The Undersized Urbanite dollhouse contest is officially open today.  If you’re interested in joining, just hop over and add your link (you can join before you actually start your project!).

This year, I’m going to re-create my first apartment.  It was the second floor of a carriage house turned into a cute little loft.  The whole thing was less than 400 square feet.  There was actually a ladder in the middle of the apartment that led to a loft where my bed was.  The loft was less than 5 feet tall at the highest point.

Unfortunately, the only images I have of the adorable little place are from the housewarming party my parents threw for me very shortly after I moved in.  So…apologies for the cluttered, crooked and flash photos that are about to follow.

Meet my mom, preparing food in my little kitchen:

The table was my grandmother’s, given to me by my mom.  Dad and I stained it black before I moved in, and it’s the same one that is in our kitchen today.

Here’s dad in the living room getting started with a margarita.  The loft had such nice, big windows.

Everything was covered in “temporary” slip covers until I refinished or re-upholstered them.  The furniture was all from the thrift store except for the hope chest that was a gift from my grandparents.

My little brother checking out the loft:

And the “entryway” and bathroom:

The bathroom had a closet to the left (you can see the curtain in the hallway).

And that’s all there was to it!  Recreating it in miniature will be a challenge since I’ve never actually built a structure before.  But the Hubs is going to help.  Hopefully a lot.

I’ll post progress here on the blog occasionally, to check out other miniature projects as people join in the contest, go over to the Undersized Urbanite.  All the projects will be listed on the front page.

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It’s time!  The winners have been decided!  All of the entries in the dollhouse contest were fantastic. Get ready to see some amazing little spaces.  (You can still browse through all of the entries on the Undersized Urbanite website, they’re all so fun.)

The contest this year was divided into two categories: experienced and newbies.  There is a grand prize and a runner up in each.  (All images shared here belong to the ladies who created them.  If you would like to pin anything on Pinterest, please click over to their blogs and pin from there so they get credit for their hard work!)

Starting in the experienced category, the runner up is…

Lyssa at Can’t Have it Big? Make it Mini!

As always, Lyssa’s details are amazing.  You must go check out her tween room and the man cave…she thought of everything!

The grand prize winner in the experienced category is…

Cyd at Mini Mod Pod!

Cyd’s decor was inspired by a real mid-century house designed in part by Eero Saarinen.  The paneled roof she designed on the A-frame is so great!

The race in the experienced category was tight.  Honorable mention goes to Jane from MiniFanaticus for her entry.

I can’t get over the newbie category entrants.  You would NEVER guess that this is their first time with miniatures.  Be sure to click over to their blogs if you haven’t been following along already.

The runner up in the newbie category is…

Elizabeth at Wishcraft Studio!

Elizabeth built a half-scale (1 inch=2 feet) mill and bakery from scratch.  Her finishes throughout are just perfect–they look so real.

And the grand prize winner in the newbie category is…

Annejuli at The Road to Beacon Hill!

Annejuli made a candy shop called Samhain Sweets.  And she made almost every single thing in the shop herself.  Amazing.

Great work and congratulations, ladies!  Special thanks again to our lovely judges, Brae, Anna, and Victoria!  I know the decisions were hard and I’m glad I didn’t have to make any of them. 

PS: Brae has some lovely comments for the participants, they are posted here.

The post The winners of the 2014 Undersized Urbanite are… appeared first on Little Victorian.

No progress has been made in the kitchen yet. We purchased a range hood, but the venting hole in the wall actually has to be moved. Bummer. But once that’s done, the wall will be patched and painted (if I can pick a color).

In the mean time, the dates have been set for the Undersized Urbanite! The contest will begin in early October this year and it will finish in May. Lots of other decisions have been made, and I will hopefully fill you on them all next week.

I am definitely not ready to remodel my city shop and loft yet. So I had a new idea, it won’t be a secret this time.

