If you are looking to purchase a dolls' house, there are many things that it will be important for you to consider, especially as the house may well cost quite a bit, and the furniture and internal items a very great deal more. Completed dolls' houses full of accurately reproduced items can take many years to be completed and furnished, and may be worth many hundreds of even thousands of pounds.

There are two main types of dolls houses - those aimed specifically at children, and those that are considered collectors' houses, and are built to a more accurate degree, and to a more professional and detailed finish, allowing replica scale items to be placed inside to recreate the feel and look of a house from a particular era.

One thing you will need to think about regardless of which type of house you are getting is which era you would like the house to be from. Once committed to an era, the look and style of the house will determine the furnishing and dolls that would look sensible being inside, and this may well be worth looking around for first. You might love the idea of smart, artistically decorated walnut desks and units, but if you have bought a Tudor house, then this is going to look out of place, similarly if you like the idea of having items that look modern and current, then a more modern house will be best. Popular houses include modern, Tudor, Georgian and Victorian, although occasionally you can find some unusual ones.

Many people buy houses read built, although more often they come in kit form. Some people are able to design and make their own dolls houses, and of course there is a great deal of satisfaction in doing this, in addition to which you can make sure that you have the house you actually want. However, this is no mean feat.

Something to check, whether you're buying a ready built house, a kit or planning on making your own, is the type of wood used in its construction. Some are available in plywood, but the preferred material is MDF. There are several reasons for this, one is that MDF doesn't splinter like plywood does, making it safer for children, and when it comes to painting your house, MDF is much smoother and easier to paint. You may also be looking to install glowing fires and real electric lights, and this will mean trailing wires throughout the house. If your house is made of MDF, then it is easy to create grooves and hols in the wood without splintering or cracking, which would be impossible with plywood.

Once you have the house, collecting the items for inside will usually take a long time, and this can become a hobby that lasts many years. For children they will obviously need a fairly well furnished house straight away, whereas collectors may tale many years adding one or two items every now and then when they come across them. Craft fairs and even dolls' house fairs are increasingly common, and provide interesting opportunities to pick up items not commonly found.