How I Became a Doll Diorama Designer.

Greetings to everyone!

In this post, I’d like to tell you how I once became a designer of doll interiors. :)

My second “encounter” with dolls (after childhood) happened around 2007. Back then, I had no idea that one day I would be making dolls myself… I will definitely tell you that story in detail, but not this time.

The first doll I got to know was Gene — Gene Marshall, the gorgeous and iconic creation of Mel Odom. Later, she was joined by dolls by Robert Tonner, Ficon, Sybarite, and other similar articulated fashion dolls. These are wonderful, luxurious, very beautiful, and all quite different dolls, although one thing united them — their height. They were all approximately 16 inches tall.

Since I was working closely with these dolls, I often created various photoshoots. But there was a problem… Back in that “fairly distant” year of 2007, it was very difficult to find any miniatures or even furniture for dolls of this size. For Barbie-sized dolls you could find anything quite easily, but using those small items for 16" dolls was impossible — everything looked too small. And miniatures or furniture made for 18-inch dolls, like American Girl, looked far too big.

So I decided to make Diorama Groupings, Furniture, and Miniature Settings for 16" dolls myself. My head is always full of ideas — sometimes they even keep me from sleeping… As soon as I see some object that anyone else would overlook, a creative storm instantly starts in my mind. And the only thing that calms that storm is bringing those ideas to life.

That’s exactly what happened when I saw this little gift set for a bathroom in a store… I noticed the bathtub...

... and off I went. :)

I used anything and everything that happened to catch my eye. :)My greatest passion was making fireplaces for dolls… You’ll never guess what I made them from — photo frames and pictures of fire! They looked wonderful!

To be honest, I never specifically searched for anything. I would simply walk into antique shops, thrift stores, second-hand shops, small private boutiques, or flea markets… I’d wander through the aisles and spot interesting little things — they would practically “smile” at me — and my imagination would immediately spring into action. :)

Here you can see a few compositions I created over the years. I’m sure you’ll enjoy them.

This was my little doll-interior adventure. :)

Thank you for being with me and reading this story! Marina-AllforDoll-MAFD