Coloring Books, Dollhouses Nurture Creativity

Carleton Varney

04 Sep , 2020

By Carleton Varney- Special to the Palm Beach Daily News

Lately, believe it or not, I have been busy creating coloring books.

In fact, I have just completed a new one called ''Color the Greenbrier Beautiful.'' It is filled with 27 pages of original illustrations to color. The drawings depict the lobby, ballroom, dining room and guest suites of The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. — a hotel for which I have served as decorator for some 53 years.

Coloring is no longer an activity just for children. It’s become quite a popular activity for adults, too. For many, it’s become a creative way to relieve stress.

That’s why I created my new coloring book with everyone in mind. When I was at The Greenbrier recently, I saw an adult guest coloring away — and she was coloring the rooms differently from how they were decorated by yours truly.

That’s what can happen when you recolor a room in your home. You also may discover a new you.

I love to watch young children with their coloring books. Depending on their ages, some color carefully within the lines, choosing the hues carefully and closely following real-life examples. Others take a more free-form approach. After all, who says a king’s face can’t be purple?

Children’s creativity can be nurtured in so many ways. Have you ever watched children playing with a dollhouse? And I don’t mean just little girls. Little boys like to move furniture around the rooms as well. The decorating seed can be planted early and the dollhouse often is where it all begins.

I sometimes find vintage dollhouses in the shops on South Dixie Highway’s Antique Row in West Palm Beach. I think they can make fun projects for families with young children.

During this time of quarantine, a child might find enjoyment repainting a dollhouse, inside and out. Mom and Dad might help little ones make curtains for the tiny windows. And together you can find pictures of handsome rugs in design magazines or catalogs that can be cut out and laid on the dollhouse floors.

There’s also plenty of miniature furniture on the market, and that includes online sources. Perhaps your miniature dining table is in need of miniature cups and saucers.

If one is handy with plywood and has an architectural style in mind, a new dollhouse can be built from the ground up. There are patterns available for dollhouses in styles from Victorian mansions to New England cottages.

A love of decorating can start early, in the same way that becoming a great skier often begins on the slopes at an early age.

With more parents opting to home-school these days, an art class at home can be a happy time to bond with siblings and parents. Isn’t it ironic that this devastating pandemic has helped bring so many families closer together, whether they’re cooking, making art or even exploring the world of decorating?

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Posted On April 21, 2023 by Mia Evans

I find it interesting when you can also try to repaint a dollhouse with the help of your mom and dad. That seems fun and educational for my daughter if she would love that idea as well, since she can use the experience when she is older and has her own place. I should get custom-made dollhouses that can be repainted over and over again to try this ourselves, because I think I will enjoy the bonding experience if she asks me to help her out. https://heirloomcustomtoys.com/custom-dollhouses
Posted On September 14, 2020 by Linda

So true! When my son was young, I took a castoff, plastic dollhouse, stripped off the old decorations, and pasted on new pictures from decorating magazines with poster glue so they could be easily updated. The house went from bland to Wayne Manor from Batman. My son and I enjoyed playing with the now upscale mansion.

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