We discovered little Huset (Norwegian for “little house”) at Playtime New York last year. We were literally drawn to the colorful and playful booth before totally falling under the spell of the founder Alyson Beaton. She is as fun and sweet as her little eco-friendly modular cardboard houses.

Alyson is a mom, a design teacher and a trained architect living in Chicago. She developed Lille Huset to teach “the next generation of makers” about architecture, design, the love of making and the love of home. Indeed, for her, a house is not just a house. It is not just 4 walls and a roof. It is a reflection of the people living in it, of their story, of who they are and what make them unique. It is a home… It is someone’s home and a doll house should be just that too, reflective of the child playing with it making it his or hers very own dream home.

The whole idea started with the search of a doll house for her daughter (maybe that’s why there is so much love in this brand?). Being who she is, she wanted a house that her daughter could put together herself and decorate the way she wanted it. She couldn’t find anything that would really suit her. So, she made her first Lille Huset dollhouse inspired by her beloved neighborhood in Chicago. And before she knew it, the idea took on a life of its own and her business idea was born. She presented her project on kickstarter and gathered quickly a lot of followers and enough money to launch her very first production.

All the houses are inspired by urban neighborhoods all over the world and can be mixed and matched in multiple ways enabling the children to create and recreate their very own dream neighborhood. They are all made in Chicago with Eco-friendly materials. Alyson’s Scandinavian heritage influenced the elegant simplicity of her design aesthetic which leaves plenty of room for children’s imagination and creative play. The recycled paperboard pieces (used for most of the houses) come with paper laminated to the walls, some with designs already on them and the others with a subtle white pattern, perfect for drawing on directly or putting stickers on. I really like that the houses are visually appealing enough to attract children’s attention and entertain them but not too overwhelming to leave some creative freedom. All future homes are ready to be  decorated with markers, crayons, colored pencils, glitter, washi tape and more! They are really dream homes in the making and because they are so cute, will look absolutely stunning anywhere in your house! The icing on the cake: they come packed flat for portability and practicality which make it super easy to store and to bring anywhere and everywhere.

Of course, you can add a lot of things in each house like curtains, bedding, color me dolls, accessory sheets, dollhouse bikes, pets… nothing has been forgotten! On top of that, each season, Lille Huset is creating a limited edition birch house inspired by what the team has seen at international trade shows around the world. The best part about these series is that they can be customized with your child’s name and your house number which makes it totally unique.

Lille Huset offers also dollhouse birthday kits which I particularly love. They are a fantastic idea to make any party unforgettable. These wonderful kits include extra small houses all individually packaged with accessory sheets, birthday party invitations and envelopes, scrapbook papers, 4 blank wooden dolls and washi tape. The dollhouses are an activity and party favor all in one which is just perfect!
Today, Lille Huset has become a classic in our home for birthday gifts and travel toys. As Alyson Beaton would say: “Each dollhouse with its own story is just waiting for a kid to make it his/her own“. So how would your little one “home sweet home” look like?

Should you want to know a little bit more about Lille Huset, just watch this video:
http://youtu.be/EjSvlLPBhnQ.

 

Lille Huset play