Playhouse Makeover — The Green Robe

Oct 7

Oct 7 Playhouse Makeover

This past winter my husband mentioned to our children that he was planning to build them a tree house during the upcoming spring/summer. Our younger son however misinterpreted this conversation and thought that “Daddy was going to build a gingerbread house.” Needless to say my husband who is not a big fan of seasonal decorations to begin with was not eager to tackle such a task. I however love a good theme so was very much up for the challenge.

One of my favorite bloggers is Charlotte Smith from @charlotteshouse. She is wildly creative, talented and skilled. I had the pleasure of running in to her a few times when we were both taping segments for a local news station. She had given a new kids playhouse a makeover for the holidays, her color palette is LOTS of color which is not my style but her projects still provide me with a great deal of inspiration.

I thought that utilizing an old playhouse would be the perfect base for my son’s “gingerbread house”. I was fortunate to find one in great condition for 20 dollars on Facebook Marketplace.

I used Rustoleum Spray paint to pain the door, roof and shutters. I did not paint the walls of the playhouse. I also spray painted the window box which was just a raw wood box that I purchased in the wood section of Michael’s Crafts.

I added some candy cane garland, candy cane lighted sticks, candy picks, and a wreath. I also placed some little faux trees (purchased at Target) in the window box. My kids were absolutely smitten and I will admit it looked adorable, and we were able to enjoy looking at it from our kitchen window all winter long.

I knew I didn’t want to paint the entire playhouse brown since it would be living in our backyard year round so I chose the red and dark brown because I knew I could change up the decor and it would look nice during other seasons.

During the late summer I decided to give the playhouse a refresh. I will warn you that the spray paint does chip a bit with wear ( I did not sand or prime at all before spray painting, you could hit it with spray primer first if you are concerned and are hoping for longer wear between touch ups). The worn off paint doesn’t bother me and literally takes 10 minutes touch up (I recommend removing the roof and shutters/door to spray paint).

I made a very simple wreath using a grapevine wreath purchased from Michael’s , they are very inexpensive (less than 5 dollars). I purchased a spool of ribbon and 4 faux flower bunches. I used two in the wreath and 2 in the mason jars that I placed in the window box. The little doormat was purchased at IKEA. I hung the wreath using a Command hook. Be sure to purchase the Command hook with the adhesive strip that is intended for outdoor use.

This whole project was very easy to put together and very inexpensive. The kids love it and I think it is so much fun, not to mention much less of an eye sore than old faded kids toys all over the backyard!