Playhouses Play Sets

We’ve seen parents transform all manner of furniture into play kitchens for their kids. Griffin lucked out when she found this piece at a thrift store. To transform it into a play kitchen for her daughter, Frances, she didn’t need to do any structural work – just add bits and bobs, you know, the fun stuff.Like in any kitchen, the white paint gives this piece new life and makes it look fresh and new.

Not many would see this old media stand and think “play kitchen,” but ChiWei used what she had and came up with a pretty fantastic result for under $90: From ChiWei: I got tired of pulling my 1 year old daughter out of the dishwasher and drawers where she liked to pull out Ziploc bags from the package one at a time. I thought if I gave her her own kitchen, she’d leave mine alone!

We’ve all seen these plastic playhouses that are relatively inexpensive but don’t really wear well with time. In addition, they usually come in colors that shout “this is what we think kids like!” They are so ubiquitous that you can often find them at garage sales or even thrift stores. But whereas you might’ve passed them over before because of their less-than-pleasing aesthetic, this simple makeover might change your mind.

Anna Hansen had a prepped and framed nook in her kids’ playroom for a gas fireplace. But a gas fireplace isn’t exactly the most kid-friendly feature, so Anna decided to repurpose the space. For a while, the frame held a toy rack, until she got inspired and motivated and turned it into a fantastic indoor playhouse. With no carpentry experience at all, Anna managed to build this sweet house. (She did get a little instruction from her in-laws.