Have you ever looked at a piece of furniture in your home and wondered how it would look as a miniature? Whether you’re building a dollhouse or creating realistic mini scenes, knowing how to convert real-life furniture measurements into miniature scales is a must! This guide will show you how to easily take full-size measurements and scale them down to 1:12, 1:6, or 1:24 — in both millimeters and inches.
🔧 How to Scale Down Real Furniture Measurements
To create miniature furniture from your real-life home pieces, you’ll need to apply a scale ratio:
- 1:12 scale – most commonly used for dollhouses
- 1:6 scale – often used for Barbie-size dolls
- 1:24 scale – for very small or compact dollhouses
🧮 Step-by-step method:
- Measure your real furniture – e.g., a table is 120 cm wide
- Convert to millimeters – 120 cm = 1200 mm
- Divide by the scale –
- 1:12 → divide by 12
- 1:6 → divide by 6
- 1:24 → divide by 24
- (Optional) Convert millimeters to inches by dividing by 25.4
📏 Quick Conversion Table (from full-size to miniature):
| Real Size (cm) | 1:12 (mm / in) | 1:6 (mm / in) | 1:24 (mm / in) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 cm = 600 mm | 50 mm / 1.97″ | 100 mm / 3.94″ | 25 mm / 0.98″ |
| 100 cm | 83.3 mm / 3.28″ | 166.6 mm / 6.56″ | 41.6 mm / 1.64″ |
| 120 cm | 100 mm / 3.94″ | 200 mm / 7.87″ | 50 mm / 1.97″ |
| 140 cm | 116.6 mm / 4.59″ | 233.3 mm / 9.18″ | 58.3 mm / 2.29″ |
| 180 cm | 150 mm / 5.9″ | 300 mm / 11.8″ | 75 mm / 2.95″ |
🪑 Example: Scaling a Chair
A real chair is 48 cm wide and 90 cm high.
Converted to millimeters:
- Width: 480 mm
- Height: 900 mm
Scaled down:
| Scale | Width | Height |
|---|---|---|
| 1:12 | 40 mm / 1.57″ | 75 mm / 2.95″ |
| 1:6 | 80 mm / 3.15″ | 150 mm / 5.9″ |
| 1:24 | 20 mm / 0.78″ | 37.5 mm / 1.47″ |
