to have the Sindy harvest gold kitchen tall cabinet and fridge, but sold them as they didn't really go with the house. The Hannah Montana sink island is ok, but once again there is a cheapie stove crammed in there as well. =-( The white wall behind my custom sink is cut to fit foam board from the dollar store. I was happy with the end results. 

Nice shot of China cabinet with accessories. 

Vintage Print Ads: Dates Unknown

78?

1982?

I am unsure of the exact dates, but I would think the top ad is from sometime between 1982 and 1983. The lower ad I would guess '78-'80. I do like the layout of the house in the upper ad. 

Every time I go on to Pinterest I find yet another print ad!:

OOAK Custom Repaints: Purple and Lavender Barbie House

Wouldn't it be cool if they came in purple? Whoever did this refurb did an EXCELLENT job that even I approve of. I so love the attention to detail with the windows and the intensity of purple that was used for roof and floors. I'd have to say that this is my favorite all time OOAK custom repaint. A+++

Vintage Ads: 1981

Phasing Disco Barbie out, the colors on the house are sharp and saturated (what a refurbished one ought to look like),  no more patio triangles. =-( 

1978 Mattel A Frame Barbie Dream Doll House Red roof yellow floors mod groovy 1970s 1980s custom OOAK 

Blogger's Own: Furnished OOAK Green Repaint

As fans of the site may already know, I am not a huge (or even small) aficionado of the dolls. I did have my eye on this particular beauty. She is from the 007 line, its Solitaire from 'Live and Let Die' played by British actress Jane Seymour in 1973. She is the perfect doll for the green A Frame because orange is opposite to green on the color wheel, and my target period for the home is 1973, the exact year her style is from. Though I cringe at de-boxing Barbies, I was delighted to see she is very well made, the dress is very thin, but looks great so its ok and she has exquisite real eyelashes.

Anyhow, when designing the house I considered making the doors and some planter box flowers orange to contrast the green, it looked a bit too much like the Irish flag and ultimately I decided monochromatic was the way to go. But I still think she and the orange look fabulous and she was bought just for this house. Besides, she (newly christened, Brandy Eberhart) is a great hostess. Her husband, Mike, is away on business a lot and she loves to entertain. With the kids at boarding school keeping the house clean is a breeze. She is an expert cook and has an affinity for quality appliances. I think the ivory colored Sindy china is a welcome addition to the mix, there just wasnt any room for the matching dining set, even in this large a floor plan.

Book reading light from the dollar store, comes in several color choices. 

You know, Im kind of diggin the pink and green together, sort of reminds me of watermelon, but if anyone wants to make a green A Frame Barbie OOAK house with the entire line of pink furniture (since this is the only pink I own) and photograph that would be great. 

Would Rhoda move into this house? Something tells me she would, especially if there was a cute guy next door. Oftentimes when I am in a dilemma I ask myself, 'What would Rhoda do?'

1978 Mattel A Frame Barbie Dream Doll House Red roof yellow floors mod groovy 1970s 1980s custom OOAK 

Blogger's Own: Green Repaint OOAK Custom Barbie Dream House

Solution for not having a closet, balcony or balcony doors. Foam board inserts can  be covered with contact paper, scrap book paper, wall paper or anything else you like. 

Staggering the front facade forward provides depth and dimension. 

Upper center piece is nice and open for play/display when you reverse the usual wall configuration. 

The wall art is the back of someone's business cards. the white planters are plumbing parts from the hardware store. 

Gloria apps. 

Hand made flower boxes (painted craft cubes from michaels). 

My Magnum Opus is finally done and I am able to showcase it for the blog. I took a faded '79 Barbie A Frame Dream House that had no small pieces whatsoever, no doors, windows, balcony, closet or planters and fixed it up with parts I had and home made replacements for the rest. For the floors I used Velspar satin Everglade Glen paint from Lowes. It took two coats and I had just enough. It may have come out more saturated if I'd painted the floors white first, but I didnt want to risk crackling with a bad chemical reaction. For the roof pieces I used Velspar gloss Luscious Green, I did have to paint the roofs white (not primer, just flat white) in order for the color show over the faded red they were and in 97% of it there was no chemical reaction or textural imperfections. I stand behind this OOAK custom Mattel Barbie doll dream house project.

