The Kids Cubby House

One of the things on our to-do list has been to fix the kids cubby house.

We purchased the cubby house for the kids Christmas present in 2014.  Brand new.  Cost around $2,000.  I am not going to recommend the company because despite following their instructions, the timber rotted in the floor boards and at the base of the walls and the roof was also faulty.

This is what it all looked like at the time.  Many hours were spent painting.  Primer and then 3 coats of colour.  A very labour intensive job.  We should have purchased a paint spray gun in retrospect but we put in the hours with my sister-in-law to get it done.

Moving forward 2 and a bit years, the side patio fell down in a storm and that was when we knew we either had to spend time and money fixing it or cut our losses and replace it all together.

Hubby contacted the company we purchased it from and they gave him a very good price for a new roof and flooring.  So good, we mustn’t be the first customers to have experienced this issue.  He headed over and collected the items and then it was time to take the cubby apart and repair it.

We did purchase a spray paint gun and it made the world of difference in regards to speed.  We purchased the Wagner Flexio 867 Paint Sprayer and we do recommend this item.

I have spoken before about my desire to build my own house.  The colours used here are probably close to the colours I’d choose if I was building right now.  They are Dulux Teahouse, Airborne half, Tranquil Retreat and Natural White.

Section by section the cubby was fixed and then it was time for some new finishing touches.

Internally, not a lot has changed.  The blue shelves are the IKEA Beksam spice racks which retail at $3.99 each and painted in the same blue as the door and window frames.  The table and chairs are from IKEA too.  The kitchen is from Hip Kids.  It is not intended to be a kitchen for outside and has been damaged by the water that has gotten in.  Still functional though! I made the curtains from damaged ones I had in our bedroom.

We already had the kids pink Adirondack chair which we purchased from Masters in 2014/15.  The kids door mat was also purchased at the time but unfortunately, the lady doesn’t make them anymore.  I wanted to place a plant by the front door. I popped in at Kmart and they had this fake plant for $20.00.

I then headed to Bunnings and selected this solar powered light which was on clearance for $5.00 and bought the $6.00 bracket for it to hang from.  We don’t need functional lighting as the kids are in bed when it’s dark, not playing in the cubby house, this was more for the aesthetics.  Not bad for $11.00.  I would have preferred to hang it lower but we were concerned the kids may bang their heads on it.

To the side is a little table and chair set from Toys’r’Us which cost us $59.99.

The light blue hanging baskets were on clearance for $5.00 at Masters all those years ago.  We went to the local garden store and got 10 plants for $10.00!  Bargain because if the kids are like me, they’ll be dead in no time!

So, after lots of work, the cubby house has been restored.  We have had lots of rain lately and it appears to be fairly water tight now.  The kids are loving having it back and I am “eating” lots of extra meals, made with love!

Tell me, do you have a cubby in your yard?  Thinking of getting one?  What’s holding you back?