Skip to main content

The Playhouse Is Ready For Visitors


Our little playhouse is finally finished. 

 It's been a real labor of love and a challenge to keep the budget low and use what we already had on hand.

Click on A Playhouse Story if you want to read about our little house.  



This was how it started out (minus all of the junk we hauled out of it).



And now I'm proud to show off our little playhouse all gussied up and ready for some visitors.  



After all of the demo and painting, we only had a few more projects to finish up.  One of the projects was adding a new (old) window to brighten the interior a bit more.  



Then the fabulous duo known as Son & Hubs put in a remnant of carpet that our oldest daughter was getting rid of.  She donated it to the cause.



A coat of paint on the outside made the two non-matching windows look like they were meant to be together.  By the way, all of the old windows we use in our projects have either been found on the curb or were donated by friends who like to watch us upcycle things - thanks Chris and Sheri!



Flooring and 2x4s left over from our kitchen remodel were used to make storage shelves in one corner.  Notice the little chair on the top shelf?  It belonged to Hubs when he was a little boy.  We'll pull it down to use when we need it.  

The bins hold Duplos/Legos, a wooden train track and trains, and a ton of matchbox cars.  A bag with the car track sits on top of the bins.



My favorite part of the whole playhouse is the little kitchen spot.  I had a great time putting it together.    I bought the wooden kitchen 29 years ago in a thrift store.  It was a big splurge then - $10.00 was a big chunk of my budget but my baby girl needed a kitchen set.

Hubs nailed some 2x4 pieces between the studs and I added some leftover trim and wood wedges for supports, and cup hooks for hanging things.

The sink part of the kitchen was missing so I bought a small stainless bowl at the thrift store and Son cut some scrap plywood for the bowl to sit in.  I painted the wood with leftover paint.



Because the playhouse has no electricity, I added a wind-up emergency lantern.  The kids can wind up the lantern with the crank and get 15 minutes of light from it.  It's all plastic and not too heavy.  I hung it from a leftover plant hanger.  I hung a curtain (an old place mat) with Velcro across the bottom shelf.   A piece of alphabet art from my staging stash completes the look.





The finishing touch was the kitchen table and chairs.  I bought the table and two ice cream parlor chairs at a thrift store 25 years ago for $3.00 and that set has seen many tea parties.  The vintage folding chairs were purchased at a thrift store last summer.


After a few coats of spray paint (called Fern) the table and chairs look great.  The ice cream parlor chairs are still being worked on (they had to be reupholstered).   I'll set them around the table and keep the folded chairs to the side until needed.  The matching place mat from the curtain works as a table runner.  I added a coat of poly to the top of the table to make it more durable just in case play dough or crayons make an  appearance.


I look forward to hearing lots of giggles and conversations while children play here.  I might just put in a reading chair and make myself at home!  One of the best things about this makeover was that it cost us around $7.00 to do it.  All we bought was 2 cans of spray paint and a stainless bowl.  Everything else was upcycled, recycled, or reused.


Let the playing begin.

Comments

  1. Lovely. So thoughtful. Who wouldn't want a respite here? Jo Let's Face the Music

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kelly, this is the most creative playhouse I have ever seen! Bet the boys make it into a fort.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I'd love to know what you're thinking. Please feel free to leave ideas and comments.

Popular posts from this blog

How To Make Your Own Exercise Bike For Next To Nothing

Remember back in April when I had a kidney transplant?  Well, the kidney is doing great (thanks, Cathy , for taking such good care of it when you owned it).  There was one little glitch, however.  During surgery, the retractors they used caused some nerve damage in my right leg.  When I woke up from surgery, I couldn't move or feel my leg.  The docs felt like the feeling would come back but the paralysis had them stumped.  A visit to a neurologist ruled out a stroke and a CT scan showed some fluid which was pressing on L4 and L5 (medical talk which means I couldn't feel or move part of my leg).  The prognosis is good and I'm recovering pretty quickly.  In fact, I've left my cane behind and I'm walking freestyle without falling.  My next goal is to be able to drive. I've been itching to get back to exercising (physical therapy doesn't count) because my medication causes me to gain weight and I need to burn some calories.  Running? - nope.  Walking? - can&

A Designer's Secret For A Taller Bed

  Several years ago Hubs and I spent almost a year looking for a bedroom set that we both loved.  He wanted clean lines and dark wood.  I wanted curves and a "tall" bed.  Of course, there was no perfect bedroom set but we were able to compromise on a set that we both liked.  My main wish was for a bed that I could "climb up into".  The problem with that wish was that most of the "tall" beds were four poster beds and Hubs was not in the mood for that.  We found a Thomasville bed on display at a local furniture store and it fit the clean lines that Hubs wanted and it was "tall"  enough to suit me.  The problem was that once we received the bed we ordered in our home, it wasn't as tall as I had remembered it being.  My heart sunk!  I went back to the furniture store to look at the display.  Their bed was much taller than our bed.  Hmmm. . . what was different? I got nosey and lifted up the comforter on the bed.  It revealed their secret

Plans For A DIY Exercise Bike Stand

  Thank you to so many of you who emailed me about plans for the DIY Exercise Bike Stand .  I apologize that it has taken me so long to get the measurements to you, but they are finally here!   The wood was purchased at Home Depot and the bike pegs were purchased at Walmart in the bike section.    The bike we used for this project is a 24" 12 speed bike (I'm a shorty).  I used the hardest gear while riding, but this set-up does not allow you to really get much resistance (for building muscle).  It was great for getting my legs moving after some nerve damage.  I also wanted to burn calories and get my heart rate up and this did the trick.    If you have any questions, just shoot me an email.