The windows are from a packet of report protectors from Office Deopt item #230890 for $10.99 and I had lots of left over for additional projects. I cut L shaped sections and scotch taped them into place. The same 'frosted glass' effect is used for the 4 doors on the back of the house. I used foam board to fill in the closet hole and paper board behind the diagonal slats (the house was always a little too open for me so I used a bit of artistic license to further customize this empty shell). The tile floor is just a copy of contact paper I have so is not attached. The front lamp posts are made out of leftover wood pieces I had from a project (originally an Ikea coat hook) and ping pong balls glued on top. The suspended globe light in the upper center section was made from a ping pong ball taped to a long thin strip of paper board. I ordered my ping pong balls from China as I didnt want to drive the 45 minutes to the closest ToyRus and didnt think Target would have them. I waited 2 weeks for them only to see them at the drug store in the beverage aisle as I was getting last minute 4th of July items, lol. The front stone patio section is craft paper from Michael's attached to a peel and stick floor tile. The doors where the hardest to make they are a sandwich of foam board, green paper board,  green electrical tape from Home Depot and more report protector 'frosted glass' with green thumbtack handles glued on. I wanted to make all the rear doors the same full length frosted glass as in the center section, but ultimately decided that veering too far away from the original house would be detrimental to its overall look and resale value. About 3/4 of the post covers on this home are made from paper board. Just cut to length and score with a good exacto knife and there you are. The washer, dryer and toilet are painted Gloria pieces. And as most of you know you can get indoor/outdoor carpet from the hardware store to use as grass. You will want to have double sided scotch tape to use especially for the doors, it was indispensable for this project. For the oven I could have used a transparent green report cover plastic to replace the pink, and green taped over the pink stickers on the fridge, but I had to stop the insanity someplace. =-) I like the staggered look of the side pieces being set back. Hypothetically, you could foam bard in the openings in the walls in front and rear to close the house in and make it look more realistic. If this house had a permanent place in my home I would do that. I think setting the side pieces back adds more depth, dimension and visual interest to the home, though in a straight line still looks pretty good, too! Also, eliminating the balcony, for me at least, removes some of the Bavarian ski lodge look and makes it more period '1970's Americana' ala the neighborhood from 'The Incredible Shrinking Woman'.

This is the house I creme bleached the parts on an earlier post. When I got the house I knew this was my chance to totally customize a house to whatever I wanted since it was without any small parts it was not worth restoring it to its original shape and it was bought inexpensively so I thought long and hard as to how to reinvent it. I have really only seen houses repainted either black and brown or shades of blue. I was going for a different kind of 'early 70's' look and thought green. If the floors are green then they can pass for green shag carpet and the darker green roof is just eye catching. I believe what we have is a monochromatic look in keeping with white walls and matching floor and roof pieces. I am very happy with the final product. The only thing I would like to have done differently is to have a complete house to transform and not just the shell. I do love this one of a kind small house and will probably sell it but want to enjoy it for a little while longer. =-) Also, I could have filled in the upper railings with paper board behind the slats to further close in the house, but just ran out of steam. This has been a several week long process.

PS: I may have gotten the idea from the 1956 Saturday Evening Post ad I read earlier that week.

Me spray painting in the garage, just kidding, I look nothing like Pat Kramer. 

During, quite messy, a word of caution, I did lay down a large heavy tarp but the color particles are quite  light and dry so they float around and land on anything (be sure to wear a breathing mask unless you want to hack all night) But anyway, painting green over yellow floor pieces took up lots of paint and would have done better being white first ( I didnt bother to paint the underneath), here you can see the roof pieces freshly painted white in order for the kelly green color to show. lots and lots of work, folks.

The inspiration behind the look, tall dramatic entryway, double doors and globe lights. I am not opposed to doing an accent rock wall ala the Brady Bunch I just dont quite know how to do it yet. All I have is faux brick for miniatures. Some of you TV fans may recognize this from the Tasty Meadows neighborhood.

And as a post script, a repainted avocado green 1977 Star Traveler, if you havent ever seen one of these in person I can tell you they are HUGE-NORMOUS!, hense the high shipping cost. They definitely, DEFINITELY dont make them like this anymore.

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