We are delighted to welcome the overall winner of the Great Big Tiny Design Challenge – Dom Kane. He beat off all the contenders for the title – and no one could be more surprised than Dom himself!

“To say it was something of a shock to have won, is the biggest understatement! I didn’t expect to get past week one,” said mechanical engineer Dom who lives in Gawthorpe just outside Leeds. “Not only was I up against some big names in the dolls house world – people who have been making dolls house miniatures for years, but I almost missed the opportunity to put in my application as I didn’t spot the invitation.”

A message request had been sent to his Instagram account two weeks prior from Yeti Television to say they were casting for a new TV series about renovating a dolls house, and would he like to apply.

“I’d never even seen a dolls house, let alone worked on one,” exclaimed Dom. “But I messaged straight back – this was lunchtime on the Friday and got a reply within 10 minutes informing me that the deadline for the close of applications was midnight that night. It was the biggest application form I’ve ever had to complete, and I finally got my application in about 10 minutes to midnight!

“I didn’t expect anything to come from it, but within a couple of weeks I learned that I’d been short listed. Then came another couple of short lists, a couple of zoom meetings – including one where I had to be busy making something while we were talking. At the time I was building a diorama, so that’s what I worked on as we talked. I think they needed to see how I interacted with people as I worked.”

Dom found himself wondering, what on earth he was doing there!

Finally, Dom got the good news that he’d been accepted for the show. “I was really excited and couldn’t wait to get going then,” said Dom. “I love meeting new people and conversing with them. I was really excited to meet them but also a bit apprehensive when I saw there were some people who had been in the dolls house industry for years – and then little old me. I found myself wondering what on earth I was doing there, I didn’t stand a chance. But I was there, so I’d give it my all.”

The reason Dom was so apprehensive was because his main interest wasn’t in dolls houses at all but in table-top gaming, role play and general war games – both in actually playing and in building the scenery and the character figures for games such as Warhammer and Dungeons and Dragons.

 Dom has been into fantasy adventures since he was a boy of about seven or eight. He told Miniatura, “My grandma bought me a Warhammer magazine with a free gift of figures from Lord of the Rings – 10 to 12 models and paints. That’s where it all started. I bought other models and learnt how to play the games. I’d just started High School so got to meet other people who were into this. I played and went to events. And while we’d got the models, we hadn’t got the scenery, which we would see at events. So, I thought I’d give it a go at making scenery and discovered I had a knack for it.”

That was 16 years ago. “I have always loved everything and anything to do with the fantasy world, especially books by Tolkin and Livingstone where I got a lot of inspiration.”

Working with wood is Dom’s forte

Clearly his model making skills and imagination from being involved with the fantasy worlds of dungeons and dragons and the like, put him in good stead for creating furnishings and décor seen more in this world. So, he took on all the challenges the programme threw at him, appreciating the different expertise and skill ranges other people had, and the wider crafting audience. Learning too that working with wood was his forte.

“Working with wood settled me,” added Dom. “I learned a lot of things especially on the skills side, for instance I had never touched fabric before. My best and worst week was probably the Nursery episode. It was the first time of being a team leader. Normally, I am easy going – I go with the flow. But being team leader and having to ‘people manage’ was hard. I didn’t want to stifle anyone’s creativity by telling them what to do. But I’ve come away from this experience with some really good friends. But also, the realisation that this is what I’d like to do – perhaps running workshops showing people how to model scenery.”

Dom returned to his favourite medium to work in with the final challenge of week 8. He and fellow finalist Sharon were tasked with creating the last empty room of the mansion in whatever style they wanted.  Sharon went for a Rococo Music Room with a harp as her centre piece, while Dom went for an Elizabethan Banquet Hall based on Hampton Court, with wooden flooring, wall paneling and as a centre piece, a sturdy Elizabethan banqueting table.

The pair were delighted to have two helpers join them – Bexie who helped Sharon and Michael who assisted Dom. Over the following two days, they worked frantically to make their rooms the very best they could.

The judges, world-record holding micro-sculptor Dr Willard Wigan MBE and interior design guru Laura Jackson, finally made their choice, with Dr Wigan commenting on the level of detail in Dom’s room being second to none.

It was an emotional moment when the front of the finished mansion was opened to reveal Dom’s Elizabethan banquet hall as the winner. With Sandi Toksvig presenting Dom with – what else but a miniature trophy, Dom said, “I’ve put my heart and soul into this, and I feel exhausted but exhilarated! In fact, I’d go so far as to say I feel euphoric!”

See more of Dom’s work here: https://www.instagram.com/yorkshire_warhawk/

Miniatura would like to extend their congratulations to all the contestants, to Sharon as runner up and of course to Dom Kane, the winner of the Great Big Tiny Design Challenge.