Barbie-obsessed grandmother, 54, reveals she’s painted her house pink, dyed all her clothes and bought a life-size doll box to pose in – but potential Kens are BANNED

• Arkansas grandmother Dena Daniels has been a Barbie fan since childhood 
• Read more: Margot Robbie really IS Barbie: How A-lister is channelling her character by dressing up as versions of the doll while promoting the new film

A grandmother says she’s finally living her lifelong dream of ‘being Barbie’ by styling her entire home in bright pinks and dressing just like her idol – but has no interest in spending her life with a ‘Ken’.

Dena Daniels, from Fort Smith, Arkansas, says Barbie was her favourite childhood doll and she played with them until she got bullied by other children for being too old.

Now, at the age of 54, Dena says she’s finally decided to ‘live her truth’ by ‘pink-ifying’ her shabby chic home after becoming tired of hiding how she wanted to really live.

Dena eats, sleeps and breathes pink, waking every morning in pink robes and enjoying her morning coffee and toast from a pink coffee pot and toaster – and says she can’t wait for the release of the new film starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Reynolds. 

She even has a human-size Barbie display case she can pose in as a life-size living doll and is called ‘Barbie’ by her neighbours.

The mother-of-two had felt that for years she had been hiding her ‘authentic self’ to please others – particularly men – so decided to paint her home doll-house pink and dye all of her clothes shades of rose to magenta.

While not totally opposed to love, with no men in her life she feels she can ‘express herself more’ and urges other women to ‘get another husband’ if they aren’t being their authentic selves.

Even though she was dating when she originally turned her home fuchsia, she admits she didn’t ‘make it available’ for him to move in and now she’s single says that the home is not designed for any future ‘Ken’ to be comfortable in.

Dena says the purchase of a moveable life-size Barbie toy box mean she can pose up a storm whenever she likes

Addicted: She says ‘Once I got started, I just couldn’t stop. It’s been a journey of “how much pink can I add before it gets tacky?”.’

Dena Daniels, from Fort Smith, Arkansas, says she’s living her truth after deciding two years ago to paint her house pink and ‘eat, sleep and breathe’ Barbie

Healing: Dena says Barbie was her favourite childhood doll and she played with them until she got bullied by other children for being too old

The semi-retired grandma and her ‘Barbie-core’ home have more than 65,700 followers online and more than 846,900 likes on her videos which share her daily life.

Dena said: ‘I was concerned about people’s approval and pleasing those around me, especially men.

‘One day I just woke up and thought ‘I’m not getting any younger, I want to do what I want to do. I don’t care what anyone else thinks about it, I want to be me’.

‘I’ve always loved Barbie, ever since I was a little girl. I had them and played with them as long as I could until I got made fun of.

‘I thought ‘I want to turn my house into a real-life Barbie house’.

‘I’m not really a collector of them, I just wanted to be the Barbie and my house be the Barbie house. I do have a Barbie house and some Barbie accessories, but I don’t put a whole lot into that because I’m the Barbie.

‘Honestly, in the beginning I was kind of made fun of. People would say ‘you’re a full-grown woman, why are you playing with toys?’.

‘What’s so funny is now everyone’s into Barbie. I’m not crazy after all.’

The mother-of-two says she’s dyed all her clothes in shades of magenta or rose so she can have a Barbie wardrobe. Pictured in her boudoir, which is decorated in pastel shades of pink

Criticism: She says some people have asked why a grown up woman is so obsessed with the doll

Dena explains that when she wakes up in the morning she puts on her robes and ‘of course, everything is pink’.

She then has breakfast using her pink coffee pot and toaster and taking food out of her pink refrigerator, which she cooks in pink cookware and eats of pink plates.

When she goes out, she drives a VW Beetle that waits on her drive – complete with pink wheels and pink hearts on her.

Dena said: ‘Once I got started, I just couldn’t stop. It’s been a journey of ‘how much pink can I add before it gets tacky’.’

Since decorating both inside and outside her home, Dena decided she is no longer looking for love, and doesn’t want to change her style for a man.

Dena said: ‘I do not have a husband, by choice. I think it means I can express myself more. When I moved into the house, I was dating someone but decided on purpose to not make it available for him to move in with me.

‘I’ve lived a lifetime of pleasing others and I decided it was time to please myself.

‘Not that a man couldn’t be comfortable here, but I don’t want a man. I don’t want a man to be comfortable here. 

She says her Barbie house is ‘part of my healing journey. I think healing my inner child is part of that.

‘I have dated a few times since I’ve been single. I’ve decided it’s not for me.

The Barbie theme has even spread to her kitchen utensils, with a fuchsia fridge and pink mixer

Everything now has a pink hue, including Dena’s coffee pot and crockery

‘The men that I have found in my age bracket are just not what I’m looking for. I’m open to romance, but I’m allowing it to come to me.

‘[Some women] say ‘if I didn’t have a husband, I’d do that’.

‘It lets me know how many are not being their true self. I think ‘get another house’ or ‘get another husband’. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for compromise but this house is not a house to accommodate a man, and that’s on purpose.’

Recognised at local supermarkets and around town as ‘Barbie’, the grandma poses in the iconic Barbie box at Halloween, and offers pink treats to children, in the hopes to create a little ‘magic’ for neighbourhood kids.

Dena said: ‘In the neighbourhood they all call me Barbie. I get recognised ‘oh you’re the pink lady!’. They all call me the pink lady wherever I go. At Halloween, I open it up for the neighbourhood kids to come.

‘The little girls go insane, I think it’s quite magical to them, so I let them come in and have pink candy and snacks for everyone.

‘I do get negative comments, people have said ‘you’re too old to play with dolls’ and ‘are you crazy?’.

The semi-retired grandma and her ‘Barbie-core’ home have more than 65,700 followers online and more than 846,900 likes on her videos which share her daily life

Barbie-core: The semi-retired grandmother says now she’s single her home is not designed for any future ‘Ken’ to be comfortable in

Doll’s house: The interiors of her home look just like those that feature in a miniature version of her home

Dena says she’ll be hot-footing it down to the cinema to see the new Barbie movie – and will dress just like her idol 

‘It’s the way that I express myself. It’s my soul coming out to express itself on the walls.

‘I’m not doing anything to harm anyone, I’m expressing my art and my soul.

‘I’m an individualist, I despise being like anyone else. It always bugged me to be like everyone else. So, I decided to just be me out loud.’

The Barbie-lover can’t wait to see the new film starring Margot Robbie, and hopes to encourage other women to follow their heart in life and not hold back for any man.

Dena said: ‘I’ll absolutely be going to see the new film, I’ll be wearing my pink clothes and carrying my Barbie purse.

‘I’d say to other women you should just follow your heart. Go slow, do it bit by bit. Start wearing pink clothes or adding more to one room at a time.’

And how does she deal with detractors? ‘Realise that when people say negative things, that’s on them. That’s something that isn’t healed within them.

‘It is scary. It isn’t easy to paint a house pink and live in a pink house, but it’s worth it.’

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