Adding a rug to a dollhouse room can make it look more realistic and bring the theme of the room together. You can buy rugs for dollhouses from specialist dollhouse retailers, or you can easily make your own.
You can repurpose items such as drinks coasters or fabric samples as dollhouse rugs. Or you can use any of the following to make your own DIY dollhouse rug:
- paper
- felt
- faux fur
- French knitting
- woven yarn
Below, I share some cheats that will save you money and help you create fantastic looking dollhouse rugs!
Drinks coasters as dollhouse rugs
Fabric coasters are my go-to for dollhouse rugs. They are super easy to get hold of, cheap, and they come in sets so are great if you want the same style of rug in multiple rooms. Fabric works best, as coasters made from other materials can have too much depth and look a little odd.
Macramé, rattan and linen coasters work particularly well.
I picked up these coasters for a few pounds from Dunelm (the UK version of Bed, Bath and Beyond) and they look lovely as circular rugs.
Etsy is a great place to go to pick up handmade coasters, if you want a truly unique look in your dollhouse.
Fabric samples
I’ve used fabric samples as dollhouse bedding and rugs before and it’s a great way to add some texture to a room and the colour and fabric options are near limitless!
Some fabric samples are free and some will cost a few pounds, and they’re a great starting point if you need fabric and pattern inspiration for dollhouse carpets and upholstery as well.
Most home furnishing shops and upholstery shops will offer fabric samples. I got some from Dunelm and some from Sweetpea and Willow. I tend to only get a few from each retailer, especially if they’re free, as I don’t want to be cheeky!
The rug on the left is a fabric sample from Sweetpea and Willow and the rug on the right is a sample from Dunelm.
can also find fabric samples in bargain bins in discount shops and in charity shops, so head to these if you’re after a bargain. You can also repurpose old cushion covers or other upholstery into dollhouse rugs.
Paper dollhouse rugs
Paper dollhouse rugs are a great choice for dollhouses that won’t be played with by kids. If you are furnishing a dollhouse for kids, then avoid paper rugs as they’ll soon be destroyed!
There’s plenty of free printable dollhouse rugs online, and if you use software such as Canva, you can make your own! Check out this tutorial I made for how to make your own printable wallpaper and you can use this to make your own rugs too.
I’ve also created three printable dollhouse rugs you can print and add to your dollhouse today, for free!
Felt dollhouse rugs
Felt used to be made out of wool and animal hair fibres, most felt today is made out of plastic fibres, which means is very cheap and there are multiple colours available.
Felt can add luxurious texture to a dollhouse room, so is ideal if you’re wanting to bring some glamour to a dollhouse bedroom or living room. This set of felt fabric is available from Amazon and will give you plenty of options for choosing the right colour for your room!
To make the rug look more realistic, you could add tiny cuts to all the way down each end of the fabric to make fringing for the rug.
Faux fur dollhouse rugs
Faux fur dollhouse rugs are extremely cute and and make a dollhouse room look really realistic. Faux fur also taps into the hygge trend of all things cosy and calm.
The main thing to consider when buying faux fur is that short pile (also known as low pile) is the best choice for dollhouses. Long and medium pile fur will be too long and won’t look as realistic. It will also be tricky to balance furniture on.
It’s important to cut faux fur correctly to help prevent the fur from shedding. There’s a quick video below on how to do this if you want to make your own faux fur rugs for your dollhouse.
You can buy faux fur from haberdashery and upholstery shops, or places like Etsy sell it online.
You can buy dollhouse rugs designed to look like animal skins and this zebra one by BigHouseMiniHouse on Etsy is my favourite. BigHouseMiniHouse’s owner Lianne has a Instagram page full of the most stunning dollhouse creations @bighouseminihouse – so check it out for inspiration.
French knitting dollhouse rug
My grandma got me into French knitting (also known as spool knitting) back in the 1980s and I find it incredibly mindful. It’s also really easy to do, so a great hobby for working on whilst watching a film or box set.
You can make circular or oval dollhouse rugs with French knitting and could probably rustle one up in an hour, depending on how quickly you knit.
An advantage of French knitting is that you can choose any colour you want and decide when you change the colour too. It’s also a really cheap way to make a dollhouse rug. I got my French knitting doll and some off cuts of wool for about £2 from a charity shop.
If you’re not sure how to French knit, this handy video will show you and you can pick up a spool or French knitting doll on Amazon.
Here’s a little rug I made for my dollhouse, using up some blue and white wool. It took less than an hour to do from start to finish, and I think it looks pretty cosy!
Woven or braided yarn dollhouse rug
This option is for the more crafty DIY dollhouse enthusiasts, but woven yarn rugs are still pretty simple to make, if you have a little more time. If you’ve ever made a friendship bracelet, then you’ll be familiar with this technique.
This excellent video below will give you a crash course in making cute woven rugs for your dollhouse.
Below are two beautiful woven rugs in the living room and kitchen of one of Terry-Cline Burrows’ dollhouses from This Old House over on Facebook.
