PLAYHOUSE REVEAL

You are going to want to move in here….Seriously I am tempted to move in, it is such an amazing space I still cannot believe that little ole me came up with it and what a transformation from what the playhouse looked like when we first got it (link below to that if you haven’t seen it  yet)Actually if we wired up some power to it hubby could use it as a wee man cave (otherwise known as a dog box)….hmmmm very tempting!

The first thing we did was take down the curtains as Kylan had outgrown the need for them and without them the windows let in more light and made the space feel bigger and brighter! With a little help from Kylan we gave it another coat of fresh white paint to clean up those walls as the house renos and the arrival of little Arden meant that the playhouse makeover got put on the back burner for longer than expected.

This makeover was done by re purposing nearly everything that was already in there with the addition of a few new (cheap) pieces! We don’t spend big bucks on things like this…(because we don’t have big bucks to spend) and its always much more fun re purposing and creating amazing things on a tight budget!! If you haven’t seen what it looked like before check it out here!

So before I go into details about it all here it is…THE BEST PLAYHOUSE IN HISTORY

The two main features in the playhouse are the new editions! The kitchen and the pegboard wall. You can see my brainstorming ideas and inspiration here. We went with a mint and monochrome theme throughout. It doesn’t need to look like a unicorn has thrown up in a playhouse for it to be a fun kids space! My boys love it and the simplicity of it also makes for a calm and relaxing environment for when Kylan needs some time out from dealing with a demanding lil bro who often ends up ruining Kylan’s games. I love that Kylan has a sanctuary to run off to when he needs space to do things that a 1 year old would otherwise ruin!

So Kylan loves to play cafe’s and restaurants so I thought it was time to upgrade his little plastic toy kitchen. Now this may look like an expensive task but believe it or not the toy kitchen would have cost me less than $50! But I won’t go into that here…I will save that for another post!

The pegboard was inspired by another playhouse which I had seen online but they had used the one with lots of small holes that you see at the shops with the wire pegs. I loved the idea behind it but not the look so I hit up pinterest and found the super easy wooden ply pegboards and knew that it would be perfect in this space! A simple piece of ply, drilled holes and some dowel and you have it!! We cut some shelves and then a length of ply long enough to be a little desk for the boys to work at as well. I love natural wood but decided to paint the pegboard white to keep the space as bright and open as possible and kept the shelves and pegs natural ply for a hint of wood as a feature.

The whiteboard was just a cheap black rimmed one from the good ole Warehouse and with a touch of paint it looked right at home in here. It was a must have and Kylan always has the latest menu written up for “Kylan’s Cafe” on it. (you should see the prices though!! This cafe is a bit of a rip off but you gotta keep coming back for the hunky staff) I found the coolest phone down at our local markets for $5 and with a bit of spraypaint it looks right at home in their second home. The rest of the goodies are just bits and bobs from the boys room and around the house.

So the crates that I got for $2.50 each from a brewery got another paint makeover and with a couple pieces of mdf, some cheap hinges from the hardware store, some old fabric I had in the cupboards and an old duvet inner which was in line for the bin, we transformed them into the perfect wee storage seats!!

The old cupboards that used to have his little plastic toy kitchen on were originally found under our house in the storage area when we bought it and they were soooooo close to going out in inorganics when I had an epiphany and decided to use them in the playhouse when we first got it. These cupboards made the perfect little storage area for his kitchen toys and was the perfect height for his toy kitchen to stand on. They were about to go out in inorganics again when we came to redo the playhouse as I thought that we would have no room for them and then yet another epiphany!

(I love the word epiphany!! We have a little family personal joke around it as one day when I was reading something I pronounced it ‘epi – fanny’ as I got taught to read using phonics and I sound out words that are unfamiliar and that was how I sounded it out that day and they have just never let me hear the end of it, so now I ALWAYS pronounce it ‘epi-fanny’ and its just my favourite word!)

Anyway back to my ‘epi-fanny’ I realized that if we unscrewed the tops off the cupboards they would fit perfectly in the little roof space that I used to have the crates. These cupboards were in pretty good nick and the doors just needed the hinges tightened so that they worked properly and some new knobs which we also had lying around. A bit of paint on the knobs and voila the perfect storage solution that again made the space look bigger and brighter! They fitted in perfectly up in the roof space and the mint knobs just made the space!!

There used to be a really cute little toy box seat with a cushion on it in the playhouse and it had all the dress up costumes and stuffed toys in it but it was a bit small for the space and left an awkward unused space either side of it. I decided to sell it and make something more suited to the space. We had some wood left over from some other projects so I got my dad and hubby to whip me up a supersized version. The toy box would double as a spot for adults to sit in and supervise the play or in our case the seat where the customers at the cafe have to sit and wait for their “hot coclits” and $9 coffees (this cafe is a bit of a rip off….at least the staff are super cute!)

I had an old foam mattress in storage which I had already cut up to make the squab in Kylan’s room so I attacked it again and from some left over fabric in the cupboard I whipped up a cover for it hay presto the neatest little sun spot for the parentals to hang out and catch up on the latest magazine whilst sipping on a ‘hot coclit’

I hope you have enjoyed your tour of one of my favourite spaces to date! I had so much fun creating this space and trying to make every aspect of it both functional and fun! Storage was very important to ensure this area looked big and uncluttered and I think I have achieved that with the few simple things I have done it it! If you have any questions about anything in Kylan and Arden’s playhouse just ask away in the comments or pop over to my Instagram where I regularly post updates on #kylanandardensplayhouse

Thanks for stopping by

Tarryn
xxx

Toy Kitchen: DIY
Peg board: DIY
Toy box: DIY
Messy Mouse Cushion: Little Pop Studios
Popsicle Print: Toucan Online
Go your own way print: One Tiny Tribe
Kylan and Arden’s mancave print: Alma Custom Designs
Bear print: Little Pop Studios
Bat Hanger: Little pop studios
Naughts and crosses: Kmart hack
Pull lights: Bed Bath and Beyond
Arrow Light: Kmart hack