The cottage/playhouse project: photos!

We have been thinking of building a playhouse at our cabin (in Dalarna, Sweden) for a long time, and finally, this summer we did it. Our daughters, Yaminah, 6 years old, and Leiah, 1, love it. Here are pictures of the playhouse, which Tomas designed himself after seeing pictures and ideas I found, mostly on-line (love Pinterest!) and also inspired by our good friends' playhouse they built their children (thanks Maria & Magnus).

Our goal was to make a cute playhouse that was not too small. Ideally, we would be able to use it for something else in the future. And so it is rather tall, although most adults have to duck to walk through the door.

My favorite part of the playhouse design is the loft--and Yaminah already loves being up there. Without having completely planned for a specific size, the loft ended up being the perfect size for a regular Ikea mattress! So even though the ceiling is low, it is possible to sleep up there, even for an adult. The little shelf in the wall was my idea and turned out perfectly; it is just right for cute little teacups that we love to try to find in second-hand shops. The door sign was custom-made by "Mamma Millan" that I found via Facebook. We chose to write "cottage" rather than "lekstuga," in order to bring in our American culture as well.

Everything has been custom-made or ordered; one detail that we didn't really think about until we started building was the windows. At first we planned on looking around for old windows we could find and renovate, but then someone actually said that plastic is much better. Tomas ordered custom-made plastic for the windows, which was pricy, but definitely worth it. My mom, the girls' grandma Elisabeth, made the cupcake curtains, and those matched the cupcake signs we found on our weekend get-away to London this summer.

Before we left for the fall we had a housewarming party for the playhouse, which was perfect. We invited a few families, and the girls received some adorable gifts, including the brown tray that came from Tomas's family's home from when he and his siblings were kids.

Here are some pictures to share with you. We love our playhouse, and hipp, hipp, hooray for my math and science teacher-husband who is handy enough, and willing, to build such an adorable house for our girls and for us. We love you, Tomas!

The girls' Grandma Elisabeth hanging up the adorable cupcake curtains she made for the playhouse.

"Careful!" I yelled again, and again, and again, as Tomas worked on the roof. :)

Playhouse resident Leiah, one year old

And resident number two: Yaminah, six years old

Farfar på besök!

This adorable little solar-powered flower waves all day long.

 

Leiah wants to sit and read the London book from our friend Angela.

The "China cabinet" with our secondhand finds and gifts, including the little tea tins from London, yellow teacup from Erikshjälpen in Dala-Järna, Pippi tea service from the girls' late Farmor Mariann, and lovely rose teapot Aunt Elenor found secondhand.

 

  

 

Mailbox purchased at Hjärtats Rum in Dala-Järna

Surprisingly inexpensive children's rocking chair from Ikea.

Tomas built this shelf in the studs, and I painted the back wall pink for contrast.

What can be cuter than cupcakes?! (Sign from an adorable shop in Notting Hill, London).

This Chinese fan, purchased at a secondhand store in my hometown of Fertile, MN, is a nod to our years in western China.

Our lovely sign, "Yaminah & Leiah's Cottage", made by Mamma Millan via Facebook