Coffee Nook/Doll Trunk half.
Let's see if I can use my craft backlog of undocumented work to create...dare I say it...multiple entries based on a theme?
Welcome to the rabbit hole of Doll Trunks I've fallen into.
Alice was my first entry into the idea.
The two entries for the construction of Alice’s doll trunk are:
The size of the boxes I could find at a 100¥ shop (Seria) determined that my first trunk/container would be for Alice, as only a Little Pullip ( in this case a Little Pullip on a Picco Neemo body) could fit sitting/standing in the boxes…and I had just one. Then.
Later I found larger boxes at Seria and thought AHA! These are larger boxes and a Google search tells me that Dal Dolls are only 26.3cm.
When I got home I learned that my Dals are slightly taller than the 27cm of the inside of the boxes I’d bought. Time to rethink. I did decide that Bedhead/Monomono would be the primary occupant for this trunk.
I decided I still wanted a combined drawer/sitting area, because I like the idea of the trunk containing useful storage space & the only way a doll could fit in the trunk once closed was to create a platform for it to sit.
I originally got the idea for a case where the doll sits from the Angelic Pretty doll case made for Pullip dolls. It has a seat (with extra storage) for the doll to sit in when in transit. When the case is opened the seat can be removed and the space that has been freed up becomes a closet.
I also decided to make the other half of the doll trunk a bedroom with….a Murphy Bed! So when the trunk is open it would be possible to two dolls to hang out if so desired. I’ll cover that room in an upcoming entry…as it is awesome…but it’s awaiting finishing touches.
Here are both halves of the trunk in progress. I’ve included Alice for scale. I finally got around to buying better wood cutting tools at a DIY/builder’s store so this round of measuring and cutting wood for shelves/boxes/bed went smoother.
I worked on the bedroom first and the decor started to take on a very 80’s flavor…which I ran with. I decided that I wanted the sitting nook to be inspired by 1980’s kitchens and found some inspiration photos that reminded me of the kitchen floors of my youth.
Browns, yellows, and orange! Hints of leftover avocado green from the 70’s still hanging around. Medium to dark woods!
I’d also found a magnet shaped like an espresso maker so my nook would be dedicated to COFFEE DRINKING! Were espresso makers very 80’s? I didn’t care. I feel strongly about coffee.
I once more went to the 100¥ shop and found a small trunk I could saw open to make tables and some adhesive finishes in fake wood/ fake reddish leather/ burlap with leaves.
I experimented with painting the burlap finish to bring it slightly more into the color theme I wanted. It became the drawer cover and the kitchen wallpaper trim.
Then I set about to sawing the mini-trunk into pieces and covering and gluing bits together.
I used fake-wood washi tape for an edge on the wallpaper trim.
I also admitted the green ceiling had worked fine in the bedroom but that this kitchen was a breath away from having had popcorn ceiling panels…so I went with a few layers of white acrylic on the ceiling.
I painted the inside of the drawer and put adhesive corkboard inside it.
Then I used a dremmel to create a small hole in the drawer and glues the shank of a button I had on-hand to work as a drawer-pull.
This also helped tone-down the too-bright green hue I’d accidently applied to the drawer fabric.
I thought about adding a hanging fern above the coffee machine…as I encountered an alarming amount of 1970’s and 80’s hanging ferns in various macrame hangers while image searching for ideas. I have a mini hanging pot…
But the Dal Dolls dominate the box in a way that adding a fake potted plants might overwhelm it. Perhaps I’ll find a small fake fern with a stand to slip into the drawer for when smaller dolls are using the nook.
Dolls check out the nook and enjoy some coffee.
Now here's a sneak peak into the bedroom. I'm debating if I'm still going to attach the two halves or if I'm going to change how the individual boxes close...
Yeah. You want those sheets....meeeeeee too.