Playroom School House/ Play House

Well, I did manage to get a lot done during my "weekend" I decided I wanted to make a playhouse for the kids to put in their play room. Now, their playroom is the laundry room as well. I want to get some magnets to stick to the washer and dryer as I'm not sure I want to move both of those appliances into the kitchen yet. This is just part of what I'm going to do, as these are the supplies I had available. Before I start, if you're curious as to what the front of the house is made of, it's drywall. Yeah, we had a ceiling problem that got fixed eventually and it was left over. Seeing it started the idea process because it's sturdy. I then remembered the particle board desk we had in the garage, and the kids did need an entertainment center for the TV.



I started out by tracing the holes I wanted, as you can tell they're not perfect, and I didn't want them to be. Then I cut the holes with a steak knife. Why? Because a serrated blade is best for drywall and I didn't have the special knife so I improvised. Yes, my hand was sore afterwards but it wasn't as hard as you'd think. I didn't take pictures of that part of the process. Sorry, I forgot. But then, I found some red paint in the garage and began painting (with an old towel I was going to throw away anyway. Why? No paint brush. Stop asking stupid questions). Then I decided to trim the door and window with white (also found in garage). It reminded me of an old school house, so I went with it.



I really felt that it was still missing something, so I went ahead and painted a picket fence across the bottom. I wanted to add grass and flowers too but guess what? No other colors were suitable in the garage so I moved on.



Here's a picture of the kids in the playroom next to the desk. If you'll notice in the cabinet of the desk are VHS tapes. I like these best because it seems that no matter what I do all the DVD's I buy for them get destroyed. I love the little closet behind Bubba, it's got shelving like that on both sides and is perfect for their toys and games and such.



Here's the almost finished project, after attaching the school front. I did this with tub caulk/sealer. It's easy to remove if I have to but it's not going to fall off either. I have no idea where that sock came from, I'd swear it wasn't there when I took the picture.



The finished...well, almost finished project! After some minor argument with Brandon I got him to bring in the TV for me (it's so heavy) and put it on top. I'd really love to add a "roof" still, with some broken down boxes and black construction paper,but I haven't decided yet. Also, I have a mailbox in the making for the front, as well as some curtains and a door. I'm going to try to locate a set of Christmas lights to string inside for light.






Here's a picture of mine and Brandon's entertainment center. We're never going to use it again as it's purpose because all the televisions we now own are way too big to fit in it. The boxes are a "sneak peak" at one of my next project for the playroom. I love this thing because it has two drawers at the bottom to hold their mega blocks that they love so much. I'm also currently collecting old clothes to crochet a rug out of for the floor, boxes to put up like a chalkboard (BECAUSE CARDBOARD IS FREE), and a tension rod style payhouse/ puppet theater for the closet door. Oh and the reading nook is going to be a huge surprise for the kiddos. My inspiration for this project came from all the entertainment center turned kitchens pictures floating around, which I still wanna do for the girls in their room. Kind of like this one, it's my favorite so far.





These are the solutions that I've come up with for my small space. Money is always tight at my house so I do my best to make every thing that I can and utilize what we already have. I'd be interested in seeing what other people have done with their kids to save money if you'd like to leave it in a comment! Or just click the follow button to get updates on all my posts!