For Marin’s 6th birthday, I was at a loss for what to get her. Her party was cancelled due to a worldwide pandemic and she was stuck at home with her sister indefinitely. Then, I thought, they should have their own space! And so I started researching playhouses. We live in a mid century modern home and so it was only fitting to put a modern playhouse in the back yard. I found the kit on Amazon, surprisingly, and it arrived ready for construction. You can buy your own by clicking this link.

Before we built the house, I convinced my husband to build a platform on which to put it to avoid future rot (Colorado is a 4 season state with an emphasis on snow winters). After he knocked that out, we quickly constructed the house, which included all the nuts and bolts necessary. True to form, we delayed putting together the mailbox and eventually lost some of the pieces, so we jimmy rigged it together with a nail gun and some imagination. Next, I got to work on paint.

Originally, I planned to leave the front section wood, but realized later that it looked weird, so I ended up painting the whole structure the same color. I opted to paint the playhouse the same color as our real house, and only realized after the fact that I had actually painted it the color of our house trim. I still love it! I asked my Instagram followers to help me choose a door color from the following three: Moorland Heather, Cherry Pink, and Coral Serenade (winner winner, chicken dinner). To finish the house, I spray painted the door handles gold, painted the picnic table a creamy white, and my friend Melina Be made me a custom sparrow-themed curtain.

In the end, I’m really happy to have created a super cute and MODERN playhouse for my kiddos that references our mid century modern home.