Edwardian Dolls House: the Ground Floor

Edwardian kitchen and housekeepers room

The ground floor of my Edwardian dolls house is my favourite part of the whole project. Apart from china and glass accessories, the coal range and the rocking chair, I made almost everything else in the scullery, pantry, kitchen and housekeeper's room.
   For three months, this was on display in the Whangarei Museum. I gave the museum staff the dimensions of the four rooms and they built them. Then I packed everything out of these rooms of my dolls house into shoe boxes, drove to the museum, unpacked all the bits and recreated the rooms. That was when I realised just exactly how many items there were! It took quite a while to set them up again!
   I used museum wax to stick all the accessories into place in case they got bumped when people were viewing them. The whole structure was encased in perspex and lit by spotlights. In front of the cabinet there was a little stool so children could stand up to look into the rooms.
   It was fascinating to stand back one day and watch people's reactions. Almost everyone approached the display case with a smile on their faces! Older visitors were quite nostalgic about some of the products in the scullery and kitchen, such as the copper to do the washing. The children were more interested in the baking on the kitchen table and finding the mouse by the pantry!