Fixing Up a Vintage 1978 Barbie Dream House


1978 Barbie Dream House provides fun fixer-upper opportunity



Recently while visiting Oklahoma, I encountered the phenomena known as "Big Trash Day." This is a day when people leave larger objects than will easily fit in a trash can by the roadside for the garbage men to pick up. On this last Big Trash Day, I found a broken vintage Barbie Dream House by the side of the road. The house had been painted, marked with magic marker, and was filthy. Before I took any photos, I cleaned the first layer of dirt off of it.
I left the two broken side wings by the side of the road. Maybe in hindsight I should have taken them, too, but I have limited space while we are here in Oklahoma, and the full Dream House takes up quite a bit of room. I opted to only take home the central two-level structure of the dream house. 


This is not an article about repurposing or restoring this Barbie Dream House. I don't intend to make it into something new, nor do I intend to restore it to like-new condition. What I want to do is give it new life by restoring what I can and adding new furnishings, parts and pieces to make it a fun place to display the few dolls I have here.


As I make changes to Barbie's 1978 dreamhouse, I will post photos, so join Barbie and me on our newest adventure--giving Barbie a home to call her own in Oklahoma. 

Update: Just found this great resource for fixing up a 1978 Barbie Dream House. I am sure I will be utilizing it!

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