Crafts & DIY
Ordinary Playhouse Gets Made Over Into Fancy Little Home
From the new colors to the cobblestone, this is quite the fancy playhouse now.
Eduardo Gaskell
08.07.20

Got a playhouse laying around somewhere?

Well don’t sell it. It could very well be the next eye catcher at your place. Serena Appiah is the face behind Thrift Diving. A blog that focuses on home improvements, projects, and overall maintenance. And she’s good!

She was invited to participate in a playhouse makeover challenge which she gladly accepted. Serena would donate the money to a local shelter for the homeless. So take notes because this is something you can do yourself.

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

It’s a playhouse. The common type you’ll see kids play with. It’s made from plastic with the red roof, and creamy white walls on all sides. The challenge was to jazz it up and make it look as cool as possible. Serena rose to the challenge.

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

Serena knew the other bloggers would go the predictable route.

Well at Thrift Diving, Serena uses colors as well as techniques she’s picked up over the years. She also upcycles, reusing old materials instead of disposing of them. They actually turn out looking much nicer.

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

Serena starts taping off sections of the house so she can start painting the walls a nice slate grey. You can see how meticulous she is when she tapes off certain sections to keep the color away from those parts.

She sprays the paint from side to side, following the horizontal lines of the plastic walls making sure the paint spreads evenly. Serena had to let the paint dry for several hours. She even says it may have been 24 hours!

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

Removing the tape peeled some of the paint off.

Serena begins taping around the doorway and the top sections this time. She reuses some of the plastic to avoid waste. Painter’s tape covers the top to avoid some parts getting spray painted over. Her attention to detail is something else.

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

She goes with white for the window sills now which goes well with slate grey walls. It makes those colors pop out. It’s not going to be the ordinary black and white. Serena is really creative as you’ll see.

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

The windows were painted light grey.

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

Serena brings out her sheets of riverstone and proceeds to add some more which she got from a home improvement store. She lays the stones out along the doorway and the sides of the playhouse to see that they’ll fit before gluing them down.

She tapes the sides of the windows to avoid staining or messing up the paint with the adhesive she’ll be using for the riverstones.

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

The tedious part was using construction adhesive for each individual stone. There were about 300 stones by Serena’s estimate with a big chance of that number being higher. This is where patience is a virtue.

Put some music and grab a cold lemonade for this one.

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

Make sure the stones are glued on really well.

This is a project for kids and you don’t want any choking hazards. It took a lot of time but Serena finally glued all the stones down. She goes on to grout over the stones and while there is some concern over grouting on plastic, Serena went ahead and did it. A few cracks would appear but it does look good.

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

There was a bit of retouching to be done as paint would come off here and there but all in all, it turned out to be a wonderful looking playhouse. The roof is a vintage teal and along with the grey walls with riverstones, proved to be a more creative take on a playhouse. Hey, if the kids don’t want it, display it!

See how Serena transforms this playhouse in the video below, it turns out amazing!

Please SHARE this with your friends and family

Source: YouTube, Thrift Diving

Advertisement