Since I was a kid, I have dreamed of living in a fisherman’s cottage on the coast of Maine. I was very detailed in my dreaming too, right down to the big white knit sweater and cup of black coffee every morning, overlooking the rocky beach and gray ocean. So that’s what I want to make.

But the hard part was finding a dollhouse that could pass for the detailed fisherman’s cottage of my dreams. I certainly don’t enjoy building them, and everything available on Craigslist was built from a Greenleaf kit (which are great–just not what I wanted for this).

Until this old, custom made piece of perfectness showed up yesterday.

Is that a fisherman’s cottage or what?  I am so, very excited about it.  It has some quirks and needs a little work, but this house seems very well made.  And it’s so different than any other that I’ve seen.  Can’t wait to share more about it with you.

What are your plans (if you are going to participate)?  Are you going to do a remodel or build/buy something new?

The post A new house appeared first on Little Victorian.

The votes are in!  And I’m so excited to share them with you!

The competition was heated and someone managed to pull ahead at the very end.  It was fun watching all the numbers come in and it was hard not to share them with you as it was happening. 

Each winner will receive a gift card, be featured in and receive a one-year subscription to Miniaturas magazine. 

So here we go, the 3 winners of the 2013 Undersized Urbanite contest are:

3rd Place: Audra’s Chantilly

Audra did an amazing job with her pretty little 1/2 scale house.

She remodeled her little home, changing out the windows and doors, adding that large wrap around porch and balcony, and adding the gorgeous roof and more.

You can see more of Audra’s house here (including the before photos!).  Congratulations, Audra! 

2nd Place: Lyssa of Can’t Have it Big? Make it Mini!

Lyssa’s personalization of her house was so impressive.  Everything looks so cozy and lived-in.  This house was a complete remodel as well.

Lyssa loves miniatures for the same reason I do: it’s a chance to design and decorate your dream house.  And I love that one of her priorities in her dream house is a library with a gorgeous and cozy book nook. 

And the attic just kills me.

Go here to see more photos of Lyssa’s lovely house. 

Aaaaannnd…

1st Place: Brae of Otterine

Brae is amazingly talented.  She modified a basic house kit for her structure and built that deck (among many, many other things) from scratch.

Even the beautiful rug is cross stitched. 

Yes, the wood stove was also made from scratch:

 

Go take a more detailed tour of Brae’s artist studio if you haven’t yet.  And grab some coffee first because you’ll want to stay a while. 

Congratulations again to Brae, Lyssa and Audra!!!  And thank you to all the participants and finalists, it really was an honor to have you all. 

All of the participants and winners will remain listed here on the blog and on the Undersized Urbanite website. 

Planning for the second annual will be underway soon, if you’d like to be added to the list to be the first to hear when the details are out, please add your email to the box below.  I am hoping to make next year even more exciting with mini challenges and mini prizes along the way, and possibly a new winner category for newbies?  Sign up to find out!

The post The winners of the 1st annual Undersized Urbanite dollhouse contest are… appeared first on Little Victorian.

These people are amazingly talented.  Here is a highlight from each of their mini projects. 

 Meagan’s urban loft has a hanging platform as the bedroom.

And she laid each of those bricks in the background individually.

Kyle even put a basement in her steampunk brownstone. 

 

Lyssa’s attention to the details is incredible.  And this is just the outside.

 Audra’s house is a 1/2 scale little cutie.  She even put a fish pond in the yard. 

Mandy’s made sure her house looked lived in with very cute detials.

Each room in Linda’s is so cool, but I think the living room is my favorite.

Jazzi made a gorgeous little pool room.

Rebecca went all out on a 1/4 scale house.  For some reference, most of the dollhouses have 8″ (representing 8′) ceilings, Rebecca’s would be 2″.

Neen made her art deco house from a hollowed out vintage radio.

Marisa made the wood burning stove for her shanty from little plastic cups!

Ginger made her house from paper mache, and it gives it a very cool look.

