Today’s blog post is about a DIY project for a preloved playhouse. Retain what you can and add what is needed. They’ve been at the heart of children’s play for centuries and it’s something you never forget. Playing ‘house’ in a den made of sticks or a plastic yellow one with a pink front door like mine, I bet you remember yours. Maybe that’s why this DIY playhouse project has been one of my favourite transformations.
It has nostalgia written all over it and it unlocked our own childhood memories of playing outside. This project was a chance to bring out our inner child, involve Esme in growing her own magic and create something wonderful as a family.
Why a DIY playhouse project?
Well, the aim was to plant a Mini This Home early so that it could grow alongside our daughter, Esme. She’s at an age where she’s exploring her independence and starting to learn about her surroundings. A playhouse is the perfect hideout. Somewhere Esme can play safely in the garden and have her own little sanctuary to invent her own games. With a little imagination, I hope she’ll transport herself into outer space, sail the seven seas as a pirate or run her own café all from this wooden house.
The personal back story is that my mother in law wanted to gift us something meaningful for welcoming our first baby. We were fully kitted out in the nursery, so asked that the donation be made towards a playhouse. What’s more meaningful than an item Esme can grow up enjoying? After the turbulent year in which she was born, the restorative process of this DIY playhouse became a project we could all be excited, hopeful and positive about.
I started scouring online and realised that a brand-new playhouse was going to be out of our price range, most in excess of £600. The size and style I had in mind meant they were all too costly. However, This Home Grows values items preloved and treasured, so I was quickly back on the playhouse hunt. This time for a second-hand one.
As luck would have it, I found the most beautiful wooden playhouse in Devon. All its paint was flaking off and it was calling out for some TLC. It’s what we do best, water an item with love and watch it bloom. Secured at a bargain price of £67, we could afford to invest in the repairs. Sometimes, finding items and bringing them home can feel like divine intervention, do you agree?
Hubby and his friend deconstructed the playhouse and transported it home, costing an English Breakfast for use of the van ha! It’s quite amusing really how the playhouse story is similar to the greenhouse one. It’s been ‘house’ to many children and evidently been enjoyed by all. Pretty worn out, it was now our turn to grow it.
DIY playhouse project prep
Here’s a few handy tips to consider when preparing the space for your playhouse.
Space
The size and shape of your playhouse will ultimately determine its position. Avoid placing the house in a space that is open to extreme weather elements. Instead, aim for a more sheltered spot to preserve its condition.
Level
Remove any obvious obstructions, including roots and foliage to prevent them from working their way into the playhouse. Make the space level to ensure the surface is stable and safe.
Access
It’s helpful to have access to all sides of the playhouse for general maintenance.
View
It’s also a good idea to have the playhouse within sight, so that you can watch your little ones playing from inside.
Building the playhouse DIY
Preparing the ground and assembling the playhouse properly is key for it to last. The playhouse came with a platform, ladder and slide. Unfortunately, the platform was unusable due to years of weather and wear and tear, so we had an opportunity to change its construction. A ground-level playhouse with a slightly raised veranda better suited this garden and space. Our little girl isn’t quite big enough to be climbing ladders to get inside and we’ve saved the slide for another project one day.
Time to dig the foundations, we chose to construct a frame for the base and secure with posts instead of a concrete pad. This means that it would be easier to move in future and meant less concrete in the garden (less labour too). Cover the ground with a layer of weed control fabric before adding your base frame. You can also add gravel for extra weed supressant, but we decided to spend our budget on other areas of the playhouse build. Once secure, we added a plywood base on top. This was eventually covered inside with leftover kitchen luxury vinyl flooring and outside with artificial grass. The grass was purchased second hand for our DIY wedding and covers the front veranda area perfectly. Coupled with it being hardwearing and practical it gives the front veranda a finished look.
The playhouse grew quickly from this point, utilising the materials from the original structure. The roof required a small investment with some replacement felt and we decided to make it look more ‘house’ like with red shingle tiles. These were used on our chicken coop roof as well. Actually, the chickens have an area to venture around the perimeter of the playhouse and love coming up to the fence in search of people who might bring food.
DIY playhouse painting
Once constructed, I could finally get my gloves out for cleaning. I gave it a thorough sweep with a stiff bristle brush, removing all loose paint, dust and cobwebs. Next, before you paint get a bucket of warm soapy water to give the interior and exterior walls a good scrub. I found it a little hard erasing another child’s memories but it was just time for this playhouse to make new ones.
It was time to make use of left over home supplies. The cuprinol paint from our Greenhouse Makeover covered the exterior of the playhouse twice over, yay! The slate shade immerses the playhouse into its surroundings as well as highlights the foliage and plants around it.
Replicating this accent colour in different zones of the garden has helped achieve a cohesive palette and style outside. A children’s play area is very much part of our garden now and there’s no reason why you can’t integrate them beautifully into your design.
We tested this paint originally on our garden furniture and since applied it to the decking area and greenhouse. I wanted to highlight the playhouse windows and door in a different colour, so I used Garden Ronseal Daisy. A small tin was sufficient with enough left for touch ups next Spring.
