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I shared the outside of the playhouse with you last week, and as promised, today I'll be sharing with you the inside! It took awhile for me to figure out what I wanted to do with the inside. What kind of stuff to put in there and what not. I knew this was going to be open to the elements the majority of the year, so I had to make sure everything could be washed or sprayed down easily. And I had to make sure not to spend too much money on it just in case it got ruined quickly.

The first big part was painting everything. I used Behr's exterior paint in semi-gloss in the color Swiss Coffee for the entire inside. Once everything was painted, I then added a stencil to the floor.  This stencil is from DecoArt and the paint is a dark grey that I mixed up, also in an exterior paint. I then finished it with a couple coats of polyurethane.

 I knew I wanted to add my kids "signatures" to the playhouse somewhere. I decided to incorporate them into the stencil itself. I have a hand print in each corner and they signed their names next to them.

 The ceiling ended up turning out better than I had planned. The staples we had used to put on the roof  were too long and went right through the plywood. It was a complete hot mess on the inside. To remedy this, I cut cedar planks (some of them parts of an old fence, some of them new) to fit in between the trusses. I then whitewashed them. I didn't want them all white, but wanted some of the wood character to come through.

 I hung a chandelier I found off the Facebook marketplace right in the middle. It doesn't offer any light or anything, but it does add a little bit of  glamour :)

 In one of the eves, I hung a faux clock that I made.

 I also added these wood corbels in the corners just to add a little more character. The curtains are grey ticking fabric from Hobby Lobby. I just hemmed all the edges then stapled them to the wood to hang.

 I made some bookshelves to hold books. Obviously, their books will look a little different than this :) That hanging plant can also be swapped out for some crayons. I totally had the intention of keeping them in there, but then I realized how tempting crayons are for kids in a huge blank space. We already had some problems with a pen finding it's way in there :)

 The other side is where the kitchen set is, so for the eves I hung a Fresh Baked Pies sign I got from the Target Dollar Spot last year. I added a little 'artwork' in the form of contact paper I found at my grocery story. For reals. I searched high and low on the internet for a kind I liked, and totally figures I would find one I loved while I was grabbing toilet paper. :) I placed the contact paper in painted frames.

 The "Home Sweet Home" metal sign was a clearance find from Michaels.

 This kitchen set was a Christmas present to my kids a couple of years ago. It got used, then forgotten, then used. And truthfully, it was just taking up a lot of space in my front room :) Plus, we had a dog kennel in front of it for awhile so I wanted to move it in here so it would get more time in the spot light. Seriously though, it will probably be kept more clean in here than inside our house. The pup slings slobber everywhere when he's in his kennel. I had to clean this thing weekly. Not going to miss that!

 This is from KidKraft. (link here). It's their vintage kitchen in white. I have also seen one in pink. You would be amazed at how much stuff fits in all these cabinets!

As for the "sitting area". These table and chairs are from Ikea. I painted them and added contact paper to the tops. I decided I liked the buffalo check fabric better and kept it on there as a type of table clothe.

 The artwork is from Hobby Lobby. I needed to find something thin enough to fit in between the studs, which was actually harder than you would think. So, I fell in love with these when I saw them, they were the perfect size.

 I've seen about 5 kids in here at once and there was plenty of room! I kept the space on all the other corners pretty empty so it wouldn't be too cramped. We have lots of neighborhood kids and I knew they would all be coming over to play.

 I did decide to add some solar string lights in here for some light. I just fed the line through one of the windows and have the panel outside on the side. These lights aren't very bright, but will give off plenty of light when I put up on the plywood on the windows during the winter.

 Now, of course, I would love for everything to be kept so nice and pretty with no color. Just white, black and grey. But, you know that doesn't happen with kids :) So, here's a few things that they play with in the playhouse.

First up, their dishes. These dishes are from Green Toys. They are actually food safe and can go in the dishwasher! They come with 4 of each of the cups, bowls, plates, and even knives, spoons, and forks. (click here for link)

 As for the food, I actually have a lot inside, but wanted a complete set outside. And ones that would wear well. This set is from Melissa and Doug. (link here) It's made of wood, so I'm hoping it will last awhile!

