Miniatura

I’m Kate, a mum of two and maker of magical tree dollshouses! I made my first tree house after many country walks with my daughter, during which she would point out little doorways in the tree roots! Whilst on maternity leave I decided to set myself the task of building her a fairy tree house, so that she’d have something special to keep her occupied once her younger sister arrived! The treehouse was a huge hit, and over the years has been home to her Sylvanian rabbit family plus many other toys (even the occasional dinosaur!).

Since then I have fallen in love with making tree houses and have made many more in lots of different shapes and sizes. The smaller ones are the perfect size for sitting on a little shelf or bedside table and look truly magical at night! The larger ones make beautiful dollshouses and also happen to be the perfect size for Sylvanians! Some of my larger houses have appeared in Dolls House World magazine.

My tree homes represent hundreds of hours of work and I spend weeks carefully constructing, painting, installing lighting and adding the finishing touches to each house. The realistic tree stumps feature textured bark made from clay which has been painted in several stages, ivy trailing down the sides, moss, and little flowers or toadstools around the base.

The interiors include real stone floors, winding staircases, balconies, wooden floorboards, mosaic bathroom floors, corner baths and stained glass windows. The many little round windows mean that you get magical views into the houses from every angle. The interior of the houses are illuminated and look truly magical at night! What’s more, some of my houses come with a flickering log burner for the ultimate cosy finishing touch.

Some of my recent commissions have included a 3 storey mouse house, and a 70cm tall owl house which even had a few little knots in the bark for the owls to sit in! I also regularly take smaller custom orders, and recent ones have included a mouse house with a beautiful stained glass window, and a two storey owl house with a cosy flickering log burner!

I often get asked how I make them. The most common question I get asked is “Are they real tree stumps carved out?” In fact I make all tree homes from scratch, starting with a wire frame for the main structure, and then I build the tree shape around it. The only part that’s made from real wood is the base and the top, for which I use a real wood slice which really adds to the realistic look!

My treehouses can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months to make, depending on the size and features. Once built I then spend many hours sourcing the perfect furniture and accessories, and I also make some of the items myself including tables made out of log slices and picture frames made out of sticks which we collect on our country walks!

My girls really love to help me with the build, especially with the bark painting which is their favourite part, and also with choosing the furniture and accessories. My 4 year old especially has become obsessed a bit with miniatures recently and loves to help me position all the tiny items and tell me if she thinks something doesn’t look right!

I’m constantly finding inspiration in the world around me and there always seems to be something new and unique in each treehouse I make. My most recent project has been to build the beautiful Crabapple Cottage from the Brambly Hedge books, which I will be exhibiting at the Autumn show!