2025 Update: In the initial installments of my DIY wooden playhouse adventure, we covered the first four steps of building a backyard playhouse from scratch.
First, imbue yourself with self-confidence.
Then imagine, plan, gather your materials, put on your work pants – and start building. At the end of Step 4, we left the playhouse looking as you see in the photo just below.
Now, it’s time for Step 5, wherein we deck this baby out to make it a cozy and beautiful place for Ruby to hole up with her friends. I’ll cover (and show lots of photos of) the painting & playhouse decorating, my use of both battery and super-affordable solar powered lighting for early evening backyard fun – and the all-important, super popular: interior monkey bars!
Wooden Playhouse Exterior Paint
Once the basic box was built, I agonized over what color to paint it. I knew I wanted it to be an aqua shade, but do you know how many shades of aqua there are? Hint: There are lots.
These all looked like the exact same color to me until I put them all together. And then, the choices just made my brain hurt. So, from the paint store, I sent this photo to my sig-o Gerardo, a painter and art teacher, and he liked Number 6, so I bought a gallon of it and slapped it on the exterior of the house with a rough-surface roller.
When the paint eventually fades, I’m hoping it’ll look like an ancient, wind-worn beach house.
Easy DIY Playhouse Trim Work
To make the house look more finished, and to cover up some glaring flaws, I found some scrap molding for the front. I mitered the corners of the top piece (with a miter saw), but the piece over the door only just fit. I plan on replacing or enhancing that piece with something more decorative when I find the right thing…
My Kid’s Playhouse Furniture & Textiles
I didn’t want to put a door on my DIY playhouse, mostly because hanging a door seems like a real drag, something that requires precise measuring skills, which I definitely lack. So, I decided from the beginning to go with a curtain, and I found a peachish/nudish-colored, sheer curtain at the thrift store and stapled it up. The rug is another thrift store find. It gets wet if the rain gets inside, but it dries quickly draped over the fence in the sunshine.
In the loft is a shiny golden sleeping bag that was serendipitously awaiting me at the thrift store. Likewise, the red body pillow. The table is a cast-off I scavenged from the alley, and the small chairs have been lying around the basement and garage for years, needing only a cheerful coat of paint.
My original plan was to put curtains or [some very cool] bamboo blinds on the big picture window, but Ruby and her pals like climbing in and out through it, so I left it bare as you can see below. And you see the sink and stove below? I found those curbside with a “FREE” sign on them. I couldn’t believe it. They’re incredibly well-built. I coerced them into my little Honda Civic, cobwebs and all.
DIY Playhouse Lighting: Battery Powered & Solar
I did a lot of research to figure out how to light this playhouse without having to run an extension cord to the garage. I ended up using a combination of battery-powered and solar-powered lights. The chandelier in the playhouse came from thrift store, as did the exterior wall lights or sconces.
I was going to spray paint the light fixtures a bright color, but Gerardo convinced me to keep them gold, and I’m glad he did. So elegant! I removed the guts from the fixtures (both the interior chandelier and the exterior facade sconces), all the wires and stuff, and found battery-operated candles on Amazon to put in them. But these aren’t just any battery-operated candles. These are remote-controlled battery-operated candles, and they have a timer option so that we can set it for two hours and forget about it.
I attached the remote control to the inside wall of the house with Velcro and told Ruby to treat it like a light switch—push the two-hour timer button and leave it alone. Here’s what the house looks like at dusk with the lights on:
I hung solar powered globe-shaped solar string lights around the inside perimeter for extra lighting that lasts all night, which is cozy and comforting when you look out into the darkness of the yard. I attached the small solar panels to the exterior of the house with Velcro.
Ruby’s Playhouse Monkey Bars
Ruby freaking loves monkey bars, so I thought I’d surprise her by putting some in her house. I planned ahead for this, as you can see by the 2 x 4s resting on top of the side walls, which had to go in before the roof.
I got the monkey bars on Amazon, of course, because who else carries monkey bars?
The run isn’t long, but Ruby can do lots of tricks nonetheless. If I’d known how many hours I would be forced to stand there watching her do her monkey bar tricks, I may have given the whole monkey bars thing more thought. But boy, does she have some biceps…
More DIY Playhouse Decoration Ideas
Our Clouds & Inflatable Kiddie Pool
Gerardo painted fluffy white clouds on the front of the exterior, dubbing it the “Sky House.” I then built a low platform for Ruby’s inflatable kiddie pool out front, and the Sky House became her own personal cabana for the summer. Click to expand the photo below to see both more clearly…
Decked Out DIY Playhouse Palettes & Lanterns
I had a few palettes lying around that I’d found in alleyways, so I covered them with the one-by scraps left over from the floor construction. Ruby and her friends like to hop from one to the other in some variation of the hot lava game. Next spring, I’m going to shovel a cubic yard of rock around the palettes. I’d love to do Mexican pebbles, but those are bloody expensive, so we’ll see.
Oh, and the super-sweet tiki lights hanging on the back fence? Thrift store score, two bucks. But you can find similarly cool decorative lights online of many varieties.
So, there you have it. Building this playhouse took me three days, and they were glorious days as I watched all of my imaginings come into being. It’s pretty satisfying, I gotta tell you, and I highly recommend it! Interested in seeing (and having the chance to save, pin, share) every single photo and draft design from all installments of my playhouse adventure combined? Visit our Pinterest Playhouse DIY board too!
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