The Big Book of a Miniature House: Create and decorate a house room by room

by Christine-Léa Frisoni

In her superbly presented book, Christine-Lea Frisconi explains how to make a beautiful miniature French country house. Dressed in an elegant style of faded grandeur, the dolls' house is full of period features and exhibits plenty of vintage appeal. Having made the dolls' house, Christine explains how to build up the wall panels to provide deep recesses, fancy panelling and wall niches to add character - ideas that can be translated to any existing dolls' house. Instructions to make a range of French-style furniture, fittings and even flowers are included: chairs, a folding screen, ornate light sconces, fireplaces, dressing rables, window dressing, right down to the kitchen sink! There is also a gallery of dolls' houses at the end of the book to inspire."

Genres: Nonfiction, Art

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Jessica Dudenhofer Beery · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pure joy to just look at the pictures...incredible talent both in miniatures and photography. I want to live there, lol. Anyway, aside from the dreamy photos, I appreciated the step-by-step instructions to recreate the rooms. I have no plans to re-create her exact designs, but I found lots of juicy tips and patterns to use adapt in my own designs. For instance, lots of technique tips to create finishes (marble/tile/aging) and darling furniture patterns with instructions (that seem very doable!). That’s it in a nutshell — she makes me believe I can do it too! Lovely book. Plan to purchase my own copy after maxing out my renewals at the library.

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

No I will never use these instructions to create a miniature house but Frisoni makes me believe I could. I am in awe of the talent here!

[Betsy Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just get it for the pictures. So beautiful and creative, you'll be amazed with every photo.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exquisite book for lovers of miniatures or French style. I created two dollhouses and two room boxes in 1:12 scale and know how challenging it is. The rooms in this book are among the most involved and realistic that I've EVER seen. Perfection! In many of the photos, if I didn't know I was looking at a miniature room, I would have thought I was looking at photos taken in full-size rooms. Not only can one swoon over the artistry, one can also follow the instructions for recreating the look themselves. I cannot praise this book enough.

[Sanne Harder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll be honest: I tried DIYing some of the projects in this book - and had *very* varied results! I’m usually quite good at crafting stuff, but this is a bit out of my league.
However, you should still read this book. If you have any fascination with dollhouses or miniatures, you owe it to yourself. This is sheer eye candy!

[Marilynn Farmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Big Book of a Miniature House is so lovely, so detailed, that you almost want to live inside Christine-Lea Frisoni's creations. What's more, she gives step-by-step instructions on building your very own Parisian townhouse, complete with paneling, faux-brickwork, chandeliers, stairways, etc. She shows you how to fabricate furniture for your house out of ingenious things like florist's wire, bristol (paper) board, paint and wood filler. I haven't yet made any of the projects from this book, but will definitely give them a try. I especially love how she shares techniques to "age" everything, giving her houses an authentic and lived-in, vintage feel. Absolutely spectacular DIY book on miniatures by a truly gifted artist, a must-own volume for anyone interested in this hobby.

[Lionheart Words · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did you know that there are entire communities of people devoted to crafting tiny houses? I don’t mean HGTV style tiny houses. I mean tiny, tiny, …miniature houses. (Really, it’s a thing. There was even an article written on the positive impact miniature making has on mental health). After reluctantly rescuing my childhood dollhouse from my mother’s attic last year, a friend introduced me to this community of people and this book. It’s filled with everything from construction techniques to directions on how to craft beautiful tiny objects. Interested in making a mid-century replica of a veterinary hospital? This book has you covered. What about an 18th century manor house? Covered there too. 19th century bathroom with clawfoot tub? There is a way. There is always a way. I recommend this book to anyone interested in beginning a miniature project of their own and to anyone who enjoys aesthetically pleasing interiors. I also recommend it to anyone who has that dusty dollhouse hanging out in their garage/attic/basement and a moderate amount of spare time. Happy crafting!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can think of this book as a grunge-light doll house construction manual. Many of the surface treatments show the effect of weathering and use, something unusual compared to the normal book in this field. This puts it closer to model railroading in larger scales. The book shows a complete build out for a dollhouse along with many examples of furnishings. While not step by step, both the beginner and more advanced modeler will find this of interest. If I wind up buying a copy, I will boost the rating to a five.

[Douglas Summers-Stay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was thinking about Lori Nix's post-apocalyptic photographs, and whether you could combine them with something like Arthur Ganson's kinetic sculpture, so I saw what they had at the library. I really liked the old European style to the dollhouses Christine-Léa Frisoni shows how to build here. The aging techniques seemed especially useful for making the house feel realistic (my wife couldn't believe the cover wasn't a real house.) It's all satin-finish ivory with old brass accents and the like. The lighting in the photography is remarkable and adds to the nostalgic effect of the houses.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm amazed at Christine's talent. Not sure if I will ever delve into this type of creating, but if I wanted to, this book would be all I'd need. It's truly amazing. Hats off to the photographer as well.