Little brother-proof Doll House

My daughter received a set of Calico Critters for Christmas and began using her bookshelf as a makeshift doll house. After a bout of unseasonably warm weather, my wife encouraged me to take advantage of the time and get some woodworking done. After talking through the criteria of the project we came up with the following criteria:

1. Low to no additional cost – Use up material that I have on hand
2. Expandable – A minimal solution that can have a roof added at some point.
3. Little brother-proof – Able to close to keep out our son out.

The project recycled a scrapped project (play kitchen) and made of MDF. The parts are joined with glue in rabbets and dados. The floors are made of vinyl stick-on tile. The hardware used are two butt hinges and hook for the latch. Steps of the build is documented on my blog (part 1, part 2, part 3). Eventually I’ll get to adding an attic and angled roof.

The big reveal for my daughter was this morning. After a short lesson, she mastered the art of locking out her little brother. Whenever she spots him approaching, she can quickly shut the dollhouse to keep him out. Now her Calico Critters are safely locked away.

UPDATE 2/10/2015 – At 1 year and 1 month old, my son has figured out how to undo the latch. Fortunately he’s not strong enough to open up the doll house.

-- paxorion