White Modern Farmhouse Cottage Playhouse Hack
Today’s post is all about our white modern farmhouse cottage playhouse hack. Dion and I had a wild hair up our derrieres to hack a playhouse for our girls. We decided the time was right to get the girls a playhouse before summer arrives so they can have hours of endless play! Hooray for that! They had been asking us for a playhouse ever since we moved and with all of the other home projects, renovation updates and a new puppy it had fallen down on our never ending to-do list.
We needed to find an optimal place for the playhouse and finally decided the side patio area off from our dining room would be the perfect spot. I measured to make sure it would fit and then gave Dion the go-ahead to pick it up asap because they had it in stock for a great price.
*Affiliate links used, all opinions my own.
The girls were freaking out with excitement and were super impressed with Dion’s playhouse building skills. I wowed them with the décor hoping my design & décor idol Joanna Gaines, Chip & their kiddos would be proud of our little Fixer Upper inspired white modern farmhouse cottage playhouse. We used the same exterior color scheme as our house (black & white) and I added fun little accents to give the playhouse some modern farmhouse cottage charm.
I’m so glad we decided to tackle this project before the girls have spring break and before summer arrives so they will have the opportunity to enjoy it! If you’ve been thinking about getting a playhouse for your kiddos – now is the perfect time! We’re sharing all of our tips below.
All the Details & Tips for Creating a White Modern Farmhouse Cottage Playhouse
The Playhouse
I give Dion 100% of the credit for spotting this cute playhouse and convincing me this should be the one. To be honest I needed to make sure it would work and my design vision could come to life. Once I scanned Pinterest for some inspiration I realized this was the perfect playhouse for the girls.
We also chose this playhouse because it works for ages 3-10. We wanted the girls to be able to stand up comfortably in it and be able to have a few friends join inside with enough room to spare. If you can’t find this particular one – it’s ok! This white modern farmhouse cottage playhouse hack can be done to any playhouse to give it a little extra charm.
Here’s what the before looks like:
Tips:
- Always measure first. I used blue painters tape to mark the area within our patio to visualize how much room we would have around the playhouse – this helps ensure that it will fit and the kiddos will be able to move and play in and around it.
Time Frame to Build & Hack
Dion built the entire playhouse on Saturday. The night before we took everything out and sorted all the pieces and materials to get it ready. Dion also downloaded an app that the instructions mentioned to help with assembly. According to Dion it was super helpful during the building process.
The girls helped him find the pieces (they are numbered) and felt like daddy’s little helpers! The painting and decorating process took almost an entire day but we conquered and divided on this one. This is a perfect weekend project or you can split it up over two weekends to save your back! Lol!
Tips:
- Always make sure to charge the batteries for your power tools the night before your project.
- Download the app to make building the playhouse a breeze!
- Involve the kiddos – they will love to help, learn, and most of all will have so much fun!
White Paint
This is where it is super helpful to have two people helping with the painting process of this playhouse hack. Dion tackled the painting on the outside of the playhouse and I took care of the interior since it was much easier for me to fit inside and paint than Dion who is 6’ 2”!! We used 1 coat of white primer on the interior and exterior followed by one 1 coat of white exterior paint for both the inside and outside of the playhouse.
For the windows, door hinges, clock handles, all accessories that were primary colors (red, yellow, etc.) we used flat black spray paint. I wanted to keep the color scheme black and white and add color with the accessories. We used 3 cans of flat black spray paint so make sure you stock up for this project – it goes fast!
Tips:
- Save the huge box that the playhouse is packaged in and use it for an area to spray paint the accessories.
- Assemble the playhouse without the windows and paint the playhouse. Spray paint windows separately and then when they are dry assemble windows in the playhouse.
- Add red rosin paper underneath your playhouse to protect your patio/or surfaces (you want to keep free of paint).
- We used paint cups & paint liners to make life easier. Our favorite paint brushes & rollers can be found here, here and here.
White Primer//White Exterior Paint//Black Spray Paint
Adding Modern Farmhouse Cottage Charm
If you have been following me for a while on IG or have been reading my blog you know that I love black and white and I’m a huge fan of Joanna Gaines, Fixer Upper and all things with a modern farmhouse feel. Our previous white kitchen says it all – you can see it here and our new modern farmhouse living room here. So naturally I had to make the playhouse similar in design style to complement our home. I wanted the girls playhouse to feel like a mini version of our home.
We can also see the playhouse through the french doors of our dining room because I wanted the girls to be able to play right outside of the house where I can see them. I wanted it to blend in with our décor and have a kid friendly aesthetic appeal.
For the accessories, I headed to the dollar spot section of Target and snagged the cutest baskets and some adorable wooden eggs in a crate for pretend play. I also grabbed a few milk crate wire baskets with black trim for their toys inside the playhouse. I folded a cute buffalo check black and white rug to make it fit in front of the playhouse door and added a cute wooden welcome sign to the front door.
We added our own playhouse version of landscaping around the playhouse. I added real succulents to large rectangular planters under the window openings of each side of the play house. I added a few faux succulents (for play) to the ledge of the opening and wrote “Sisters Rule” on their chalkboard sign – the girls requested this – lol! I have a few more items I would love to add and will share those in a future post along with the interior of the playhouse. Also, I have some special items to make this little playhouse come alive at night so stay tuned for that post soon!
Rug//Baskets//Large Wooden Planter//White Planter//Faux Succulents//Welcome Sign//White chairs//Wooden Play Eggs
I hope you feel inspired by our white modern farmhouse cottage playhouse hack and that my tips are helpful. Let me know if you give it a try! I would love to see yours! You can tag me on IG with your playhouse pics @1111lightlane. You can shop more of the items from this post below.
Pin this for later!
Thank you as always for stopping by! Don’t forget to subscribe for the latest updates!
