Playhouse Makeover

Mercedes Madrie
by Mercedes Madrie
5 Materials
$75
3 Weeks
Medium

I snagged this playhouse on marketplace for $20. Even though it was extremely dirty, covered in spider webs/nests, and bee hives, my daughter was already in love with it. She had no idea what was about to happen.

I started by cleaning the house. The easiest and quickest way to do this was with the pressure washer.

Once it was cleaned up, I put it together to see what pieces were missing and what pieces I'd need to order or replace. (I ended up needing to buy the skylight for the roof, it didn't come with the house, and I ordered a doorbell, even though ours didn't have a hole for it.)

Then I disassembled the house and flipped it over so I could add extra drain holes to the bottom of the pieces. I used a large drill bit and started drilling away. There was so much dirty water trapped inside of the house and doing this also made it a lot lighter to move around.

Next I removed all the little accessories that would come apart. The kitchen came out and I dissembled it, I had my husband remove the door, and I removed the door knob. This made it easier to paint all these little individual pieces.

I painted this entire piece black, then used paper to "tape off" the rest of it so I could paint the knobs gold.


For this piece, I removed the faucet and painted the entire thing white, then went back in with black acrylic paint and painted the burners on by hand.

Then it was time to paint. I spray painted the roof grey on the exterior, and black on the interior and reassembled the house. I thought it would be easier to paint it while it was assembled, but I was wrong. I didn't prime it either and that might have made the process a lot easier. It took 3-4 coats of paint to completely cover the house with the art minds paint.

When her doorbell came in, I needed to find a place on the house to install it. I wanted to add it to the left side of the house, but the doorbell was too deep, so if I would've drilled on that side, the doorbell wouldn't have fit in the whole way. This is why I chose to place it where I did. I used a hole cutter (which just attaches to a drill) to make the hole. I played around with the different sizes to find the attachment that would be the best fit. I also ended up adding a coat of black spray paint to it.


The doorbell fit in the hole perfectly then I attached it with screws.

For the table top, I used contact paper and a blow dryer. To get it to fit perfectly around the round part of the table, my husband held the blow dryer on the paper, while I stretched it out and tucked it underneath the table. The heat from the blowdryer basically melts the paper, which makes it stretchier and easier to apply to odd shapes.


For the light fixture, I used the lid from the jar of paint, an old bowl, and some PVC piping.

I used rapid fuse glue to assemble the light fixture, then I spray painted it. (I plan on adding puck lights from amazon to the light so that it's functional).

Then the fun part came, I was able to assemble the house and decorate it. I added a small hook screw to the door to attach the wreath, and I attached her numbers onto the door. I ordered her a mailbox and it's on the way (I'll post an updated pic. once it comes), and I'm ordering puck lights from amazon to go up inside her light fixture so it's functional. Also, I do plan on sealing the house, I'm just not sure what I'm going to use yet.


So that's it! If I forgot to mention anything in this post or you have another questions, please feel free to reach out to me!

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  • Paula Mozdziock Paula Mozdziock on May 20, 2020

    First of all you are very creative and this looks gorgeous! What is rapid fuse glue and where do you buy it? I can never find a great glue

    what was your daughters reaction when she saw it?

  • Tricia Tricia on Aug 19, 2020

    It’s beautiful! Can I ask what brand and color paint you used for the front door?

  • Elaina Lanzer Elaina Lanzer on Oct 11, 2020

    Your playhouse make over looks great!!! have a few questions for you ... you mentioned "when her doorbell came in.." Where did you order it from? and painting it didn't make the "button " part stick? And you also mentioned that you spray painted the roof but then mentioned it took 3-4 coats of paint to completely cover the house with the art minds paint. Did you actually paint the whole thing with the art minds paint inside and out or did you only use that for trim type pieces and used spray paint for walls and door? Getting ready to do one of these myself and would love your input- especially since I read somewhere else that the art minds paint was really good (want it to last for a bit ya know) Thanks!!!!!!

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  • Annie Annie on May 07, 2021

    This is absolutely precious. Bless your hearts. Great recycle, great work and final product.


    Annie🦋

  • KayeMcA KayeMcA on May 07, 2021

    I wish I had a little girl again! This is just adorable!

    ❤️Kaye

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