Understanding Dollhouse Scale

Scale is not the most interesting topic but I feel like this video is LONG overdue! I hope this is helpful for anyone who has ever felt confused by scale when it comes to miniatures and dollhouses.
#bentleyhouseminis #miniatures

Time Stamps for the Questions:
What is Scale? 1:41
What are the popular scales? 2:54
How do I choose and start working in scale? 12:13
What if I hate measuring? 16:15
How do I scale a pattern up or down? 21:52

References page Links:

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Music Info:

[majestichotdog]

for all the metric masters out there, i'd recommend using scales that are easy to do math with. good example would be 1:10, as you simply take the real life measure and divide by 10. other easy ones are 1:4, 1:20, 1:50, 1:100. its pretty easy with any scale really, as long as you have a calculator and use the metric system, as it is based on power of 10's which are so much more comfortable to convert. ofc you can use the same scales as shown in the video with imperial, as ex. 1:12 would always be "1 real life unit is 12 model units".


the imperial system needs to be exterminated though. its so unecessarily convoluted.

[paulaneary]

Using the cutouts and placing them next to things was EXTREMELY helpful in visualizing how your brain can tell something doesn't work. Excellent video!

[pambrandon]

Oooooh! An Ara celebrity cutout that dolls can take selfies with!

[lynnh]

I want to build a small home in a cupboard for my grandkids and Im so greatful for this video. As someone who has dyslexia scale was giving me the blues but all of your examples and the chart you've provided have made me excited to begin my project.

[paulaneary]

I'm going to make a cutout of you for my dollhouse and pretend you are shouting out encouragement to help me finish my project!

[thegalleryofeve]

Thank you for creating this video, you can’t begin to imagine HOW amazing this is for newbies!!! ❤️😭❤️

[ssoozee]

The paper doll scale sheet you made has made a 100-percent difference in my confidence. I think it’s what will push me to make my first project. You are so wonderful and thoughtful. Thank you SO much!

[mwenpraledorayley]

I am grateful to you and your clear explanations of scale with examples. I'm working on resizing a scrapbook album and thought this would be the best option. Thank you from Villa Rica, GA. ☀🌴🏖

[EmjayG]

This was brilliant! I really feel confident moving forward with my project (shadow box scene). Thank you so much for the resources!

[alittlebitfrancy]

This was desperately needed!!! Thank you for making the figures. It will help immensely. My sister bought me an old dollhouse kit from an estate sale that is missing critical structural pieces and I can’t figure out how measure interior walls because I am not sure what scale the house is supposed to be in. This really helps put it into perspective

[MyName-zdpe]

I'm horrible at math, my best subject has always been English/Writing, and this video made sense to me. Thank you so much for the scale explanation. One day when I have the time, I would love to create a Farmhouse (and or Log Cabin) and Barn miniatures, as I'm a Kentucky country girl. God bless you and your loved ones. ♥

[wendycairoli]

I plan on doing a miniature of Monica's appartment door as a keyholder to hang on the wall, so the reference to Phoebe Buffay was just PERFECT !! I'm french and I'll use the metric system but I still found your video very useful. Merci beaucoup, Ara :D

[oralc]

This video is a life saver. I've been wanting to build my own dollhouse since I was a little girl, now that I have my own home (after 40 yrs old) I am overly excited to begin a replica of my house. Thank you so very much for this amazing information. I absolutely love how you explain EVERYTHING!!

[tino]

I know I am a bit late on this video, but this really do helps a lot. Thank you for sharing and teaching! In my country we use cm and mm, and I struggle to go from inches to cm or mm. I am currently working on a display cabinet for my father, he collects rocks and crystals and have a big display unit. Now I'm busy making him a miniature display unit for his tiny crystals. Can't wait to print out your scale model and have you in my crafting space as referance and to keep my company. Thank you so much!

[churchlady]

This is soooo helpful. Thank you. I hate math and measuring. This was just the best ever and I know this took a lot of work. I really appreciate it.
My granddaughter and I started a candy store in 1/12.

[Laesquina_creativa]

I've just started doing miniatures and this video is super helpful. Thank you!

[Magdalenah]

This was FANTASTIC!!! I have always known that there were different scales but never understood it all! I am hopeless at maths, so this helped enormously!! I would love to hide your mini-self in people's houses... but I imagine the joy (or weirdness) would be lost on them! Thank you for being such a warm and enthusiastic teacher and for sharing your passion for miniatures in such a fun and joyful way!

[beverlywalker]

I've sold a bunch of 3/4 scale (also used for 1:16 and 1:18 scales) furniture to folks in the US on Etsy. Initially, I was surprised at the number of people that use this scale for Brinca Dada, Petite Princess, Lundby, and occasionally 1:12 dollhouses. You can also find 3/4 plastic/resin figurines which help with the scaling of hand made creations. Now I have a G-scale or garden scale train set for an outdoor display. I've seen the scale listed between 1:20 to 1:32 scales. I finally found G-scale figures that matched my particular train (1:30) and I can create goodies to match. The scales may differ between manufacturers and countries. So scale can get very complicated and your video really helps to put it into perspective (pun intended ;-) . Thanks, Ara!

[kathrineyamamoto]

OMG! The scale picture of you is so very helpful. Thank you! I have only been working in 1:144 scale for a while and am trying to move up a scale to 1:48 and maybe 1:12. So this was very helpful.😀

[yezzyjames]

I really love finding small item's in thrift stores that are just the right scale.
This was really informative as I use the metric system and some of the names eluded me for years. :}