This blog post (which is about creating and customizing a kids playhouse,) was sponsored by eBay and ShopStyle. As always, all words, opinions and images are my own.

As Oliver’s first birthday grows near, we knew we wanted to do something special for his big day. Rob and I have been talking about a playhouse for him, and it seemed like the perfect project to take on, especially with all of our time at home lately. Things are heating up in Arizona, so we needed to jump on this playhouse makeover fast! There are so many playhouses out there, and some of them can get pretty pricey, so I turned to eBay to see what I could find. I’ve always loved eBay for some rare and retro home decor, but they also have a ton of new items in the home and garden section. I loved going through the site to see what I could find for Oliver.

A Desert Inspired Kids Playhouse

We decided on this playhouse, which was actually pretty reasonably priced seeing that most I found that were cute ran upward of $500. That’s crazy! Rob and I decided we should get a simple wooden playhouse and customize it ourselves, with some desert-inspired accents and a little bit of paint. Check out the before of the house, below…

We left off the planters on the front and added our own accents, like these clay pots.  

Painting a Kids Playhouse

It probably would have been easier to paint the house first and then put it together, but we were a little impatient and didn’t want to wait to turn each panel over and repaint it. We ordered all the accents and playhouse on eBay and then ordered the paint from a local paint store and did curbside pick-up, given everything going on. This playhouse was the best distraction while staying home due to the pandemic, and it was so fun putting it together and painting it side by side with the baby monitor close-by, while Oliver was napping. It was such a “mom and dad” moment, and I’ll definitely never forget it. Anywho, enough of the mushiness. We primed everything first and then went with “White Sand” for the main part of the house and “Warm Hearth” for the door and accents.

Neutral Accents: Pots & Baskets

We switched out some of the hardware for some fun and unique elements. We replaced the doorknob with cholla wood as a nod to the desert. eBay has so many fun finds like this one, and I love the texture it added to the playhouse. I made a little welcome sign to hang outside the house by the front door. All are welcome here.

Some small hanging planters helped add some greenery, and Oliver loves watering and misting the plants, so I knew we had to add some. Spanish moss is a great option for kids because it can usually withstand both extremes weather-wise (overwatering and drying out a bit). Obviously, we’ll keep a close eye on him with the plants, but it’s clear he loves the little bit of independence he has with the task of watering them. We have a brass watering can in the house for our indoor plants, so a similar one for small hands was on my list for the playhouse makeover. 

We added a cast iron horseshoe to the top of the playhouse for good luck. Love this brass one too.

All of the small baskets are perfect catchalls for Oliver’s toys and we can easily switch things in and out. I made some artwork to hang in the playhouse and framed it too.

We found some wooden toy food with velcro, so it makes for a great sensory activity too. Oliver is at a stage where he loves to take things out and put things away, so I’m sure he’s going to have hours of fun moving around all the play food and blocks with these baskets. 

Kids Toys & Play Furniture 

I was pleasantly surprised by the large selection of quality wooden toys and play furniture on eBay. I found the simplest yet most amazing little wooden chair for Oliver from a local seller here in Arizona. It came in right away, so we had fun playing with it indoors before we finished the playhouse. There’s still a few available if you want to want to check them out. This mini table and chairs set would be fun alongside the outside of the playhouse, or this play bench.

We added a small printed rug to make it feel homier in there too!

Using the Playhouse in our backyard

For now, we’re going to keep the playhouse under our covered patio, especially as things heat up here in the desert. It’s going to be so perfect to use come fall when we spent every waking hour outdoors. By then Ollie will be running around. He’s taken a few steps over the last few weeks and it’s been the most joyful thing ever. I can’t wait to see him enjoy this playhouse and appreciate the outdoors even more. 

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