Building a dollhouse and curating miniature furniture

“Two months of pain, trial, and joy — and I finally finished building my first living room dollhouse. This project stretched me in ways I never expected. It tested my patience, forced me to slow down, and taught me the hard (but necessary) lesson that not everything can be rushed — especially when you’re working with glue that never dries on time. From the endless measuring and re-measuring to the miniature meltdowns over crooked wallpaper, I learned how much planning actually matters — and how often plans need to change. But what surprised me the most was how deeply satisfying it became to embrace the imperfections, adapt on the fly, and find beauty in the tiniest details. Building this dollhouse has shown me that this is more than a hobby — it’s a real craft. It demands creativity, problem-solving, and a level of attention that makes you see the world differently. You start noticing the texture of fabric, the shade of wood, the mood a single lamp can create. And above all, it’s a powerful reminder of the joy of delayed gratification. Every moment of frustration led to something that felt earned — a tiny couch, a finished floor, a sense of pride that doesn’t come from shortcuts.”

“Like for so many of us mums, having my first child changed everything. Unfortunately, along with my daughter came a dreadful bout of postnatal anxiety and depression that left me reeling. Creating things with my hands has always been my therapy so I began to steal small chunks of time to work on my dollhouse, setting myself the challenge of making every detail in the home myself,” says Stephanie who has always had a passion for interior design. “I started creating tiny versions of the homewares I coveted in real-life!” She began posting her creations to Instagram, which opened up a lifeline of support through what was a rough period. “I discovered that making these tiny pieces and sharing them with my amazing Instagram community really lit me up inside and I began to find my way back from that dark, post-baby place.”