Barbie Dreamhouse Review

The adorable Barbie Dream house is available in a large brown cardboard box. The box is unlabeled except for minimal graphics and some print on the outside of the box and we love the whole idea behind it, which is to keep this much wanted and requested present as a big secret until the last moment of opening it. Your loved one will be amazed and ecstatic when he/she opens the box and reveals what’s inside. The product dimension is 8X30X34 inches and the house itself is a great size for play, i.e. it is 3 feet wide by 4 feet tall (120 cm height and 90 cm width) which means that this toy takes quite a bit of space and you should be aware of this. The house comes unassembled together with all the 70 plus accessories in the brown box.

The assembly process according to the majority of the customers is pretty simple (when it comes to the structure of the house itself) and takes roughly about 30 to 60 minutes to build the Dreamhouse. The box also contains instructions in pictures that clearly label every part and give directions for inserting and fitting all those pieces together. Of course, parents have to help with the assembly process and building the dream house for Barbie and for their kids. All the furniture and accessories come in separate bags that relate to a relevant room in the house. There are also some stickers that are to be put on the house. When you assembly the house because of its size the most practical thing is to assembly it on the place where you actually plan to locate the house.

After the assembly, the Dreamhouse is ready for playing. The house has three floors, seven rooms and even an elevator for Barbie or her guests based on plain pull mechanism so Barbie does not have to climb the stairs but she can always take the lift.
The ground floor features an elegant front door in the middle of the house with a very cute door knocker that actually functions and small lights on the left and on the right of the door. On one side there is a garage that is 16 inches long and about 10 inches wide and it has a built-in door that opens and closes so Barbie can park her car.

The car is sold separately and does not come as an accessory in the box. Maybe if you do not have a proper vehicle for the garage you can use this room as an extra room that you can decorate with some furniture. On the side of the garage, there is another extra feature- a small swimming pool that can actually contain real water. The pool is in the form of a window that you can flip down and create a nice size of a swimming pool where Barbie can have fun with her friends during summer times. When you do not need it you can just fold it down again on a hinge. On the other side of the front door, there is a kitchen that comes complete with the corresponding accessories such as a refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, sink, and oven.

The second floor has a bathroom, a little hallway, and a dining area. The bathroom has really nice features – a luxury tub, extremely cute pink sink/vanity and toilet. Barbie can take a bath, brush the teeth or wash her face and all this can be accompanied by sounds effect. The little hallway is intended for animal lovers and Barbie’s pets because of the relevant accessories such as dog’s bed and a really nice aquarium. On the other side, there is a dining room with a wood-topped table with two turquoise chairs.

The third floor is the last floor for Barbie’s bedroom and living room. Between them is the closet with small hangers and some other accessories. In the middle of the bedroom, there is a huge bed for Barbie and a pink canopy above it. The living room also contains the necessary furniture such as a comfy sofa, nice and cozy fireplace, some pictures and a TV, which is another "smart" accessory.

Everything in this house screams Barbie and all the designs and details are in true Barbie fashion. It is well constructed and designed in bright colors. The structure of the dream house is made of large molded pieces but all the accessories range in size and are extremely rich in details. All the accessories have a sleek design and a realistic look. The designers had paid attention to detail in every room and to every tiny accessory.

There are cute little black railings on the second and third floor that add a nice touch to the complete design of the house. All the doors feature decorative details. In the bedroom, there are a nice chandelier and pink canopy which drapes over the bed and a great bright pink chandelier in the dining room. Smart accessories are contemporary features that reflect contemporary life. They are modular and they act differently depending on where they are plugged. The house is with a classic design but with incorporated modern upgraded features.

The Dream House is a three-story mansion and Barbie is a really special doll so the creators designed a special feature for this house and moving up and down -a lift. The lift is on the right side of the Dream House and its doors open too. It goes from the bottom to the top floor using a glided pulley system. Inside there is even a doll stand component so when Barbie takes the lift up and down she is in an upright position. The lift, however, is one of the features that is subject to complaints or may be mentioned as one of the weakest parts, because lots of customers claim that it is too difficult for a small child to pull the lift and that it often gets stuck or stops working because of loose rope from the pulley.

This Dreamhouse of Barbie comes with batteries for some of the accessories and the batteries are needed (AAA) for sound and light effects that are produced by these accessories. Kids will adore all the interactive features of this modern dream house. One example is the sink in the bathroom that lights up blue and you can hear sounds of water bubbling or tooth brushing. When Barbie uses the toilet, there is a sound like a flushing toilet. One thing that has to be mentioned here is that you cannot use all the interactive features at the same time because they use the same interchangeable base so you will have to connect and disconnect all the time and on this occasion you will have to be extremely careful not to break the connection pieces on the furniture.

The aquarium that is in the room right to the bathroom is also one of the nicest features because it lights up blue and there are also sounds like water bubbling in the aquarium and motion as well because kids can watch the small fish swim in it. Smart accessories do not end up here. A really nice feature is the "smart TV". The flat-screen can be opened and you can insert your own smartphone in it so the possibilities of what's on Barbie's TV are huge but kiddos do like to watch Barbie's videos in her own dream house. However, a word of warning is that not all sizes of the phone can fit in the slot especially the ones with bigger size, so approximately the slot is for 4 inch-phones. If you do not want to insert the phone or simply when the phone is not there, there is a simple sticker in the slot. Other accessories that can be interactive are for example the fan whose blades rotate and make noise when it is on and the grill that lights and sounds like it is igniting.

The dollhouse is great for the development of so many skills. The tiny accessories for the kitchen – food that can be fitted in the holes of the table so you can avoid losing them are great for the development of fine motor skills together with dressing and undressing Barbie and her friends and fitting the furniture in the house. The house involves lots of imaginary play because kids can play for hours with their friends, siblings or other family members, and this involves co-working, building up a pretend story and lots of language skills development. Kids adore making Barbie talk about everyday activities, events, and things and entering the world of Barbie's pretend play.

The house is recommended for kids from the age of 3 to 10 years old. However, especially younger kids will need help with connecting and disconnecting of the “smart” accessories to the base that is operated by battery. Your little one might also need help with the pulling up and down of the lift especially because sometimes the lift can get stuck. Besides this, the kids, especially from the age of 5, really adore this dollhouse and it keeps them busy for hours. The dollhouse is not recommended for kids under 3 because of all the small pieces and accessories that might become a choking hazard.

The cost of the house and its size might be not very practical for some families but the price can vary so you can check for deals sometime before you make the purchase. Still the price and the size of this toy make it a great present for Christmas holidays or some really special occasion. The price includes the house with all the accessories for seven rooms such as furniture for each room and food for the kitchen. It is a pity that this dream house does not contain a doll and a car for the garage. This house is a great playset that offers lots of hours of independent play and fun for the price.

The holiday season is just around the corner so if you haven’t made up your mind yet we are sure that kids will be delighted if you decide to purchase the Barbie Dream House. It is of great size, spacious and designed to free kids’ imagination. With three floors, seven rooms and more than 70 accessories it offers enormous possibilities for play and hours of independent play. Kids will love the interactivity of some of the accessories such as the option of inserting smart phone in the TV slot positioned on the wall of Barbie’s living room or the fish aquarium where kids can look at the fish as they swim inside. The window that turns into a swimming pool that can hold water is also another great feature much adored by kids. If you decide to purchase the product we are more than sure that your kids will be thrilled with this decision.