{A big thanks to Leslie from Cozy by the Sea for sharing her recent playhouse hack and for being so inspirational. You can see her modern farmhouse playhouse by heading here. Thank you also to Chip & Joanna Gaines for always inspiring us to add character, charm and beautiful touches to our home – we love everything you do and while I’m super sad Fixer Upper is coming to a close I know Chip & Joanna will continue to inspire us…I can’t wait to make it to the Silos someday to see their amazing work firsthand!}
Oh my goodness – this is the cutest playhouse I’ve ever seen. ❤️ I would love to make one like this to match our black and white farmhouse. Thank you so much for sharing!!
Thank you so much for your kind words! You totally need to make one!! xo B
Thank you for sharing your kichenand play house renovation with us. Its amazing and so beautiful, very clean lines. I have black and white, red kitchen. We need a redo but for now l,will just get ideas from bloggers like you. Have a blessed day.
Awe thank you so much Kim for your kind words! Have a wonderful day! xo, B
Thank you so much Kim! You are so kind and I appreciate you stopping by my blog! xo, B
This is just adorable!! We are about to diy this same playhouse and yours is totally the look we are going for!! Thank you!! Quick questions – did you guys sand down the playhouse wood and the plastic windows prior to painting? How is the paint holding up on those? We’ve not had much success painting plastic in the past. And if you have the name of that assembly app your husband suggested, would love to know!
Hi! Thank you for your kind words about our playhouse! We didn’t sand the wood – just primed it and painted. The plastic windows have held up beautifully with our black spray paint – in the post I linked the exact one we used. We’ve had rain and and dust from landscape work and when I cleaned it – the paint didn’t budge! We found the app in the assembly directions – comes with the playhouse. Hope that helps! Send me your pics if you end up hacking your playhouse! Would love to see and share it, xo B
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this! I want one for myself…
Awe thanks so much Tana!! The girls LOVE it! xo, B
Beautiful! I think we are going to pick one up this weekend just not sure if I want to paint the entire thing or not. What think and color silver spray paint did you use for the flag? Also, Can you send or show me where I can find pictures of the inside of the house? Thanks so much!
Thank you for your kind words! If you head over to my Instagram story highlights you can see the inside of the playhouse there. We spray painted the flag in black. Hope that helps! Thanks for stopping by and good luck on your playhouse hack! xo, B
About to build this for my kiddos and wondered what color you painted the chimney and flag on the playhouse? Thanks so much for the inspiration!
Hi! We spray painted the chimney black and the cap that goes over the top we painted white. We also spray painted the flag black. So happy to be able to inspire you! xo, B
Where, may I ask, did you find this particular playhouse? TIA
Hi! We found ours via Costco but I’ve linked it also via Amazon – hope that helps!
I am so glad to have found what a transformation of this playhouse could look like. Its so wonderful and gives really great inspiration. I am hoping my kiddos love it as much as your family is enjoying yours. I am planning my weekends out to work on ours, so quick question – do you feel it would be easier to paint prior to putting the playhouse together? Thank you again for sharing!
Hi! Thank you for your kind words! Personally we found it easier to put it together first than paint it – I think it would be harder to find the space to lay all the pieces out and paint everything and then put it together but it may work better for you! Best wishes on your playhouse hack! B
Love love this. Just drove 5 hours to pick this playhouse up (they are sold out everywhere!). Can’t wait to hack this for our 4 girls! Where did you find the cute chalkboard sign? Thank you!
Hi! The chalkboard sign comes with the playhouse! Yay! So excited that you were able to find it and would love to see it when you are done! Send it to me on IG @1111lightlane 🙂 Best wishes on your playhouse hack! xo, B
Hi!
Can you please let me know exactly where you got the cottage from? I’ve searched the web and can not locate it.
Thanks!
Hi! We bought it from Costco last spring but unfortunately it is sold out everywhere including Amazon – I will keep my eye out for it! It’s made by KidKraft and is also sold out on their website as well 🙁
Wow what a great job!! Love this!!! We recently bought our kiddos a similar play house like this one and would love to do some upgrades.
Quick question, where did you find the hanging chalkboard sign? My son loves to write his own signs and this would be a great alternative.
Hi! Thank you so much! The little chalkboard sign came with the playhouse 🙂
Love it! Since you have this outdoors, how do you keep the bugs out/away? I’m thinking about doing this for my daughter but am worried about spending all the time, money and effort only for it to become infested with bugs that she won’t play in it. 🙁
Hi! We don’t get many bugs inside – a few spiders here and there but I go in periodically and remove any cob webbs and hose it down – it’s super easy to maintain with the outdoor paint 🙂 Beth
Can you name the app (or send a link) that you guys used to help put together the playhouse? We have this exact playhouse sitting in our garage and we plan on putting it together over the long 4th of July Weekend!
For those looking I found it on Wayfair but had to wait several weeks for it to come back in stock. I got an alert and bought it immediately after losing out the first time (was trying to track down a coupon and it sold out). These playhouses are a hot ticket item especially with the gorgeous hack like yours! We’re going with the white and black color scheme too. I’m obsessed. Thanks for the inspiration, ideas, and tips!
Oh so fun! The app was found right in the directions for the playhouse – we found it there – hope that helps and good luck and congrats on your new playhouse! So much fun for the kiddos and worth the hack to customize and make it your own! Also great tip with the stock alert on Wayfair! Thanks for sharing and for your kind words – xo, Beth
So. Cute.!!! Can I ask how old your daughters are? Our kids are 3, almost 5, and 7. Do you think it’s big enough to give them several years of play?? Thank you so much!
Hi – thank you for your kind words! Yes definitely! It is designed for ages up to 10 – its especially perfect for your 3 & 5 year old!