DIY Playhouse 

It all started with a wooden kitchen set being listed for free on the local classifieds. I expressed to my neighbor how I wanted to build a playhouse for the kids and she mentioned that as part of the process of preparing her house to sell she would be getting rid of the structure in her backyard.

That was enough of a catalyst for me to begin putting together a plan and before long we had built a pretty awesome little minihouse that the kids now enjoy for sleepovers and mud-pie-making.

Here’s what we started with:

This is us moving it up the road from our neighbors house on pvc pipes. Proud small-town moment:

All positioned in the backyard:

I had to temporarily brace the upper half while I removed the supports and constructed a back wall. I extended the bottom floor out to add a ‘kitchen addition’:

You can see the opening to the top floor where I removed the existing staircase. I wanted to incorporate a small spiral staircase to create more space inside and I took cues from a tiny-home photo found on Pinterest (not my photo):

My rendition in-progress:

Bear in mind this entire project was constructed using salvaged materials; the staircase was once a large cabinet that was tossed from a local school.

Daughter testing out the stairs:

Some walls going up:

Fitting in the cupboards and appliances:

A friend gave me safety glass which I installed as a kitchen window:

Some paint and wallpaper:

I ended up utilizing some dead space between one of the stair-risers as I had a random wooden drawer that fit perfectly into the space so it was an easy upgrade! I Just screwed a new face onto the drawer so it tucked snugly into place:

I had originally sealed the floor with poly but decided to also paint it to make it look more finished. I also added a small ‘kitchen table’ (coffee table) and built a tiny bench with additional storage:

The upstairs before wasn’t a very welcoming place:

I boarded up all the walls to make it less spider-friendly and used up a sheet of scrap greenhouse material to let a bit of light in:

Next was construction of the deck. I repurposed the original staircase and got slides and wood from an old playset:

It just so happened that an old door front from a built-in tear-down fit perfectly on the playhouse so that went up too:

Added a front porch and a little faux-portico:

Built a small entry to the top floor and painted the exterior:

I used chalkboard paint for the faux-windows so the kids can draw on them.

Here’s the end result!

All in all I managed to do most of the work for free. The only things I paid for were the treated deck framing wood and the screws!

The kids get lots of use out of it making mudpies and hosting sleepovers.

Thanks for looking!! Xx