Playhouse Makeover

A bit of playhouse inspiration for you. Nothing like an injection of bright colours to lure the kids back in and get them interested in playing in it again.

This is before where it is all boring brown and very uninviting. The kids had a great time slapping on the white undercoat.

And then the fun began....the candy coloured stripes. I just chose any bright colour that appealed to me and only needed 2 large test pots of each colour.

It's like a giant licorice allsort in the back yard! And I got so excited about colour that I decided to paint the whole back fence bright orange too. Luckily my hubby likes any excuse to go to the hardware store and as long as I did all the painting he didn't mind what colour I chose.

I had already painted the mural on the inside previously but decided to splash some yellow paint on one wall...

...and a bit of blue and pink on the other walls....the type of place where you need to wear your sunglasses inside!

It is a tiny playhouse but we have it jam packed with goodies...a little stove with flashing and beeping elements, lots of plastic cups and plates and all the felt food I made a few years ago (you can find the tutorials for the felt food on my blog). The black doily rug on the floor and framed square on the wall are painted with chalk paint so we can do lots of list making and drawing.....

...and a wee table and chairs for serious tea drinking (with at least 6 teapots to choose from!) while admiring the view of the bright orange fence out the window.

Now we just have to wait for Spring again so it is warm enough to go outside and play in it.

P.S It never looks this tidy. If I took a reality shot of it right now it would be carnage with the floor covered and the place basically trashed but hey that's how kids play!

The Playhouse Makeover

I finished the kid's playhouse makeover about a month ago and am finally getting around to blogging about it.

All the bits and pieces (except for the plastic kitchen) I collected from op shops or the $2 shop. It was never going to be a 'designer' playhouse, I just wanted to brighten it up, make it warm and welcoming and really it was just an excuse for me to get creative.

This is the outside.....

......which isn't going to change as I like the rustic look, it blends in well with the garden and I like how it looks like a trampers hut!

The inside BEFORE...

......horribly dirty with a few random stickers.

I rummaged in our shed and came up with some textured wallpaper and interior paint left over from our last house. I slapped on coats of paint during kids nap times and hubby helped with the wallpapering.

I painted a mural on one wall...



.........I like how when you open the door 'Miss Bunny' is there to greet you.....

....and of course I had to add a hedgehog. It was so much fun painting again, I haven't done any for years.

Next I decided to move the kid's existing kitchen into the playhouse so needed a splash back and fancied a retro tiled look....

.....so I went straight to Kitschy Digitals and found this fabulous set of 'Retro Checks' digital paper from Alice Apple. I printed them off, cut them into squares and modpodged them to the wall.

I added a retro spice rack found for $1 at a local garage sale and a pattern I did about 10 years ago.
I put up a $2 clip board, which I decorated with washi tape, for my son to hang up his latest work of art.

I found an old picture frame and attached it to the wall with liquid nails, then painted it with chalkboard paint. The old wooden letter holder is to hold the chalk (it was $1).

I added a 'faux bois' (fake wood) floor (Martha Stewart would be proud) and a black doily mat which is also a chalkboard.

....the curtains are a $1.50 tablecloth that I chopped in half and lined with some green lining I had inherited from somewhere. The curtains are tied back with blue/white polka dot ribbon.

The ceiling was looking a little bare and I was going to sew some bunting but then I remembered I had seen some free printable bunting on the Kitschy Digital Freebies page (you must take a look there are fabulous free printables and embroidery patterns) and thought that would be much quicker.

I didn't measure or space anything out, I just 'eyeballed' it and modpodged them up in one nap time. That's how I measure my craft projects these days....'can it be done in a nap time'!

I love the bunting, it is one of my favourite parts of the makeover...although my neck has not quite been the same since....

 

So there you have it! It is definitely one large tick off my works in progress list.