You cannot tell that Brae’s artist studio is not life size, such amazing quality!

Leena made a great little zen garden with a real bonsai to go along with her tea house from last year.

Voting will close Sunday, May 12th at 8pm (Eastern time).  So you have 6 more days to spread the word and get everyone to come vote!

Here are all the links so you can check the out for yourself and cast your three votes with the button below each picture.  Have fun!

To see more of each house, click on the photos.  To cast your vote, just click on the word “vote” underneath each photo. 

Here is the complete list of the original participants:

Leena | Onshore
Marie-Laure
Cyd | Mad for Mod
Brae | Otterine
Ginger | Lola’s Mini Homes
Molly | Modernist Molly’s Minis
Neen | Universe in Miniature
Rebecca | Mama’s Minis
Jazzi | Jazzi Minis
Linda | The Hard Way
Mandy | Mini Modern Mind
Meagan | Tiny Fixation
Kyle | Lyle Lefort
Lyssa | Can’t Have it Big? Make it Mini!
Max | Black Bird Has Spoken
Marisa | Steinworks
Audra | Honey, I Shrunk the House

Again, thank you to all the participants, I’m honored that you signed up for my contest and I’m amazed by your talent.  Stay tuned, the winners will be announced next week!

The post The amazing finalists of the 2013 Undersized Urbanite dollhouse contest appeared first on Little Victorian.

Voting is open!  Everyone and anyone who wants to come over and vote gets 3 votes. 

Tomorrow morning, I will have a post with a highlight or two from each project, and the voting will be enabled in that post as well, so stay tuned!  Update, the post is here.

Here they are: (To see more of each house, click on the photos.  To cast your vote, just click on the word “vote” underneath each photo.)

Here is the complete list of the original participants:

Leena | Onshore
Marie-Laure
Cyd | Mad for Mod
Brae | Otterine
Ginger | Lola’s Mini Homes
Molly | Modernist Molly’s Minis
Neen | Universe in Miniature
Rebecca | Mama’s Minis
Jazzi | Jazzi Minis
Linda | The Hard Way
Mandy | Mini Modern Mind
Meagan | Tiny Fixation
Kyle | Lyle Lefort
Lyssa | Can’t Have it Big? Make it Mini!
Max | Black Bird Has Spoken
Marisa | Steinworks
Audra | Honey, I Shrunk the House
Quanita | Qspace

The post Undersized Urbanite 2013: Voting is Open! appeared first on Little Victorian.

Today was a mad rush. And will continue to be as there is still an hour left until the work portion of the contest officially ends.

Before I show you my dollhouse, I want to thank all of you, the participants and all of those who have been following along and cheering us on.  In an hour, we’ll all be able to vote for our favorites.

 

Kyle was right, it’s an urban clothing and home shop with a loft above for the owner.

The main living space:

Of course, I love to have a piece of hanging furniture:

The bedroom and bathroom:

And the most important part: the shop, Metamorphosis.

The style was modeled after Anthropologie.  Almost everything was made from scratch.

The bath towels and accessories in a peacock cabinet.

A selection of door and cabinet knobs and baskets.

The clothing section.  A little light on the clothes, but those teeny tiny blouses take time to make, man!

The kitchen department:

The sale section with the winter sweaters and accessories, since it’s now spring.

And the gorgeous mannequin (thanks Mom!) that was supposed to be displaying a lot more jewelry…stupid deadlines.

Beautiful chest with throw blankets and pillows.  (Thanks again, Mom!)

And another overview:

As always, there was more I wanted to do, but didn’t have time.  The whole house is electrified, but I didn’t have time to make my light fixtures.  I’ll keep working on it though.

The contest flew by.  I am so grateful for all of your support, help and participation.  Since this is the first contest I’ve ever hosted, and it’s a big one, I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew it would be challenging.  It was.  But it was so much fun.  I was even a little sad today that it was almost over.

