Outside Play in our Evermeadow Playhouse

One of the most exciting things about moving into our own home was the idea of a garden that Theodore could one day run around in. And so quickly those days have come! We’ve lived here for seven months now, and Theodore has been walking for the last three of those months. So our time outside has grown and grown since he could properly explore. Me and my sister had a wooden play house when we were kids, I believe it was still stood in the garden way into our teens. I remember one time deciding to paint it whilst my parents were out with blue bathroom paint (and they weren’t happy…). This had me searching around to get Theodore one for his first birthday but the lovely people at Big Game Hunters got in touch and kindly sent us on of their Evermedow Playhouses.

It arrived so quickly. You know when the delivery man knocks on the door and you think “no way is this what I’ve ordered…” and it is?! Thats exactly how I felt.

Building it was a breeze. You could certainly do it on your own, but it would be easier with someone to hold parts in place whilst things are screwed and banged together. I timed us building and it only took 25 minutes which surprised me massively since Bradley built a wooden toy garage at Christmas which took him 40 minutes! Though Bradley is very experienced in all handy-trades areas so maybe he’s just super quick.

We built it on the driveway so that we had an easy stable ground to work from. We were both pleasantly surprised on how easy it was. Usually when I’ve roped Bradley into helping me with something he complains the entire time. Well not this time! I mostly just let him get on with it. The instructions were so clear and easy to understand, and every piece of wood was numbered meaning no “whats this piece for?” questions.

So we managed to get it up all whilst Theodore was napping. Meaning it was already for him to play and explore in once he had woken up.

He immediately saw it and ran over. Beforehand all he had to play with in the garden was a few balls and a wind chime. He quickly became obsessed with mostly the door (he has a thing about doors!), he loves knocking and opening. Going inside and peering out the windows to see what I was up to.

He’s now a big fan of pushing his nose and face against the windows which leaves a beautiful residue of snot… The whole house is so easily cleaned. I’ve been sweeping out any leaves and dirt he’s dragged in, and giving the windows a polish.

The one thing I think this house is missing, which I intend to buy is a hatch so that the door stays closed. So that when the house is not in use the door isn’t blown open and closed by the wind. This will then keep any curious animals from taking shelter there. But these are easily picked up from any shop.

It’s recommended that the house is either treated or painted as its delivered un-treated. This gives you complete free range with creativity of personalising it to both yours and your toddlers tastes.

I first decided that I wanted a blue teal colour with white doors and windows. So that’s what we went out and got. Sadly, and very annoyingly the colour was nothing like it had shown on the tin, and it was in-fact a very dark deep blue. Every time I saw it in the garden I was getting more furious with the site of this blue blob and knew I had to change the colour as I was hating the colour more and more every time I went outside.

Although I hated this colour, it was really easy to paint. The wood absorbed the paint so quickly meaning the colour actually stuck well. I only had to do 2 coats of paint with this dark blue. If you choose to paint on a nice warm day, by the time you’ve worked your way round painting all 4 sides, the first side is dry and ready to paint over again.

I do recommend using masking tape around the windows though because I managed to paint most of the perspex in the process, luckily I managed to get it off once it had dried.

It took me a couple of weeks to try decided what paint colour I was going to use to re-paint it. I was worried about having to paint over this deep dark blue but I eventually went for a colour called Dusky Gem by Cuprinol, and I LOVED it.

Ta-da! I’m so happy with it now. I keep looking out the window thinking about how cute it looks. I used a tiny white tin of outdoor wooden paint for the windows, door and the roof edging. It has a tiny blue tint to it but I love it that way.

Obviously because I had to paint over the blue it took a few more coats of paint. I think it was roughly about 4 coats, but again I painted on a sunny dry day meaning each part dried before I got back round to it again. Painting took around an hour which I managed to fit in whilst Theodore was napping (oh the things you can do whilst toddlers sleep!).

We got some cheap old slabs to go underneath the base as this will protect it from rotting and getting damp since we’re keeping it on the grass. We also decided to felt the roof to again help protect from all aspects of weather.

This house has already seen its fair share of rain, snow, wind storms and hot hot hot temperatures, and it’s all still in one piece. I have a few little bits I want to add eventually, like some fairy lights around the top, and some little fabric curtains. I’d also love to get a little personalised sign for the door with Theodore’s name on. I thought the little welcome mat was such a cute addition though. 

I mean, I’m sure Theodore didn’t even notice the colour difference, like he would even care. He still enjoyed it just as much. It’s the first thing he runs out to when we’re outside, and he loves pointing to it from his bedroom window. We are now so excited to get our garden finished so we can spend the whole summer out there.

Next week we are having our huge patio slabbed, a gate fitted and hopefully a lovely boarder of flowers added. Making the place much more lovelier to sit in, and much safer for Theodore.

I can just picture long summers with us sat out there with him running in and out of his playhouse. It’s definitely going to be something that stands the test of time.