Playhouse Heaven

1. the playhouse, 2. playhouse-sleepover, 3. playhouse, 4. Dreaming Spires Willow Playhouse from Judith Needham www.willowplayhouses.co.uk, 5. This is my playhouse, 6. Unique, 7. Crooked Man's House, 8. Dream Playhouse, 9. DSC01076.JPG

I have dreamed of building a playhouse since the birth of my first child many years ago. At the time it was to be a tree house, but the tree has since fallen. Over the years I have drawn many different plans and bought and read several books on the subject.

While I was supposed to be working on other things today, I found myself on Flickr where I happened upon these great images. I would love to do a tour of the interiors of these houses. I've never tried a mosaic, so I picked my favorites and gave it a try.

I've been trying to determine if there is a theme to what I was drawn to. It looks as though they are all unusual or have a natural quality to them. They seem to vibe with my no frills, earthy nature. I realize that I prefer not to have a Victorian or cookie cutter kit type house.

I have little to no carpentry skills, so what I build will involve a lot of guessing. I want to use as many found or recycled objects as I can. I've already bought a door and a couple of screens from the Habitat Restore.

This playhouse is on my bucket list, and I am determined to get it done this year. It won't be as cool as these, but I will be proud of myself, and I am sure that my children will be thrilled. Even the oldest, who is probably technically too old.

Which makes me wonder are you ever too old for a playhouse? I know that I've seen trends in fully functional tree houses that are being used as home offices. I'm not into that, though. I want to design it to catch breezes and capture sunlight. I want it to be a kid's place to play and not a tricked out (wo)man cave. Living in Texas, I will probably have to utilize a fan though. Maybe I can learn about solar power in the process. If so, I might also put in solar lighting so that we could do slumber parties like the one in the mosaic.

Is it obvious that this is more for me than for my children? I mean they are welcome and I'd love to give them memories of playing with momma in the playhouse. But I think that the basket on a pulley, the loft, the binoculars, and all the other gadgetry in my head are all my fantasies.

I suppose that it would only be fair to have them help me plan so that they might enjoy it more. But I think that it's probably more important that I get it going.

Review: Hammocks, Hassocks and Hideaways

Hammocks, Hassocks and Hideaways: Furniture Kids Can Build For Themselves (1980)
by Timothy Fisher 0201029367 170 pages

Summary: As the title states, this is a book of furniture projects described at a level intended to encourage kids to DIY.

Review: The first section of this book out lines tools and materials that will be used to complete the projects. The next section explains projects that sit on the floor - primarily chairs. The section on "in the air" furniture provides guidance on projects that are swing and hammock in nature. The next section is about boxes and tables that can be folded flat. There is a section on outdoor furniture that utilizes interesting materials. There is a small section on storage and a section with ideas for various room dividers. The final section focuses mainly on lamps.

Recommendation: The projects in this book are simple and utilize simple materials. While I might want to modify them a bit if I were making these items for my kids' rooms, I would follow them as is for a playhouse. With simple directions, it will come in handy in my first attempts and furnishing a play space for my children.

Review: Housebuilding for Children

Housebuilding for Children (1977)

by Les Walker 0879513322

175 pages

Summary This book gives details that guide children through the process of building small-scale structures using large-scale techniques and principles.

Review I bought this book several years ago with the intention of saving money and building my own playhouse for my daughter. I chose this particular book because it is aimed at children. It is written to allow a child to increase her skill sets under adult supervision. The edition I have is older, so no power tools are mentioned. A group of kids could conceivably follow the given directions and complete one of several different structure types. They might also learn about different building techniques along the way.

Recommendation I would recommend this book to a young person with a budding interest in architecture or construction. I would also recommend it to the adult novice in woodworking who would be interested in building something for children.