Handmade Dollhouse Plans

Use these handmade dollhouse build plans to make the perfect Christmas present this year.

The easy to build 4′ dollhouse is made out of plywood for a sturdy house that will last.

The dollhouse’s large rooms are big enough for 11″ dolls. The dolls can even to fit through the door ways standing up.

A DIY dollhouse is the perfect DIY gift for Christmas morning!

I knew I wanted to get my daughter a dollhouse for Christmas. She loves playing with her dolls.

Currently she has a small house that folds up for easy storage. It gets lots and lots of play, but she keeps asking Santa for a big dollhouse. She needs something more.

We started shopping around for dollhouses and I was left unimpressed. There were a lot of expensive options and a lot of flimsy looking options.

I knew I could create something amazing for way less, so I hit the sketchpad instead.

And what was born is this beautiful rolling dollhouse that is actually large enough for her 11″ dolls to fit inside (and even through the doorways).

I am so excited to give this beautiful handmade dollhouse to my daughter this Christmas. It’s been so much fun building and decorating it.

I am only planning on finishing the dollhouse exterior and a couple of the rooms inside before Christmas. Then we can work together later to create the perfect handmade dollhouse with lots of personal touches.

DIY Dollhouse Plans

Even though I am not done with this project, I wanted to share the dollhouse plans ASAP. In case anyone else is looking to surprise someone with a beautiful DIY dollhouse this Christmas.

This dollhouse can be made from just over one sheet of plywood. I know, just over one sheet really sucks.

I thought I had it figured out how to get all the pieces on one sheet. But then after cutting it all out and assembling, realized I was missing one piece. So if you have a garage full of scraps, you can get away with just buying one sheet.

If not, you will need to buy 1 and 1/4 sheets, but then you will have plenty of left over pieces to create some fun little furnishings for the house too.

PS Please excuse Eric’s nakedness. I was lucky to find him a pair of pants for the picture, but have no clue where his shirt has disappeared too. I just wanted to show the scale.

Cutting Plywood without a Table Saw

I built this entire DIY dollhouse without using a table saw. The entire sheet of plywood was easily cut down with a circular saw with a guide track. I used the Kreg RipCut and AccuCut.

These are my two favorite new tools because they make it possible for me to rip down full sheets of plywood all by myself. And they are super easy to use and accurate.

Learn how to cut plywood sheets with a circular saw here.

And next week I will be sharing an update on the dollhouse with all the finishing ideas. But first, grab your saw and get to building. 

Or if you need a smaller dollhouse, check out these easy MDF dollhouse plans. And the template comes with furniture too!

And don’t forget to check out the rest of my Woodworking Tutorials for more DIY gift ideas.

More Wood Dollhouses

Need more dollhouse ideas? Check out these other dollhouses for larger and smaller dolls.

How to Make a Handmade Dollhouse

Tools & Materials

STEP 1- Cut the plywood pieces

Cut all the house pieces from the 1/2″ plywood and the roof pieces from the 1/4″ plywood.

The cuts for the plywood are a little tricky. The pieces nest inside each other to get everything to fit on one sheet.

But I have it all detailed out in the printable PDF dollhouse plans with plywood cut diagrams and detailed measurements.

Start by ripping the first piece off the long edge of the sheet of plywood with the Kreg RipCut. Then cut the pieces out of it. I used the AccuCut to cut all the cross pieces.

To cut out the doorways, drill a hole in the corners of the doorways and use a jigsaw to cut along the lines.

Next cut a 43 1/2″ piece off the remaining section of plywood with the AccuCut. Cut the notches out of the corners with the AccuCut. Then cut the roof wall out of the larger piece.

To keep the corners clean, cut just to the lines with the top of the circular saw (which will leave the bottom still attached because of the curved saw blade). Then use the jig saw to complete the cut.

This gives you much straighter lines than just using the jig saw.

Using the drill, drill holes in the corners of the windows and then cut them out with the jig saw.

From the remaining piece of plywood, cut the following pieces I used the RipCut to cut the 12″ sections only to the corners, then finished the notched cuts with the AccuCut and a jig saw.

From the scrap (or second piece) of plywood, cut the last 1/2″ thick piece.

This will be the front entry of the house.

Cut the roof pieces from the 1/4″ plywood according to the diagram in the plans. Or if you have to buy a second sheet, you can always use the 1/2″ plywood as well.

I plan on adding roof shingles to the house so I wanted to start with a thinner layer so it doesn’t add too much bulk. But you could also add texture to the thicker roof with a router or decorative paper or something else.

STEP 2- Assemble the dollhouse

Once all the pieces are cut, it’s time to assemble.

Starting at the bottom, attach the front of the house and then the side walls with wood glue and the 1 1/4″ nails.

Next add the bottom floor inner walls and top it off with the second floor. Continue adding the walls and floors all the way up according to the 3D renderings in the build plans.

Before adding the roof, I used my jig saw at a 22 1/2 degree angle to cut off the top of the front of the house wall so the roof would lay flat against it.

Then move onto the front entryway of the house and add the side wall and front wall. To add the roof to the top of the entryway, I cut the side of the roof boards at a 22 1/2 degree angle so they fit together nicely.

This is not totally necessary if you are planning on covering the roof up with shingles, but it was easy and looks really great.

The total size of the handmade dollhouse is about the size of a small bookcase.

I added wheels to the bottom of the dollhouse so we can wheel it up against the wall like a bookcase, but then easily wheel it out for lots of play time.

STEP 3- Sand and decorate

Next I will be adding trim around the house to finish off the plywood edges and add dimension. I’ll also be adding shingles to the roof and doors.

Learn how to get a smooth paint finish on wood for a professional looking dollhouse.

You can see all the dollhouse exterior details here.

You did it!

Now you can have fun decorating each room and building lots of dollhouse furniture.

For more DIY gift ideas, check out these Homemade Gift Ideas they will Love.

Happy building!