playset transformation

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post…I took some time to enjoy summer.  And I hope you’ve been enjoying your summer!  It’s hard to believe it’s nearing the end and fall will be approaching soon.  As much as I love the carefree unscheduled days of summer, I am looking forward to all things fall…pumpkins, apple picking, cool evenings around the firepit, to name just a few.

Before I digress, today I am sharing a project that we did (with some assistance) this summer.  We transformed our 20 year old playset into a hangout (that’s Claire’s word for it…she informed me that I am NOT to call it a playhouse) space.

So we’ve had this playset for over 20 years, and moved it to two houses along the way.  It was a birthday gift to my oldest, Audrey, from my parents for her first birthday.  My father and Phillip spent a very hot weekend in July 1998 designing and building it.  I was able to dig up a few pictures from that summer to share “the before” with you.  It had three swings, along with a two level play area.  The bottom part housed a sandbox for many years…until our youngest finally outgrew the “playing in the sand” stage.  Not to mention that they were all too tall to stand underneath without bumping their heads on the top.  The ladder led to an upper level with monkey bars and a slide.  Not super fancy by today’s standards, but my girls spent countless hours playing on it!

{my mom and dad with Audrey, as the support posts were being constructed}

{she loved the turtle sandbox}

{our backyard, two houses ago…the day of Audrey’s first birthday party}

{both grandpas pushing Audrey in her swing…we started with one regular swing and two “baby” ones until the girls were older and we switched out the swings to all regular ones}

As the girls have gotten older and are not playing on it as much, we’ve talked about taking it down.  However, we thought maybe Claire might enjoy it for a few more years if we changed it just a bit.  She still loves to swing, so we left that area alone…just changed out the green plastic swings for wooden ones.  We thought it might be fun to take out the platform area between the two levels, remove the ladder and slide, and enclose that space with walls and a roof.

I have a disclaimer…we didn’t actually do the construction or REconstruction of it.  We hired the same person who did our LIVING ROOM BUILT-INS to do most of this project (of course, I did the painting).  He is very meticulous and puts up with me showing him all my Pinterest-inspired pictures and crazy ideas.  Although, I think Claire challenged him more on this…she wanted a Dutch door for the entrance to this space.

Okay, are you ready to see the transformation?

As you can see, we painted it blue to match our house.  We were trying to decide between white or blue (Claire really wanted blue)…and we thought the white might not stay so white since there are a lot of trees above it.  There are open “windows” in the front and back to allow for some ventilation.  The windowbox is a fun feature, while the “deck” is perfect for enjoying snacks with friends at THIS TABLE and CHAIRS.  And that Dutch door…it is my favorite part!  Great idea, Claire!  Love the shiplap that he used to build it, so we are leaving it natural.

It isn’t a large space, but Claire was able to “furnish” it with these FUN CHAIRS and this TABLE.  Perfect for hanging out with some friends doing homework or talking!  She did ask if our wifi works in that part of the yard…ha!  The fuzzy pink RUG is so soft on bare feet…good thing, as she has a “no shoes rule.”  We covered the ceiling with white tulle fabric (it hid some imperfections and offered a fun dimension to the space).  While there is no electricity, the LIGHT does function by using this FUN TRICK.  We used the same “trick” on the outside light.  There is a remote to turn them on and off.

Add a bathroom and I might not see Claire for a long time!