10 reasons why you should get a Lundby dollhouse

I’ll admit that I never really outgrew my childhood dollhouse. Even when I finally moved it out of my bedroom in my early teens and let my sister play with all of my miniatures, I was more than just a little sad. In fact, I think I spent more time that summer helping her paint and decorate her new dollhouse than she did, which at the time I chalked up to being an awesome big sister. Clearly, it was just an awesome excuse to redecorate a dollhouse one last time.As soon as I found out I was having a daughter, I knew I would one day share with her the joys of miniature building, decorating, and playing. And, I couldn’t wait. When the day came that our Lundby dollhouse arrived and was ready to be decorated, I realized just how much I missed playing with miniatures. Yes, it was still about my daughter and what she wanted from a dollhouse, but it was also about what we could build and do together that got me the most excited. I look back now to that day two years ago and I realize now why people thought it was crazy to bring such a fragile dollhouse into our living space with a 2 ½ year old and a 5 year old, but at the time I was too excited to care. In the years that have passed, I have not only grown to trust them with the house and all its little pieces while supervised, but about a year ago I started allowing them to play with it all by themselves. And, as soon as baby learns "gentle", she's going to be allowed to play with it, too.

I bet you think I’m crazy, right? I’m really not crazy, in fact, I normally err on the side of caution when it comes to toys and typically don’t give them all the pieces to their toys with small parts. Hubby and I both hate toy boxes with random toys in it but nothing to play with because all the fun pieces are lost or broken, so we use the bin system to keep the little toys from getting out of control.

And, while it *mostly* works, it’s not perfect and my daughter has bins full of items that are homeless because whatever cool thing they came with is buried somewhere and may never be found again. But, the one thing we have never taken away or limited is Lundby dollhouse playtime. That includes when my son was 3 years old, and I let him play with the dollhouse all by himself because I just couldn’t imagine denying him the opportunity for unstructured dollhouse play like I had when I was little. Even though it drives me a bit crazy when I come in to find that he has pulled every single piece of furniture out for make-believe “moving day” for the Lundby’s, I love that he is so gentle and meticulous with the dollhouse. Plus, he always, always moves everything back in, so it’s really not something I could ever take away from him. Because for us, the Lundby house is about more than just toys – the Lundby dollhouse is our baby. 

What started out as something for my daughter and I to bond has quickly become a whole family project and we all have a little piece of ourselves in that dollhouse. I have quickly learned that there are some huge benefits to doing this type of project together, and seeing the whole family come together to decorate and build together has been one of my favorite things I have ever done with my children – and my husband. Here are just a few reasons why you should get your family a dollhouse – today. 

1) Math and Scale: Thinking in miniature isn’t just about the fun of finding really small stuff we can repurpose for our house – it’s about thinking in scale. Seeing them pick out objects for our project that are Lundby scale is such a cool thing to watch, and throughout the months they have gotten amazingly good at it. At first I would watch them reason out whether a shelf would be Lundby size or if it would be closer to Barbie size, but now they truly think in miniature, just like I do. It’s a skill that serves me really well in numerous applications, and I’m happy to see them take to it so well. 2) Something for everyone: Whether you like to work with wood and glue and you become the resident dollhouse furniture builder, or you are an artist and you paint canvases for the walls or create murals, or you take on the role of seamstress to make linens and furniture for the dollhouse, there is a task for everyone when you are furnishing a dollhouse.  3) Trying it on for size: I like to redecorate and update my home whenever I can, and my daughter loves to help me. But, this also means that she often comes up with crazy plans for her room, and her ideas typically involve all new furniture, adding to her mural, or overhauling her whole room design for something even I think might be impossible. So, having her “try out” her designs for Lundby first helps her work through her many, many ideas in a much more manageable and budget-friendly way before we embark on any major remodels in our own home. She is still getting the freedom of making up her own designs, but I don’t have to redo her room every time she gets the urge to create. 4) Rules, schmules: While the law tells me I can’t just go out and make my own staircase without having it inspected to see if it’s up to code, there are no rules in dollhouse building. Just a little bit of glue and tape can sit between design and disaster when building a doll staircase, and absolutely zero boring paperwork is required. If one of our designs does eventually fail, we like to see it as a perfect opportunity to design something new. 

5) Hours of play: Some toys are novelty items that last only a day or two at our house. But dollhouses fall in an entirely different category because the play value of a miniature home is so huge. My kids have literally spent hundreds of hours playing with nothing but our Lundby house – both alone and with me. It’s one of the handful of toys they return to over and over again throughout the year. Each time their love is renewed with a new miniature item, a new craft, a season change, or a new Lundby set is purchased, it’s as if the whole house is new again as they rearrange the furniture, redecorate, and then play with the Lundby family. 

6) Bonding with boys: I’ll admit I’m not the best at playing with cars, trucks, and things that are dirty. As much as I try my hardest, I just can’t get into many of the toys my son loves the most, so I love that we can both agree on Lundby. Even if technically he is playing mailman and I’m decorating for Lundby Thanksgiving, we’re doing it together and that’s what matters most. 7) Bonding with girls: Too many girls’ days are ruined by rules. As much as I would love to be a no-rules kind of mom, I’m also practical. Practicality tells me that you may not have to follow a recipe to a T, but you do have to be in the ballpark or you will end up making something very unintended and you might not have anything edible for dinner. But, with Lundby it’s easy to have no rules other than being gentle, which is something so ingrained in the kids that it never actually needs to be said – it’s just a given. This means that our time spent Lundby crafting isn’t about me correcting her or fixing her mistakes, and it allows us to just be together and enjoy our girl’s time.

8) Lundby as a learning tool: from simple lessons like “measure twice, cut once” to spatial awareness and developing an eye for design, there are tons of learning opportunities when you are literally building a home out of a pile of scraps. By focusing on the fun and play aspects, the learning sneaks in nearly undetected, and those are the lessons I feel they get the most from. 

9) The family that plays together: since my oldest two are different genders, they don’t always agree on what toys are the coolest. But, we all agree on Lundby. Add in some Tonka and Bruder trucks for my son {which just so happen to be the perfect Lundby scale}, some craftiness for my daughter, and the two of them bond in a way that they don’t with many other toys. For my two, the Lundby family isn’t just a set of mini dolls; they are beloved playmates who are part of so much of their play time, creative time, and their family bonding.10) The Lundby legacy: I hope I live a long life and go on to hand the Lundby dollhouse down to my great-grandkids. But, when I’m gone, I’m fairly certain it’s not going to be servingware that the kids are sentimentally attached to. No, it’s going to be the dollhouse that we spent hours renovating and decorating together when they were young that they played with their entire childhood. Even if, sadly, the dollhouse somehow didn’t survive, these memories are ones they will always carry with them. I hope that one day we can do the same thing with their children and the legacy of Lundby will continue.

Are you ready to start your own Lundby tradition with your children? I urge you to do it now, don’t wait until the “perfect time”. The perfect time to get a dollhouse is when you want to bond with your little ones while working closely on a project together. If they are young, you can start fixing it up slowly for them and let them play with it while supervised. If they are older, get them involved in larger dollhouse renovations and see just how big their imaginations can be.

Check out the Lundby site for design tips, DIY, and see why everyone is raving about the Lundby Smaland Dollhouse.