Cybele and her husband transformed their very old, gross garden shed into a playhouse that their daughter uses every day. The inside is about 8' x 10', and the exterior wrap-around porch adds even more room for tea parties during warmer months. I mean, how many kids have their own wrap-around porch? The answer is not many.
The adults did the fix-up work while their daughter napped. It took a little bit of carpentry, about three full gallons of Kilz paint for the interior, and some leftover paint for the exterior. $250 later and the new playhouse was ready for hours of fun and activity.
Thanks for sharing, and a job well done, you two! Readers, if you want to see more photos of the transformation, head over to Cybele's blog.
(Images: Cybele Perry)
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Oh, how much do I LOVE this??!! Am well jeal; my daughters' playhouse is about a tenth of the size of this and not half as pretty. Great job!
Excellent transformation. The deck is a masterful touch. Inspires me to consider, once again, transforming our old chicken coop.
It looks really great. I like that they gave the shed a wrap around porch and added a window with an awning. It goes beyond just painting, though they did a great job with picking the colors for that, too. I like the blue/purple.
So, for those who normally gripe: here's a before/after with bothe the before and after pictures taken from the same location and angle!
Great job.
What child wouldn't love this?! I'm way past playhouse years and I love this.
I dunno know, northstory. That bench is lookin like it might be a perfect spot for a good book followed by a nap.
Well done!
Fabulous. However, that's a wrap-around deck, not a wrap-around porch.
Lovely! It makes me want to get up and go transform something.
Ok.. I like the before. It looks rustic and serves a purpose. I guess I can't see past it's adult use. Could have been a very cool tool shed.
Since it wasn't being used for anything but just storage for junk, I applaud appropriating it for something like this. Not everyone needs a shed.
Lucky kiddo! I would have died for that as a child. My dad built a playhouse for me from a kit. It was in between our house and the neighbors. We lived in the city. Not a lot of space but it was nice none the less, minus the potato bugs and spiders!
Why describe it as a "gross, smelly garden shed"? Unless it's where multiple bags of real steer manure are kept or where the garbage cans go and any dog poo collected; 'garden and gross/smelly' don't really go together. Cute, but not crazy about the outside color but then again, it's for a kid . . . who hopefully one day will like to . . . garden.
@rmbnn - hi there! when she submitted the project, cybele said it was gross and smelly, so I took her word for it. hence the title :)
Wow! We are selling a house that has a storage shed I have never liked. I never thought about doing something so creative and useful as this!
If more people saw this article, there would be a run on wood shed kits to be used as not only playhouses, but writers studios, art spaces and a get away room. On the other hand, it could also be used as a husband doghouse, when he's done something really bad.
This reminds me of a tool shed that my aunt/uncle converted for my older cousins to use as their hang out place in the back yard in the 70's. I always loved it and would love to go out there with my cool older cousins that I looked up to quite a bit. This post brought back a lot of great memories.
Cybele the renovator here, thanks for all the nice comments! My daughter loves her "tea house" and I love that we have that cozy little space outside the hubbub of our inside lives.
I will quickly defend the grossness. It had been a home to a large mouse family for many years and it was oh-my-gosh-animal-bathroom-stinky when I started to clean it out. Regular Kilz didn't quite cover the horrors and I had to use 2 coats of the Oil Based Kilz Max. Ugh, I am grossed out thinking about it, I guess I should have left it unsaid...
Hi! I'm loving the playhouse! We have a similar structure in our backyard that I wanted to transform last summer, but I found there were lots of little spiders. We live on the edge of the woods and judging by the photo you do too. Do you have much trouble with spiders? Or other bugs? Great job!
Awww,
What's wrong with smelly sheds? I actually like the shed better, even though I can see the new shed is cute. There's something about keeping things just as they are and not updating it. Just a good clean out so it keeps it in decent condition.
Very nice! We have a playhouse in our backyard that was probably an old shed! It was super dirty inside and I pulled out the carpet and swept, swept, and swept all of the dust and mud out. And I need to make sure that all of the stray nails are gone before my 6yo son gets the all-clear to make it his outdoor fort! It was painted (years and years ago) the same color as the house and has a lovely growth of small ferns on the top.
Oh, how sweet is this! I definitely forsee a great teen lair as well...
I want to see it once it's 'furnished"! :o)
Very nice indeed.
Adorable! And complete with the wrap-around porch, a bench, and windowbox planters! Clever detailing.
Very sweet.
I would have loved this as a kid and I would still love one now!