This DIY playhouse makeover has been a long time coming and I’m so excited to finally share it with you! For Charlotte’s second birthday (last summer), I was determined to give her a girly playhouse for our new backyard. We moved on her actual birthday, so my momma heart wanted to go a little extra with this girly DIY playhouse makeover!
I had considered making over Carter’s original playhouse from his first Christmas, but the kiddos still play with it quite a bit together in our basement, so I opted to get a different one for Charlotte (and Carter, honestly) to play with outside. I hated to buy a brand new playhouse just to totally repaint it immediately, so I started searching Facebook marketplace. Just a few weeks later, I ended up finding a FREE playhouse in our local “Buy Nothing” Facebook group. I’ve been a member of two of these groups now and they are such a great way to donate items your family is finished with, plus we’ve scored a few finds ourselves in there like this.
DIY Playhouse Makeover Prep
I don’t have a true “before” picture, but the house had been used outside for a long time. It was pretty dirty and had moldy water trapped in the walls. But free is FREE and we could take care of all that! Before our move, the kiddos helped my husband clean it up. They took the house apart and used dish soap to scrub everything. Then my husband drilled tiny holes to drain the murky water stuck inside, added a little bleach, and let the sun do the rest as it dried.
At this point, the house was looking pretty good and smelling much better already. This is where we paused to move.
DIY Playhouse Makeover Step 1: Prime
After the move, it was time to get back to work. We wiped everything down one more time to get it ready for paint.
Now it’s time to prime the pieces. We threw down some drop cloths and propped the pieces up on scrap wood. We used 2X Rust-Oleum flat white primer (Amazon affiliate link).
The primer gave us a nice base for color and should help with longevity too.
DIY Playhouse Makeover Step 2: Paint
We used a similar process with the cloths and wood to add color. It took two coats of the same 2X Rust-Oleum spray paint in Turquoise Sky for the door and shutters.
The main body of the house took also took two coats, using 2X Rust-Oleum spray paint in semi-gloss white. (Amazon affiliate link).
We used 2X Rust-Oleum spray paint in Candy Pink (Amazon affiliate link) for the bay window and interior cabinet.
Finally, the roof and some outline details were painted with 2X Rust-Oleum spray paint in Satin Granite.
We also painted the little knobs by sticking them inside a piece of cardboard first to hold them in place.
DIY Playhouse Makeover Step 3: Seal and Assemble
There isn’t a picture of this step since it was clear, but we did coat the entire house in 2x Rusto-Oleum spray paint semi-gloss clear (Amazon affiliate link) for added protection.
Now it’s time to start putting the house back together! Here you can see the difference between one and two coats of paint. The interior really could have used a second coat, but we were out of paint and short on time.
We carried the house around to the backyard to finish putting it together. The new little sink looks so sweet!
For the finishing touch, I added a real doorknob that I picked up at Home Goods. The little crystal touch gives this DIY playhouse makeover that extra little girly touch.
DIY Playhouse Makeover Step 4: Play
At this point it was time to show the birthday girl her belated gift. She was thrilled!!
Carter was a big fan too.
Just look how cute they look out there together now! The paint has held up through its first summer, fall, and winter so far. I’m really pleased with this girly DIY playhouse makeover and know they’ll spend hours out here together in the years to come.