 And since this is their 'house'. Why not spark more imaginative play, right? This is another Melissa and Doug item (link here) that was given to them last year for Christmas. It was used, kind of. But, it has already seen so much more use since being placed in here. It's actually missing a duster, which I have no clue where that ran off to.

And that's it.....for now :) I think I might add something to one of the corners, like a reading nook or something. Still haven't figured that out.

You can find the outside tour and design here:

Links for things mentioned above (click on picture)

Melissa and Doug Cleaning Set

Melissa and Doug Wood Food Set


Green Toys Dish Set

Solar String Lights

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Hi you all! I am so excited to FINALLY share with you the biggest project that I have ever done. For reals! I mean, besides making my babies :) A year or so ago, I had made plans to build my girls a playhouse outside. I promised them this spring that it was going to happen. Got all my ideas and plans in place. Just needed my husband to help clear the land. Now, I know, I could totally have done this, but I didn't want to ;) ....so, days passed into weeks, and weeks into months...and well, September came and the garden was finally cleared! Even though it was late in the year, I was determined to still get it done. I knew it would be getting cold soon so I totally busted my butt to finish it in time for at least a couple of weeks of good weather. I was finished with the actual build in about 2 weeks, but it took me forever to finish all the details. In fact, I'm still not done. I work on little extras almost every day. 

Wouldn't you know though, the day after I put on my stamp of 'complete', the weather turned and we were hit with leftover hurricane rain for about a week, when that passed, another two storms came through. The playhouse never got played in! I had to board it up to help protect what I had just finished. It was a sad sight. Now that we are finally back to more seasonal weather with the temps in the 60s, it's been played in and loved ever since. I'm just sad I didn't get a chance to do any of the landscaping.

Now this is a crazy big build, so I can't really go into all the detail about how I did it in one post, but here's a progression in picture form :) If you have any questions on a certain part, I will be happy to help! I did follow these basic plans from Ana White and then customized it from there, so it's not exactly the same, but the ideas are similar. Hopefully that helps too :) I'll be sharing the inside decor in the next post! So, be sure to watch out for that. 

First, after clearing the garden from weeds and leftover tomatoes and lavender, I made sure to level the land as best as I could. I then built the base using pressure-treated 2x4s. Once I placed this on the land, I noticed that it still wasn't as level as I had hoped. To fix this, I placed more pressure-treated 2x4s below my base in the front. I then filled the foot print with gravel. 

 Next, I placed 2x6s along the pressure-treated lumber. I used 14 boards. I was going to do an 8x8 footprint, but didn't want to take away from the garden I was planning. So, it's about 7x8 instead.

 I then built the walls using 2x2s. The height of the long walls are 48" tall and 8' wide.

 For the front panel, I framed out the door and the two windows. I made the door as high as I could get away with so my oldest didn't have to duck as far.

 I then secured the siding (I used this kind) to the framed panels. This picture shows when I flipped it over. I drilled into each corner of the windows and doors, so when I flipped it over I knew where to use my jigsaw to cut them out.

 The side panels looked like this. 

 I did the same thing as the other panels, making sure to cut the siding along the top angle, sides, and window.

Next, I assembled all the panels onto the 'deck'. I screwed these into the 2x6s with 3" screws. I screwed the sides into each other using 2.5" screws.

 I then added the ridge line for the roof using a 2x2.

 I then added the roof trusses using 2x2s. I lined these up with the vertical 2x2s on the back wall to give it a little more support. These were screwed in with 2.5" screws. 

 Here's a look at the inside at this point.

 I then painted the whole thing Swiss Coffee by Behr in their exterior paint with semi-gloss -inside and out.

 I added the trim pieces. The trim is mainly 1x4s but I also did some in 1x3s. I actually loved this look and it took all I had in me to paint the trim white :)

 I painted the trim next, then added on the extras. I built a dutch door, painted it Shy Smile by Behr, also in a semi-gloss exterior. I built shutters made from 1x2s and painted them Shy Smile. Another addition was a window box on the side window made from 1x4s.

