It might have something to do with this global pandemic or perhaps I am really getting into this whole DIY interior design thing. It might be both! Either way, this is a project that brought me so much joy and I am excited to share it with all of you.
Can I move in here? Ha!
When COVID hit we realized we would be spending a lot of time at home this summer and in particular, our backyard, with a busy toddler. I initially wrote the idea of a playhouse off because I didn’t want to put a plastic tacky house in our backyard but then I stumbled upon the hundreds of playhouse hacks on Pinterest and a world of possibility opened up.
My in-laws purchased the house as a gift for our little guy and it was fitting that they did because I decided early on that the house was going to have a Santa Barbara (SB) theme. If you know me or have followed along then you know that my husband is from SB and his family still lives there. We were actually scheduled to take the bebe out there for his first visit in April but then you know…that didn’t happen.
So why not bring SB to us?! If you have been to SB aka American Rivieria, then you already know the general aesthetic but for those who have not, the architecture and design recalls Spanish and Mediterranean style with neutral color palettes accented by bold and beautiful tile work. Note: these tiles proved to be a bit tricky to work with but I was determined and stubborn and they make the whole thing right?
Of course I couldn’t relocate the ocean, mountains, or palm trees, so we’ll just have to imagine those parts for now!
This was a mommy project – I did all the painting and building myself. So ladies don’t be timid. You can do this all on your own! I looked at pics of Santa Barbara homes and landmarks and made sure this still felt like a child’s playhouse by bringing in a fun accent color (blue). Outside of the decor I just needed a few cans of spray paint and an exterior paint for the walls and structure.
I purchased the tiles off Amazon (the land of everything you could ever need) they are stick-on but I had to use glue to reinforce the sticking since this was going on painted wood. Painting the frame was fairly easy but the plastic pieces needed several coats of paint, partially due to the fact that we were battling some really hot and humid days when I was working on this and heat does not aid in easy painting.
The best part was of course seeing my lil guy get excited when the house appeared in the backyard. I worked on it out of sight until I knew I could get most of it built and sturdy enough to let him enjoy it while I did my finishing touches. His favorite part is the working doorbell of course!
For the base house I used the KidKraft Oceanfront Playhouse – KidKraft appeared to be the go to in the playhouse space and honestly I was pretty pleased with how it was packaged and how easy it was to assemble, it has an app. Accessories from Target and Amazon.