Outside decor
Every home needs a bell to ring and I couldn’t resist this pretty brass one from Ebay. A couple of faux plants add a nice pop of colour to the window boxes. Next year, the plan is to fill these with real plants as a fun exercise with Esme. The wooden rocking chair Esme has loved using outside and she enjoys greeting her guests sat from it. It’ll soon find its home inside for the Winter. I’ve got just the spot for it, stay tuned.
This playhouse doesn’t have electrical power nor did we intend to add it, so I’ve added a solar powered lantern outside to illuminate the playhouse from the top. Inside, there’s a set of pretty colourful battery operated lights and I’ll introduce more when Esme is old enough to play out later ;). Doesn’t it look pretty by night?
Playhouse interior
Despite covering myself from head to toe in the process, the inside only took two afternoon sessions of painting, result! Next, to batten down the hatches and make sure the inside stays dry. A few plastic PVC sheets Hubby cut to size did the trick to slot into the window frames and door. Now, Mini This Home Grows can be enjoyed when it’s raining in Devon, and that seems to be a lot!
With the playhouse safely assembled, made watertight and fully painted it’s now ready to bloom with some decorative touches. First up, some hand-picked flowers from the garden.
I did not want to overcrowd the inside space. Instead, we’ll be encouraging Esme to gradually grow it herself and display her own collections. Also, for that reason, a neutral scheme was a good option. I’m sure Esme will be telling me in no time how she wants to use this space. In the meantime, it was an opportunity to be resourceful and reuse and repurpose items of our own. Of course, I couldn’t resist a few inexpensive additions to make it homely.
First up, this playhouse project needed flooring to match the decor and you guessed it, more DIY. Well, you might recall our Open-Plan Kitchen Design where we had the rather unfortunate circumstance of laying two floors. Recycling the redundant flooring in the playhouse gave it a second chance in This Home, albeit in a mini version.
Make it homely
I have this thing for cushions. It’s often been joked about why I’ve kept them, well precisely for projects like this! The upstairs now spells cosy and is the perfect little hideaway from parents. Esme will grow into this space when it’s safe for her to climb up…
How do you play ‘house’ if you haven’t laid the table for dinner? The wooden table and chairs from Ikea were gifted by Esme’s Great Aunt for her first birthday. Grown a little by us using the marble-effect laminate left over from Esme’s Play kitchen makeover. It’s already seeing lots of fun activities.
To display family photographs, decorations or your child’s art work we’ve used this wire curtain rail from Ikea. Flexible for fitting at any angle and this one fixed to either end of the house. The shower clips are perfect for displaying personal items or family photographs. I can’t wait to hang up Esme’s little creations.
The gallery wall of picture frames is a personal touch. Originally created to display our family tree at our wedding. They’ve been collecting dust in the house since and I couldn’t bring myself to throw them away. The playhouse project seemed like the perfect way to bring them back out. Esme can see her family and those not with us can watch as she grows.
DIY playhouse project complete
The little girl in me returns the minute I walk through that front door. Even better is a house with no bills, no washing and it was a relatively easy renovation. I’d do it all again in a heartbeat!? Besides this, there’s something magical about a playhouse even for us grown ups. Even so, the magic really comes from watching your child having fun and making memories. This Home Grows believes.
What’s next for the Playhouse?
As with most things, growth continues with the right care and the playhouse project will be no different. It will take on many versions over the years I’m sure but here’s a few ideas we have lined up for next year.
The playhouse sits at the top of the garden next to our kitchen garden. You can read more about that in this post. Due to its close proximity, we’d like to add mini guttering around the playhouse roof. It can catch any rain water, leading into a water butt at the back. One of Esme’s favourite things to do is, watering the plants, so we’re going to bank that enthusiasm! Plus, we’ll have a good water supply for watering the kitchen garden next summer. It’s great to think of ways we can contribute to the This Home Grows ecosystem.
Also, we like to encourage wildlife wherever we can. A bird box will be going on the family Christmas list. Hopefully we can encourage them to use this as their home too. Is it too early to mention that word?
Lastly, it’s possible to make the front more veranda like with some decorative posts, but at the moment it’s open and accessible for us adults to join Esme in the fun. Let us know if you have any ideas :).
Grow your own DIY playhouse project
Big or small, plain or colourful, a DIY playhouse project really is a fantastic addition to your garden and can be affordable. Esme’s playhouse project started off looking very tired. Yet, we could see it’s potential to grow. For us, this playhouse project has allowed us to restore and improve an item through DIY. Buying second hand meant we could afford to replenish it. Now I look forward to watching Esme grow it and share it with others both children and adults. Who says a playhouse can’t have multiple lives!?
With garden buildings on trend, this mini version of one has been the best building investment we’ve made this year. Because, it builds memories to last a lifetime.
If you have any questions, or need help growing your own playhouse, feel free to reach out.
Thanks for growing with us.
Hols x