 I then cut the plywood to fit along the roof. If I ever did this again, I would definitely cut it to make an overhang on all the sides. I think it would add just a little 'extra'. 

 You can kind of see in this picture the stapled tar paper on the roof. We did that first, and then started adding the shingles. I knew I wanted to add a dormer so I stopped the shingles where the dormer would begin. Once again, if I were to do this again, I would just do whole roof first and then add the dormer once the shingles were already on.

 I built the frame for the dormer using 2x2s. 

 Then placed siding along the frame, and for the top of it. I trimmed it with 1x2s.

 I painted the dormer white and added the X to the dutch door.

 Painted the X (probably an unneeded picture :) )

 I then finished the roof shingles. We used this kind here. I wish I could tell you a how to on the shingles, but in reality, I'm surprised it ended up looking half way decent along this dormer :)

 I then added the railing. I built the railing using 2x2s. And after that, it was time to add all the accessories!

  I added flowers from Ikea to the flower box. This will change seasonally and will probably get real flowers in the spring. 

 To clean up the look of the windows, I added some 1x4 mdf boards to the ledge. 

 For the dormer, I couldn't decide what I wanted to do. I was thinking about doing a faux window and then I placed this light on top and was sold. I'll be adding a battery powered push light for this fixture, but really, my kids don't play out here at night so there's been no need for a real light yet. I also added these distressed corbels here for a little more character.

 My girls said they wanted a door bell. I knew they were talking about a real push one, but I found this kind instead. I loved the character, and what's more fun than banging on a loud bell? ...well, when you're a kid. Probably not anymore :) I'm sure my neighbors love us haha!

 I also added some numbers to give it an address. It's the age of my two littles when the playhouse was built. I also put a mailbox for them on the railing. This mailbox is from Hobby Lobby.

 I can't wait to decorate this cute porch for the holidays :) Right now it has lanterns and a topiary with just a fabric door mat in buffalo check.

 Here's a look at the door when it's opened. I love dutch doors so much and had to put one on this house. My husband asked one day, "Who is this house for really? Your or the kids?" :) Well, since this is as close as I'll ever get to a she-shed...definitely for me! lol

 I added the outside lock from Lowes and the handles from Home Depot. 

 During the spring, I'll be adding in the landscape. My plan is to do a garden on both sides of the path, a patio on one of the sides and flower beds around the the front. I'll also be putting up some bushes in the back to hide the retaining wall that is all but beautiful to look at :) And, I'm thinking about putting some giant sunflowers around there also. To finish it off, I'll be adding a little white picket fence around the whole thing. 

 For the outside deck, I stained it Dark Walnut by Minwax. I finished it with some polyurethane. This picture shows it a little worn, but it cleans up pretty nice too :)

 Here's a little peak at the inside :) As I said, I'll be sharing more of it with you soon!

We did keep the windows opened with no glass or plastic. I toyed around with the idea of this a lot, especially just to keep it somewhat nice and shield the inside from the rain and snow. My husband said no. He has ideas that older kids might want to get in there and do stuff...if you know what I mean. So, yeah. Apparently not having windows will stop that ;) lol. So, for now, when I know it's going to rain for an extended period of time or when winter settles in, I'll put up some plywood like I had to for our 3 weeks of straight rain. I did paint it white so it blend in a little bit.

I can't wait to share with you the inside. It's been so much fun to decorate! I know it will change bit by bit every month...you know, because it's just an extra space to decorate so I won't be able to help it :) I'm also excited to have another little 'house' to decorate the porch for during the holidays and different seasons. 

As for cost, I seriously lost count. I know Ana White on her blog said something somewhere about it being around $200. Mine far exceeded that. I would say it's around the $500 range. That being said, you can't buy one ready to assemble for anywhere near that. Plus, I got to make this and customize it...what's better than that? :) I totally wish I had something like this as a kid! Can't wait to see what memories this playhouse creates for my little ones. 


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