We all have that one special toy from our childhoods that we look back on fondly, recalling the many happy hours of play and wonder they brought us. For me, that special toy was Sindy house.
I don't really know why I had a Sindy house, because the dolls I used with it were always Barbie - who I much preferred - but the Sindy house itself was the most stylish and on-trend dolls house my little 7 year old brain could ever have imagined!
It stood at around 5 feet tall, much taller than me back then - I remember needing to stand on a steppy-stool to reach the top floor. There was an elevator, a fridge with a working light inside, the cutest little hostess trolley for dolly dinner parties and even a chesterfield sofa! I played for hours with that dolls house, day after day throughout my childhood - I remember grudgingly agreeing to allow it to be taken down and put into the attic when I was a teenager, I hadn't played with it for quite a while by then but I was still reluctant for it to lose its place in the corner of my bedroom where it had proudly stood for so many years.
Knowing how much pleasure that dolls house brought to me, I've always been keen for my own children to have their own dolls houses - but although we've bought various ones throughout the years, they've never lasted well. My daughter attention was always drawn to the plastic houses with slides and swimming pools, but they were usually badly made and within a few months they'd be falling to pieces despite their eye-wateringly high prices!
So when we were given the chance to try out a piece from high-quality children's bedroom store Petite Amelie, I knew exactly what I wanted to go for. Petite Amelie specialise in providing stunning furniture and pieces for beautiful children's bedrooms, and when I found myself browsing their selection of Wooden dolls house I knew they were what I had been looking for all of this time.
Their selection of dolls houses ranges from a beautiful Plain wooden dolls house to more detailed puppet theatres, but we went for La Maison D'Amelie - a stunning Large wooden dolls house with stylish white, gray and black tones throughout.
The dolls house is made from natural wood, and features a 19 piece wooden furniture set, stairs throughout and elegant scene-setting decor on the walls. It consists of 4 floors connected by stairs, and even has a little outdoor balcony on the top floor.
At 81cms high, it is the perfect height for my 7 year old. It took my partner around 40 minutes to build, but he said that the instructions were clear and concise and that it was no hassle at all....always handy to know when building a toy on Christmas eve or the night before a birthday!
I expected my 7 year old daughter to love the dolls house but I hadn't quite expected my 9 and 6 year old sons to love it too - but they did! Now don't get me wrong, we don't allow any gender stereotypes when it comes to toys in this house - but my sons are far more interested in video games and wrestling these days than anything else. However as soon as they laid eyes on the dolls house, they were mesmerised and wanted to take turns in deciding on where to put the furniture - fancying themselves as little interior designers! My eldest commented that it was the most modern and stylish dollhouse that he'd ever seen, and that he'd quite like to live in such a beautiful house himself!
Along with my daughter, they happily played with the dolls house for a good 2 hours - finding ways to integrate it into games with some of their other toys, and having so much fun in the process.
We usually have a rule in our home that all toys must live in the playroom, with the living room kept as a toy-free zone but I'm surprised to say that I have broken my own rule - the dolls house is so pretty to behold that I didn't want to keep it out of view! Instead I have allowed it to live permanently in the corner of our living room - it matches our gray decor well and doesn't look at all out of place thanks to its muted tones and elegant design.
I'm so delighted to see the children's attention drawn away from their video game screens and back to more simple pleasures, I really can't recommend this beautiful dolls house highly enough.
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