I also want to thank the Hubs, who helped with the house itself, making dinners so I could keep working, offering contest logistics advice, and putting up with the mess in the living room.  And finding me the emergency coffee table mid-photo session this evening when I realized I forgot one.

But, I’ll ramble on more tomorrow, when I showcase all of the finalist’s works of art.

The post The Grand Finale! My 2013 Undersized Urbanite dollhouse appeared first on Little Victorian.

Whaaat?!  Only 10 days left for the Undersized Urbanite contest!

Here’s some of the stuff I’m working on:

Mini sweaters!  The gray stack still needs necks added.  They are from this lovely tutorial.

I did NOT make these clothes.  But, I do have a tip if you need dollhouse clothing: the scrapbooking section of Michaels.  The little red top with capris cost $12 at a miniatures shop.  But the rest of the pieces cost between $2 and $4 each at Michaels.  Craziness.

The hangers, I did make, not too bad for my first attempt.  I have a feeling they are going to end up being “good enough,” unfortunately.  That’s what I get for procrastinating: non-realistic hangers.

The shoes are also from Michael’s, they are all charms, and they cost about $3 to $4 a pair.  I will be painting them today so they look like shoes instead of metal charms.

A stack of blankets made from my favorite t-shirt that had finally worn out.  Also working on pillows, and clothing made from the same t-shirt this week.

Cookbooks!  It is driving me crazy that the spines are printed up-side-down.  So, I can’t even look at them in person right now.

Made a funky credenza from two napkin rings with beads for legs.

And three curtain rods for under $5 from hardware store materials.  You can see them on the second floor below. ↓

I really, really want a Smeg and a Falcon in the kitchen.  But again, thanks to procrastination, I may not be able to make those, so the cheap ones are in the kitchen for now.

Still have a long to-do list and only 10 days to do it in!

If you’re into miniatures, do you have any surprise sources like scrapbooking supplies and hardware store?  Share your ideas!

The post It’s the little things… appeared first on Little Victorian.

The Undersized Urbanite dollhouse contest has a new sponsor!  (Can you tell I’m a little excited?!)

Miniaturas magazine (Facebook page here) has offered a free year subscription to the three winners.  Not only that, the editor would like to feature the three winner’s projects in the magazine! 

According to About.com Miniatures, Miniaturas is an “exceptionally well produced magazine” with a “wide range of easy to follow projects, many with a European flair.”  It also includes “full sized centerfolds of a featured collection plus high quality printables in most editions.”

Now, the tricky part is that, being from Madrid, the magazine is published in Spanish.  But, according to another About.com review, the photographs are exceptional and the projects are easy to follow even without reading Spanish. 

At the current exchange rate, a one year subscription is worth $108 USD.  Which doubles the value of even the first place prize.  Never mind the cash value, though, the winners will have the opportunity to be featured in print!

I am really excited about Miniaturas offer and I’m sure you will be too, once you read the reviews (here and here).  Really happy for those of you who are still sticking through the competition, it’s awesome to be able to give you a boost of incentive and offer you a way more valuable prize at the last minute. 

Now get back to work so you can get featured!

The post More prizes! The most exciting thing yet for my Undersized Urbanites! appeared first on Little Victorian.

Here is a quick update on everyone’s progress for the Undersized Urbanite dollhouse challenge for the month of March.  Only two months to go…  Enjoy!

Lyssa’s book stairs and little living room are very cool:

Audra’s half-scale Chantilly is getting cuter and cuter:

As always, Linda is hard at work making awesome things from scratch.  Just too many to list, go check her out. 

Molly made herself a modern sofa bed from scratch:

Rebecca’s teeny tiny house is beautifully landscaped now:

Brae has the coolest accessories in her artist’s studio:

Kyle, Mandy, Marisa, Neen, are working away, and Meagan has big (or little?) plans.

Nice work everyone, and thanks for playing along!

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