We've seen a few terrific Little Tikes houses transformed by paint and we have to wonder when Little Tikes is going to take the hint and start using better colors! Here, Ruthie and her husband turned their daughter's sort of blah playhouse into something a little more fairytale-like.
They used 3-4 cans of Rustoleum spray paint (probably the kind for plastic) and added a few other subtle touches like a rock path and doormat, a darling concrete mushroom and some plants. For the big reveal to their daughter Lily, Ruthie even put out a vase of flowers. Small changes make all the difference!
You can see more of Lily's madeover playhouse here. Think Ruthie has great taste? Yep, and check out the room she made for Lily which garnered fourth place in our Small Kids, Big Color contest last year.
Thanks Ruthie!
Other great Little Tikes house transformations:
• Extreme Home Makeover Little Tikes Edition
• Another Little Tikes Home Makeover
• Two Tremendous Little Tikes Makeovers
(Images: littlebeemama)
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Love! I have one I need to makeover soon!
WOW!! This is so impressive. I never would have thought plastic could have been made over so fantastically well! It does look totally storybook perfect. Darling!!
Love it! This would be an inexpensive project, and I see those houses on Craig's List all the time.
That is FANTASTIC! SO many kids toys are just u-g-l-y. So cute in the yard!
Amazing!!! Great work you guys!
I used that paint to make over a Little Tykes Car... didn't hold up so well, though. Hope this holds up better.
Oh man! That's great! I remember hating how blah the colors were on those houses.
Now I have something to strive for when I've got kiddos of my own!
LOVE THIS! I hope the paint holds up for her too; I'm a bit of a pessimist about painting plastic and other such 'difficult' surfaces. This looks so amazing! From your Flickr photostream, I'm thinking you did take it apart to paint it? I have my old metal and plastic Fisher Price table and chairs to makeover, but I can't find a good example! I guess something like this will have to do for inspiration!
This looks great! My son picked out red and brown paint and has been patiently waiting for me to finally paint his playhouse. Now I have an idea of what it will look like when it's finished.
I soooooooooooo Love this!!! I wanted to buy one now so i can redo it for my little girl :) thanks for sharing!!!
that looks SO much better!
Oh, wow. This is so lovely!
Is there some sort of coat you can spray on the plastic to protect it from outdoor elements. I don't mean fading because I'm sure that inevitable but I'm thinking more snow/rain/etc.
I had a little yellow house just like that when I was a kid!
That is so cute!!!
Thanks everyone! I've been so busy this week that I have not had time to log into Ohdeedoh. So imagine my surprise to see our playhouse featured. FYI-- the house weathered Hurricane Irene and still held up pretty well.
@babsmith726 - yes, we took it a part to spray paint.
@nellymom - I think the trick is making sure that you sand off all the grime before painting, so that the paint has a surface to adhere. Krylon paint is suppose to hold up a lot better, but it was significantly more expensive. We figured if it chips after the winter, we'll just spray some touch ups in the spring.
Wow! What an improvement to the original. I have never liked this Little Tikes house for my own kids as I thought the pastel colours too incongruous with our backyard. This makeover makes me want to hunt one down on craigslist and put the colours on it we would like. Great job. Ever considered sending this in to the spray paint company as an advert for their products?
Love it, Ruthie! So inspiring!
awww it looks like a little english cottage
I've been planning to do something similar to mine - thanks for the motivation to get started before the kids are too big! (Although, if it looks good enough, I could just keep it out there....)
Looks beautiful! I used Krylon spray paint for plastic on ours (after power washing to get it super clean) and it's chipping after one week:( Still a major improvement over faded plastic.
I got this same house for my daughter on craigslist and looked online for inspiration on how to paint it. This is absolutely wonderful!! You did a beautiful job. My problem is I can't get the house apart!! I bought a mallet and that still didn't work. How did you get it apart?
Alissa C.,
I bought this same house yesterday on Craigslist. You just need to lift up the sides. They hook to the front and the back. Just have someone hold the front side when you pull up on the side and do that for each side.
Thank you so so much!! I will have my hubby help me in a bit :)
Bought this SAME house off of CL as well after seeing so many great playhouse redo's online. I am having trouble removing the door and shutters . . . any tips? Or did you just use painters tape to tape them off. My husband and I cannot figure it out. Can't wait to see what ours turns out like! Hopefully as nice as this one!
Evening! love your playhouse! have one and I wanted to ask you, did you paint the body of the house (cream part) does that make since I know you painted the windows, roof and door just wasn't sure if you painted the main part of body. Your kids are darling, love the lobster outfit also did you make them?
Gos Bless Kimber look forward to hear back from you
I just pinned this and was taking a close look at it when my toddler came in and said how much she loves the original. Lol. I guess maybe when you're two you like a pink door, blue roof, and green shutters. Either way, I think your reprinted house is adorable and opens up so many decorating possibilities!
I LOVE LOVE this make over. In fact, it inspired me to take the FREE playhouse my neighbor was giving away. I want to fix it up and refurbish it for my niece. However, I need some help. How did you get it apart? I got the roof off and the sink out. How do you get the walls apart. It looks like it should be easy, but I am not able to get them to budge. Help! Please. :)
LOL- Flip that house!! What a fabulous idea. Yours looks much better than the "before" picture. Thanks for the idea. Now I'm on the market for a fixer-uper!