Miniature decorating is harder than it looks on first glance, owing to the work others have done in the craft. I’m finding lots of inspiration, but mostly an awesome sense of Wow at the small-scale houses, rooms and furnishings people have created. Who knew so many were passionate about tiny dwellings? One clue to the answer is that no matter where or how old we are, we feel the wonder in a miniature village scene at Christmas, an HO train set or Adam Maitland’s town model up in the attic in Beetlejuice.

I haven’t done as much as a lick of work on the mini cabin except chisel out the existing furnishings. Perhaps I should schedule the universal motivator–a holiday party! Mini invitations to follow.

Looking around on flickr, I found these mini dwellings from mawphoto in the anti-depressive style of Jonathan Adler.

These rooms were pulled together for the magazine, Haute Doll.

The furnishings are sourced from all over:  Ikea dollhouse furntiure, Barbie, inkjet printed rugs, Bratz, painted beads.

On etsy, The Little Red Door makes these charming clay villages.

The Oak Leaves’ dreamy little Shelf City.

An ancient cypress provides shade beside a Notable Colonial Home.  Let’s drive up there this weekend.

A few scenes of small-scale controlled chaos from Miniature Madness on flickr.

Last, a graceful room in the Thorne collection at the Art Institute in Chicago.  Commissioned by Mrs. James Ward Thorne of Chicago, the Thorne rooms depict interior styles throughout history in a scale of one inch to one foot.  They were constructed between 1932 and 1940 by master craftsmen.