I finally finished construction on the doll wardrobe project. All the woodworking is complete, so now I just have to prime, paint, and clear coat the whole piece. I am going to paint the interior a cream color and the exterior a sage green. I have a week and a half left before Christmas to complete the finishing process, so wish me luck… it’s going to be tight.
In my original plan, I had the wardrobe raised up on a base which was supposed to be about four inches high. I ended up eliminating the base because it made the whole piece too tall. I want this piece to double as a nightstand next to my daughter’s bed, and raising it another four inches is a bit too tall for that purpose, and I was worried that she would roll over in the middle of the night and hit her head on it. Without the base, this guy is the perfect height for a nightstand next to her bed, and now it can also be placed up on a dresser or table if she ever decides to repurpose it when she gets older. So, I guess in this case, function won out over form.
This main carcase is birch plywood and is joined using rabbets and dados. I used 1/4 inch thick solid poplar to cover all the plywood edges. I also trimmed out the sides and back using 1/4 inch thick poplar. The doors are poplar frames joined with stub tenons and 1/4 inch thick birch plywood panels. If you look real close you can see two empty holes drilled up at the top where the doors meet the case when closed. I have a couple of rare earth magnets that will go in those holes to hold the doors shut after the carcase is painted.
The interior has two removable rods for hanging doll clothes and three bins for storing other loose items. The bins are hard maple joined together with rabbets reinforced with a couple of brads. The bottoms of the bins are 1/4 inch thick birch plywood trapped in dados cut into the four sides.
I’ll have one more post on this project once the finish is on so stay tuned! Once this project is done, I should have time to record a new episode of the podcast. 
Nice wardrobe, Dave.
I’m a bit jelous that you’re almost done. Years ago I promised a good friend of mine I’d build her a hope chest that would have an American Girl dollhouse room inside it. Since then I’ve bought a house, gotten married and had 3 kids. She’s been nice enough to never bring up that it’s almost 8 years late now. Some day I hope to start it.
Also, will the hinges on the outside of the carcas cause the doors to hit the bed or walls?
Keep up the nice work.
When the piece is sitting next to the bed, the left door can open completely (>180 degrees) and the right door can open approximately 100 degrees. So, there really isn’t any obstruction from the furniture or walls.
Very nice.
I hope your daughter enjoys it as much as I’m sure you did making it.
A belated Merry Christmas to you and your family. Keep up the good work.