Make Dollhouse Scale Kitchen Cabinets and Furniture

This miniature plate rack is built from small amounts of craft wood and can be made in scales down as low as 1:48. I've included measurements for a 1:12 scale version.

The plate rack can be made to stand alone, or used as part of a fitted custom kitchen for a dollhouse or roombox. The measurements in this tutorial size the plate rack to fit above a sink cabinet, roughly equivalent to a 30 inch wide cabinet in full size.

Show off a collection of kitchen miniatures in miniature glass fronted upper kitchen cabinets. The opening doors allow you to rearrange your collection and keep it free of dust. I've shown them with plain glass doors, but you can use the techniques for miniature stained glass to add decorative glass panels, or use faux lead lines made from glaze pens. If you have a range of cabinets to finish, you may prefer to use ink jet decals to make sets of leaded lines or custom labels for a pharmacy or bar cabinets.

This basic kitchen base cabinet adapts to a number of styles of miniature kitchen. With an opening drawer and door, the cabinet can be made in a number of custom or standard widths to stand alone or use for a run of fitted base cabinets in kitchens of many scales. Make sure you hinge the door so the viewer will be able to see inside when the door is open. You don't need all your dollhouse kitchen cabinets or drawers to open, but it is fun to have one or two to be able to set a particular scene.

The dollhouse scale sink cabinet with double opening doors can be set up for a farmhouse or butler's sink as shown, or used for a more modern sink inset into the counter, by filling the front above the doors with a false set of drawer fronts. If you prefer, you can run a small wire for curtains and hang curtains below the sink instead of having doors.

The kitchen sink cabinet is designed so it will fit as a unit in a custom fitted kitchen, or it can stand alone if you prefer.

Three drawer cabinets are a more modern introduction to the kitchen, and these miniature three drawer cabinets will fit with the other dollhouse kitchen pieces if you prefer the look of drawers. They also work well in a miniature office setting.

This miniature farmhouse sink can be made in a range of miniature scales and sizes and finished with a patterned or a plain front. The sink base is made from craft wood, and then finished with air dry clay, gesso, or epoxy putty to obtain a hard finish that can be painted to resemble porcelain.

Making the base from wood allows you to control the size of the sink to suit your scale and kitchen cabinets

If you want to recreate a pastry or sweet shop instead of a kitchen, you may need counter displays. This miniature pastry counter can be used with a solid front or open with shelves or woven wicker drawers made from pastry baskets. The counter can be made as a stand alone piece, or completed with a clear miniature "glass" display cover. All of the construction techniques are easy for a beginner.

If you prefer the look of kitchen cabinet doors with raised panels, you can add simple bevel edge raised panels to any of the door or drawer fronts for the miniature kitchen cabinets.

Another decorative technique that will set your miniature kitchen apart from commercial versions is the addition of simple carved rope moldings. For 1:12 scale doors, you can carve most lengths of molding from rounded toothpicks, or you can carve the rope on the edge of the window door surround

If you want to vary the look of your miniature kitchen, make a set of three wood bottomed pastry baskets to use in the three drawer cabinet instead of traditional drawers. The baskets can be woven from any color you wish, to match the trim of your custom cabinets.