Hand me downs are great, right? But hand me downs that you can makeover and turn into something new and special are even better. That was the case with this Little Tikes playhouse that my in-laws gifted us. Keep reading to see how simple it was to take from basic to beautiful! Some links contain affiliates.
a Little Tikes playhouse makeover
It is wonderful living near family. Every time I think about moving back to Texas, I just think about that. About how great it is for our kids to be able to see their grandparents all the time. Plus, you gotta love freebies and hand-me downs from loved ones, right?
For example, we got a sweet little playhouse for free from my in-laws a couple years ago. It was in fairly good shape. Just a couple of cracks, a little dirty and scuffed up, and the stickers were peeling off inside.Â
I had seen these Little Tikes playhouse makeovers years ago and just fell in love. I knew that someday if we ever found a great deal at a yard sale or something that I would have a blast painting it–maybe even something that would match out house?
Well, thanks to my awesome-sauce in-laws, I didn’t even have to search every garage sale and Craigslist ad in the state. This poor little playhouse sat around for a couple years in its original condition as we focused on other things. Now that we’ve made some progress in our yard I decided it was time to do something about it. Of course I forgot to get a picture before we dissembled it, but you can see the original colors in the last picture in this post.
First Mike pressure washed the whole thing to give me a clean surface to start with. However, this still turned out to be a harder project than anticipated because I couldn’t get the shutters and door off. So I had to do A LOT of taping off. Eventually I finished with all the layers of spray paint (three layers for the Wildflower Blue on the sides, four for the Granite on the roof and shutters) and I reassembled the playhouse under our cherry tree.
Since I’ve finished this Little Tikes playhouse makeover and moved it to a better spot in the yard the kids have loved playing with it. Everything is coming together in the yard and I am so excited that all the hard work is paying off!
23 Responses to playhouse makeover project with spray paint
Oh my goodness, I love it! I always see these on Pinterest, but ours is still in great shape. Projects always seem so easy until you actually start them, don’t they? If it were me, I would paint the door with chalkboard paint! That way, the kids can use chalk on it!
Oh, that would be so fun! I wonder how the chalkboard paint would hold up on the plastic surface?
It turned out darling!!! I do love the pink door but a cheery yellow or bright aqua would look great too!
The house looks amazing! Looks like your darling girl loved the change 🙂
Thanks Shane. All the kids are having a blast in it now. 🙂
This looks great! I really like the door light pink, but I bet a nice light mint would be pretty too.
How were the fumes? I have a few things I want to rehab but I’m worried about the spray paint smell in the heat.
Oh.. mint. I hadn’t even thought of that!! I LOVE mint!!
Such a good idea to remodel instead of buyin a new one! Love the new colors!
Oh wow! That is a gorgeous little play house! I would have loved to have played in that when I was little. Heck, my 10 year old daughter would love it now; blue is her favorite color!
Thanks so much! It’s definitely an improvement. 🙂
This is adorable! What about a yellow or a mint green door?
Yes! A couple of other people have suggested those colors to me as well and I think a creamy yellow would be really pretty.
I absolutely love this! It turned out so good. I’ll be on the search for one for my daughter now, thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you very much! I hope you have more luck finding one in decent shape than I did, I’m so thankful my in-laws gave us one!
What a fun idea! Now I need to search garage sales and Craigslist until I find one! My daughter would love this. You did a fabulous job!
The color is amazing! It sounds like it was a big project, but looks like it was a winner in the end.
Thank you so much Jenny! I am really pleased with how it turned out, even if it was a bit of a pain. 🙂
What kind of paint did u use?
Hi! I used the Rust-Oleum Ultra Cover (you can find links in the blog post) and it has held up great!
Just curious how the paint has held up! It is adorable.
Hi Chrissy! It held up really well for the most part! Places that were high contact, like where the doors and window shutters hit the side of the building started chipping. We’ve since moved and didn’t bring it with us but I was really impressed with how well it worked, would definitely do it again!
Do you have any hints on an easy way to re assemble. I have one that I need to put back together and it is sooo hard>
I don’t, I’m so sorry. Ours was pretty small and simple so I was able to remember how it came back together. If you know the exact model (playhouse name) I bet you can Google for instructions!