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ELC Rosebud House Kitchen Set
by cornishchic
My daughter received an Early Learning Centre rosebud dolls house for Christmas just gone and also received some of the accompanying furniture sets from the same rosebud range. One of these sets was the kitchen set.
The rosebud kitchen set is an Early Learning Centre product so can only be purchased from their stores or online ... or it can sometimes be picked up from Mothercare and Amazon. It costs £15 but like all ELC products, can be picked up on sale quite often and there are always discount codes floating around.
After opening the cardboard box that the pieces come in, I was quite surprised at the amount of pieces to this set. All of the furniture sets contain the normal big bits and pieces but with this kitchen set you get a few small kitchen utensils along with the normal kitchen items, an oven, fridge freezer, sink unit with a cupboard, counter. The small items feature a chopping board, 2 saucepans, rolling pin, spoon and a kettle.
Each of these pieces is made from an excellent quality wood that has been painted in colours that coordinate with the rest of the rosebud range. The wood has no signs of small splinters and has a nice sanded down feel to it. The pieces are mainly white and fuchsia pink with the odd splash of blue and green to break it up a little. The attention to detail is excellent with the cooker having a cut out heart at the top and comes complete with knobs; the sink even has a small tap on the top.
The size of the different pieces is spot on and in perfect proportion to the rest of the set and the rest of the rosebud range. There would be nothing worse than having a saucepan bigger than the cooker hob but the sizes are spot on, they are also perfect to use with the rosebud doll figure set as they stand at the cooker and counter without any size difficulties. As some of the pieces are miniscule (the utensils, mainly), I like to supervise my three year old when she is playing with it and wouldn't recommend any younger children playing with it. This set is the one that contains the smallest pieces so maybe buy the other furniture sets before this one, I'm sure a house could go without a kitchen...!
My daughter loves playing with her rosebud dolls house and accompanying furniture sets together so the kitchen set doesn't get used on its own. It fits inside the house with ease and my daughter has no trouble in rearranging the kitchen pieces to how she wants to have it. At the moment the kitchen is on the top, attic level of the house so not very realistic but it has spent time on the bottom floor in the past! My daughter loves using the dolls to do some pretend cooking and once she's finished and washed up the pieces she puts them back in the cupboard and fridge so she hasn't lost any of the little pieces just yet but I think it's only a matter of time.
My only disappointment with this furniture set (and the rest of the furniture sets my daughter has) is that it doesn't come with any dolls included, nor does the house, so a doll figure pack does need to be purchased to get full play out of the set. This adds on more cost to the range and I dread to think how much different people have spent on her rosebud dolls house and accessories.
I'd definitely recommend this set if you are purchasing the rosebud dolls house too, or any other dolls house for that matter. It looks realistic and ties in with the rest of the range well. It contains quite a few pieces and is made to a very high standard. Read the complete review |
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ELC Rosebud House Bedroom Set
by cornishchic
When my mum spotted a wooden dolls house from Early Learning Centre at half price she couldn't stop herself from buying it for my daughter as it reminded her of her childhood dolls house. She put it away and planned to give it to my daughter for Christmas so we both kept our eyes out for bargains on the room sets from the same ... range.
This bedroom set is part of the Rosebud range sold by Early Learning Centre, it is available to purchase from their stores or online or from Mothercare too. The set retails for around £15 but if you keep an eye out there are often special offers for this range. When I purchased the set it was half price, and I've seen it on sale again since.
Early Learning Centre sell two different types of bedroom sets, either a child's bedroom set that features bunk beds or a normal set that features a double bed, my daughter has the later. The main contents of the set are the bed, two bedside dressers, two lamps, a wardrobe and mirror. These pieces are all wooden and the wood is made and finished to a high standard. The wood is hardwearing and doesn't show any signs of breaking and is sanded down well so there are no traces of any splinters that could harm a child. The set also includes some fabric pieces, two pillows and a duvet and also a small rug for the end of the bed. The bedding is made from a chequered blue and white fabric and has some sort of lining to it as it's quite cushiony. Both the bedding and rug are also made to a high standard with no signs of frayed edges or problems of any kind.
