Custom miniature cupboard for my Sylvanians- tutorial

This is the first miniature cupboard I made myself. It is inspired  by a Sylvanian cupboard, which I like very much.

This photo comes from the internet. I haven’t managed to buy this set myself yet.

I really wanted my Sylvanians to have a cupboard with a curved top and a cosy, wooden feel to it. I have done some Google research, and found more inspiring rustic designs which I could have used in my cupboard project. I am also very thankfull for the links and ideas other Sylvanian Collectors shared with me.

These dressers were described as Welsh, Dutch, French, English, and more. Their style mainly cottage, but also gustavian, rococo, baroque, and more.

I started with drawing a project. I upgraded it later, when it was necessary in the process.

Based on the project, I drew and cut out paper templates for the parts of the cupboard.

I used them to draw the shapes on plywood. I used craft plywood (birch in my case), 3mm for most of the parts, 2mm and 1,5 mm for the thinner elements.

I cut the  3mm plywood with a jigsaw, and the thinner parts with a sharp craft knife and sanded the rough edges.

I also cut out the back of the cupboard.

For the countertop I used two pieces of plywood, 3mm and 2 mm. I glued them together and sanded the edges to the shape I wanted. I did not glue it until I have made the doors.

I also carved some lines to imitate wooden boards.

The doors were made of a thin plywood piece and a couple of thin little boards, which I glued on the thin  basis. I drilled the hinge holes in the doors and bottom of the countertop, and put the tiny metal pieces cut out of the metal paper clips (the hinges) in these holes in the doors and glued them with epoxy. Next, I put the doors in place and glued the sides and countertop into place.

The curved top was made of a couple 3mm curved plywood elements glued together.

The Georgian bars were made out of pieces cut out of 1,5 mm plywood and glued together.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

The process of making the hinges was the same as in the lower part of the cupboard.

Finally, I put the doors in and glued the sides and top together.

I painted my cupboard with white acrylic paint, intentionally leaving some uneven strokes. For a shabby chic look, I sanded some paint off the edges, to make it look more old.

I also added decorative trimmings to the cupboard.(Optional).

Before

After

Then I fixed the doorknobs into place with epoxy glue. The tutorial for making them you can find here.

It is done! The Thistlethorn family is excited about their new cupboard. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.