They painted the easel, the walls, the bunting that we had made, the floor, and of course they are painting the rocks. . They use the slide and ramp as a track and just race around all day and night. They get mesmerized by it and they all turn out beautiful! We put it out there on Instagram that we were looking for a carpenter that could execute it and got a few people interested. Since the Douglas fir is darker than the Pine I wanted the stain to marry the two tones, which didn’t work perfectly but it’s all good. Public places must protect themselves from being sued and I think it leads some parents to seeing all play spaces (including natural outdoor features) through that lens. . One does NOT need this in order for kids to be entertained, or for you to feel like you are a good parent. Emily, this turned out so great! Thanks! They can pretty much execute any built-in or carpentry job possible. Ahhh…love it! This is such a beautiful and unique post,Emily! We have considered something similar for our backyard but haven’t pulled the trigger. Also, you have an amazing parenting philosophy – – there is a big difference between hazards (which you have accounted for) and risk (which kids need to explore and test and get comfortable with). But I’m not talking about building him a literal castle. I have the castle that is #1 under the “Play Forts//Elaborate” section, and I have mixed feelings about it. I’m so curious, but totally understand if you don’t want to share. Emily, this looks fantastic! And hunting for pirate treasure. Nice work!!! Such a great, great idea for your family! your yard looks amazing! You have just totally killed your new space dead. This splendid cardboard house was built from a giant cardboard box that originally held a gas grill. By nature, children are imaginative. Even though you’ve added a lot, spatially it looks bigger, plus it’s way more functional. So we created the moat out of pebbles and boulders. ALMOST makes me wish for toddlerhood again. Can’t wait to introduce that idea to my husband. Browse our range for lots of great options - there's something here to suit all spaces, no matter how large or small your garden is. He had a hose too. Playtime will be long with this splendid plan of playhouse. That way he can run, play, and pretend all day long. My little kid self and my adult(ish) self LOVE it! Thank you! With such wonderful plans up your sleeve, gear up for giving shape to your very own cardboard playhouse. We wanted something they could climb, with a few obstacles, and the feeling of openness. Labor costs will vary based on location and skill level. And if I had time I would have sewed them but I didn’t, so we farmed that out. There are a lot of faux wood building materials out there, but they look like that – faux wood. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. I did laugh out loud that you broke out the cost of the flags, so funny. After he left we moved them into the back corner. Keep up the good work – the castle looks great! To space and back! We already had a boulder since that was our son’s one request – well that and an orange tree. We played like this for a month or so and we kept noticing that they were dragging things from inside into the clubhouse to play. You rock! I hired a seamstress because I didn’t have the time, but this would be VERY easy to DIY – we got the flag poles on Amazon. We also replaced the swing seats in the same green and they look pretty pulled together. We were happy to hire this team that was experienced because we did have a deadline and a sponsor involved. Love the pics of the kiddos having a blast out there! Many slides had reviews that said they were too fast, and many said too slow, but this one is perfect. Also educational: I’ve begun using photoshop to try to improve my own snapshots in similar ways! I’m thoughtful like that. My husband is a carpenter and he built some outdoor tables out of pine for a local restaurant once. Pebbles will be flying everywhere. When you go to the beach you can add shells that you found together. While I would always suggest hiring someone experienced, I also know that not everyone has their play forts sponsored. Love, love, love. Ha. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Thank you. You’ve done such a good job making design decisions in such a short amount of time. They were both so fun to have around and are invited over any time. Now I can show my husband these instead so I don’t end up with a Lego playhouse or the equivalent in my backyard…. ?” I told them that Spiderman capes weren’t Pinterest worthy and they understood (JK). Thanks! We installed them ourselves. and WHY? Your kids will remember this forever. So here is how it looks as a finished product without any toys or styling on the inside: We added a slide (from Wayfair) and it’s a great one – I read a lot of the reviews. Little Lodge Wooden Play House. Thanks for always being so transparent through your process. But let me rewind and give you the whole process and back story. My hope is that by doing these drawings you guys could recreate a version of this with all the design work done. I have been worried after seeing an early picture of the boulders underneath the slide, but it looks like you did a fabulous job of moving them all away and now the kids can just play on them and stay safe. Built for robust durability, you’ll find a whole host of safety features in our range of kids’ playhouses, putting your mind at ease. Well, I was going to save this for the landscaping post but here’s the gist – most of you suggested a pebble pit instead of a sand box and we loved the idea of boulders for them to climb all over and hide behind. I would love to read some of your landscaping advice. I can only look at so many posts on “budget-priced, apartment-sized sectionals” from other bloggers before I’m bored to tears. This makes me want to build something special for our tot now! This is absolutely beautiful! It’s hard to not let negativity get under your skin but a valuable lesson to learn that not everyone is nice, not everyone is going to like you and not everyone knows how to relay constructive criticism! And by “joking” I mean I got a quote for it (because our electrician was here doing other things) and it was $1800 (mostly because I guess our power outside was in an aluminum pipe which was rotting or something). I really love everything about your new home–the interior, that patio!, and now this. I have an outsized fear of my child choking! Jul 14, 2016 - One of our most popular playhouse plans! But that has its perks too. They literally destroyed it with water soluble paint within an hour and we couldn’t have cared less. Could they play outside and explore nature without a castle clubhouse? Now, the rock dude put WAY too many large rocks near and under the slide so we moved a ton into the back corner so the kids wouldn’t fall from the slide and hit them. It’s fast but doesn’t have a drop off at the end. Such an awesome post! . (My girls are 5 and 9 now.) (However, some of the wonderful old posts don’t seem to be accessible anymore.) love love love this! They are all made out of soft wood – Pine, Douglas fir, or Cedar which you know I appreciate for its durability, affordability, and appeal. They can pretty much execute any built-in or carpentry job possible. Give wings to your child’s imagination with this rocket cardboard playhouse. I’d want to make it big enough for me. . You can use construction paper cut in circles to decorate this warm den. We DIY’d some flower crowns and capes, and not surprisingly the girls were into the crowns and the boys were like “what are these hipster capes out of vintage plaid with ball fringe on them? Obviously with multiple boys there is some breaking up of fights (there is a reason we didn’t stock the castle with foam swords and shields:)) and sometimes they have issues sharing, but having a backyard with a built-in activity for them really has made parenting easier. http://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/tag/playhouse-competition/, Additionally, Bob designs his own playhouse every year, and provides the construction drawings.