This set fits in perfectly with the rest of the Rosebud range as it has the girly colours that the other sets and main dolls house have. The colours are mainly pinks, white and pale blue. I think ELC have updated the range lately as I've seen pictures of the set in mostly pale pink but now the wardrobe, for example, has a casing in a fuchsia pink colour with white doors and pale blue door handles. I'm not sure why they have updated it but I quite like the fact that brighter colours have been used too as it gives it a bit of an edge.
The sizes of the pieces in the set are in perfect proportion, there are no problems of the bedside table being three times the size of the bed, for example. Each piece is just the right size and matches the size of other Rosebud sets too. When the pieces are in the house they have the right proportion too, with the wardrobe almost being as tall as one of the floors. It really is lifelike just on a smaller scale. The size of the pieces means that my three year old can handle the pieces with no problems at all. I would be a bit wary about giving it to a younger child as the small pieces could definitely pose a choking hazard. My daughter is out of the 'put everything in my mouth' stage but I still like to supervise her playing with it just in case.
My one disappointment of the set is that it doesn't contain any dolls. I would have liked even just one doll to come with it, although my daughter received a separate set of dolls, had she not she wouldn't be able to play with the set. That being said, it's not a huge downside. My daughter loves playing with this set. The wardrobe doors open and my daughter often uses this as a hiding place when the doll family are playing hide and seek, it's also where I normally hide (in a proper one, not dolls house one, obviously!) when we play together, so she is using real life in her imagination. I think my daughter has a career in interior design in the running too as she is always moving her different sets around as they are so easy to move, the bedroom is currently on the top floor so it is quite realistic at the moment but I don't know how long that will last!
I'd definitely recommend this Rosebud bedroom set from Early Learning Centre. Although it is quite pricey at full price, if you find it on sale (which you more than likely will), snap it up as it is definitely worth it. The quality is amazing and all pieces are finished fantastically. The set is realistic and is a perfect addition to the Rosebud dolls house. Read the complete review |
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ELC Rosebud House Living Room Set
by cornishchic
As my mum was getting my daughter the Early Learning Centre rosebud dolls house for Christmas, I kept my eye out for bargains on the accompanying furniture. One set I purchased ready for Christmas was the living room set.
The living room set is part of the rosebud range available to purchase from Early Learning Centre, either ... in store or online. This set retails at £15 but can often be found on sale or codes can be found for money off online. I think I paid around £10 but I can't remember exactly.
This set contains the majority of items you would expect being a living room set. It includes a sofa, two single chairs, coffee table, rug, pot plant, tall plant, a sideboard and a flat screen television. It comes sat inside a cardboard insert placed in a cardboard box featuring the Early Learning Centre rosebud branding. The main pieces of the set are made from wood which is made to a very high standard being totally smooth with no jagged edges or little splinters, then painted with good quality paint. The colours are mainly fuchsia and white for these bits. The rest of the set is made from material; this is mostly the sofa cushions, rug and plant that goes inside the pot. Again, these material pieces are made to a fantastic standard with no frayed edges or problems of any kind.
The set fits in perfectly with the rest of the Rosebud range and looks lovely in my daughters Rosebud dolls house. The size of the pieces are in perfect proportion to the rest of the house without being too big for the different floors or two small to play with it easily. My daughter often rearranges the furniture and at the moment the house has an upstairs downstairs feeling with this set being placed at the top of the house. It is easy for her to move around and despite banging some of the pieces, they don't show any signs of damage.
I really believe this is helping my daughter expand her imagination. I often hear her talking away whilst moving the figures around the living room set, quite often grandpa has a nap on the sofa whilst the mummy chats away to the daddy whilst sitting in the single seats. The amount of creativity my daughter comes up with is brilliant. She loves moving the set around so the pieces never stay set up in a certain way for very long.
The only downside of this set is that it doesn't contain any figures to go with it, it wasn't a huge problem for my daughter as she also received the matching doll figure set for Christmas, but it would have been a nice addition to contain a figure with the set just in case my daughter didn't receive a separate figure pack.
Although £15 seems quite pricey for a single room set I think it is worth it. We have quite a few of the sets but I think the living room is one of the most important rooms as it's the room we spend most of our time in at our own house so my daughters imaginative play often uses the living room set of this house. The pieces are well made and durable so I would recommend it. Read the complete review |