Our Shabby Chic Summerhouse Makeover

 

When we moved house last summer we left behind in our former garden a beautiful hand-painted playhouse, bought as an over-indulgent gift to our first child on her first birthday. It had daily use from a multitude of children and we all mourned it’s loss. I even mourned the handpainted sign saying 25 1/2 that I had made for it.

But the children got over their loss with the promise of their first trampoline, and we had plans for the existing summerhouse in our new home. Sadly for us though it had suffered neglect, and that combined with our very wet winter meant the cost of repairs were well beyond our budget. One sad day a few months ago DH took it down with sledgehammer and axe and made a bonfire of the bits that weren’t salvageable- the beautiful cedar shingles, the rotten floorboards, the lead flashing (which did not go on the fire.) He built a beautiful hen house from the windows and doors that survived.

And I found a company online that produced a summerhouse we could afford, pre-painted and, best of all, delivered and installed for free if under 200 miles away. And one Saturday afternoon my girls set up camp in the middle of the garden and watched as two very nice men erected a new summerhouse that exactly fit the space the old one took up. And there is has sat, storing our camping things, until I took The Girls to France last week and DH- never one to have idle hands- did a makeover like no other: a Shabby Chic Makeover which has created the perfect little girl’s clubhouse.

Isn’t it beautiful? I confess when he said he was using leftover paint: pale grey walls and a blue ceiling, all three of us looked a little worried, but it really lifts the interior. Not only that but he has added pink carpet and custom-fitted the summerhouse with a wonderful desktop which folds up to create more space, and a large shelf for storage- all painted to match. There is also an old Ikea storage box that got a new coat of paint. I found a pair of Ikea voiles that I never got around to hanging in the last house and they fit the windows and oor perfectly, so screen your eyes from the late afternoon sun which comes streaming in.

We won a little 60’s sofa on eBay for £40, whose retro colours have been neutralised with a quilt I used to have on our spare bed. I brought a couple of cushions and side-table that were surplus to requirements from the main house, and Granny gifted us the pair of straw-covered pouffes. DH hung a mirror that we haven’t found a home for and a picture from his old office, he picked up a couple of pink hurricane lamps as he knew they would love them, and found a folding bistro table and chairs which can be used inside or out, depending on the weather.

They are overjoyed with the transformation: we have created the perfect clubhouse that will grow with them over time. They have moved their art pots and paper across so we no longer have a cute little kids table in the kitchen. We just bought them a doormat- to put on the newly decked front of the summerhouse- to help keep out pine needles and LBG keeps asking me to get her a “little bed, just in case.” I think we may find she moves out there permanently soon.

Well done, my Darling Husband: you did an awesome job and we love you very very much indeed.