My Quarantine Project: Playhouse Makeover
A few months ago, when Shannon and I bought our new home in Ladera Ranch, we knew our daughter Emily wasn’t 100% on board with the move. Even though it was just a few miles away, this was the first time she will have ever lived anywhere but our Mission Viejo condo. We wanted to do something fun for her to make her excited to get to the new house! Some friends of ours had a super cute playhouse for their son, and every time we went over their to visit, Emily would spend the whole time playing in that house. So, we decided what better than to buy Emily her own new house, to go along with OUR new house (I know, it’s super bougie, but whatever!).
I looked online and couldn’t see any that I loved that could arrive quickly, so set out to Facebook marketplace to look for a used playhouse, and found the perfect one, right away! It was sturdy, wood, and exactly the right size. After messaging with the seller, the house was ours. We just had to pick it up! Since it was already assembled, and really not the kind of thing that can come apart and go back together, I sent Shannon to Home Depot to rent a flatbed truck for the hour, and we went and got our new house! (I’ve since found this cool one on Amazon that would be really similar!!)
We brought over the new house, which was awesome, since we hadn’t yet moved in. We were going to be able to get it in place in the backyard so when Emily came over to the house for the first time, she would see it all set up! When she finally saw it, she was really excited about the house and wanted to play in it right away. Sadly, it was January and pretty cold and rainy for the first few months of us living in the new place, so the playhouse didn’t get a ton of love. I knew once it warmed up a bit and we started spending more time outside, Emily was going to be in there all time! I also knew that, as great as the playhouse was, it had a major makeover in it’s future.
Then came the quarantine! After our first 2 weeks at home, I was furloughed from my job, so I went from working at home, to just hanging out with Emily at home. The rain FINALLY stopped, and the sun came out. We were all ready for some outside time, and I was ready to being my playhouse makeover. After hours of searching on Pinterest for some cute ideas, we finally made our plan. I let Emily weigh in the on colors, since it is her house after all, but I had to draw the line at a pink house and purple roof, with a glitter door. (Maybe the next playhouse…). I wanted a cute farmhouse look, with a pop of color on the door.
Shannon hit up Home Depot (wearing his mask, and maintianing social distancing, of course) and grabbed to paint colors we picked out.
Now we were READY to begin! Since Shannon still has work To do each day, I was on my own to get the playhouse makeover done. He helped me move it to the grass and get a sheet under it. First step was to clean it! Man, that sucker was covered in dust, spiderwebs, and mud thanks to Emily’s favorite hobby of cooking up Mud Pies (insert eye roll here).
Thankfully, the little sink and stove popped out and I was able to bring them inside and really clean them with soap and water. The piles of mud inside were a bit more challenging, but the house was finally clean. Shannon picked out a pain that had a primer and paint in one, and thank goodness for that! I don’t think I would have had the patience to paint the house 2 full times.
I started with the charcoal grey color on the roof and painted the whole thing with 2 coats.
Cleaning the whole house, and painting the roof with 2 full coats took me about 5 hours. There is a lot of small detail work around the edges and getting in-between the roof shingles. Luckily it was a beautiful day, and I was happy to be outside. I finished cleaning everything up and was ready to call it a day, when I decided I should just paint the door pink. That was the part I was the most excited about anyway, and it’s small so I figured it could get it done quickly! Shannon helped me remove all of the hardware, which was a lifesaver! I am NOT a neat painter.
The pink color was perfect and I was super happy with how the door was looking!
Day 2 and I was ready for the longest and most time consuming part, which was the white paint, both inside and outside. When I went to clear out some stuff from the inside to get going, we realized there was a bit of mold growing in the roof. I’m sure since it’s an outdoor playhouse and was getting wet, it’s inevitable, but I wanted to clean it thoroughly before painting! A quick google search showed that we should be good to clean it out with white vinegar, so I generously poured vinegar onto a sponge and wiped it all down.
Beginning the white paint was tough because there was sooo much detail work that needed to be done with a small brush, which took forever. But, it also made the biggest impact, so I was pretty happy to see the progress. I needed to take a lot of breaks, because I definitely lost some of the motivation I was feeling the day before. But overtime Emily came outside to play and was SO excited to see how the house was coming along, it was worth it! I really do love the transformation!
The last step is to accessorize the house. Emily really wanted lanterns, so I ordered these small solar lanterns from Amazon. I’ll be ordering a few more things for both the inside and outside to make sure it looks as cute as Emily and I imagined it, and I’ll add the final photos when it’s completed!