Little Tikes Playhouse Makeover
A budget friendly take on the Little Tikes Playhouse makeover using few supplies and showing how you can add little personal touches to make it special for your little one
Want some more cheap DIY projects? Check out my wreath made from a $1 hula hoop or our cheap and easy solution to K-cup storage!
Here’s the truth. I don’t like being outside.
Seriously, I hate it.
The walk from inside the house out to my car is about as much “outside” as I can stand.
But what’s even weirder is I really want my babes to love playing outside. We have a super family friendly neighborhood and we really do feel safe here!
The only problem is our outside is so boring. Even for me as an adult so I can’t imagine why our littles would want to go out and play.
See what I mean? Poor kid. And that’s not even the whole yard. We eventually would love to put a nice playset here, but that’s not in the budget. But a free outdoor playhouse was absolutely in the budget. We just needed to give this little plastic playhouse a facelift.
DIY Little Tikes Playhouse Makeover
*Some affiliate links may be used
Supplies:
- 2 cans of spray paint for roof (We went with our favorite Rustoleoum Matte Black)
- 3 cans of spray paint for the house frame (We chose this matte white)
- 2 cans of spray paint for the doors (This is where you can get fun and creative, but we chose this sweet blush pink)
- OPTIONAL: Wood-look foam playmat
- OPTIONAL: Glass doorknob
Steps:
First things first is removing stickers and cleaning your house. It’s super important that it’s clean so that the paint will stick to it.
Once your playhouse is completely dry, this is where I should tell you to prime all your pieces, but we didn’t do that.
Partly because we used spray paint with primer built in, partly because we’re lazy.
Oh well. We will see how it holds up over time.
So, here you can either prime your pieces and let them dry and then begin painting or you can just get right on in there and paint it, a la us.
Last step is to put your toy playhouse back together and start adding little details to make it yours.
This was my favorite part! You have so much creative liberty with this and you don’t even have to spend a ton of money.
I would have loved to added a cute little doormat and may do that one day, but for the moment, this is an extra one that we already had so it was free and I was trying to do this as budget friendly as possible.
Let’s talk some of my favorite details about this playhouse makeover.
The hanging succulent and the little wood and tin post envelope are from the Target dollar spot!
The entire reason this project started was because I saw that envelope and had to have it, but needed an excuse to use it.
The sweet little glass doorknob is from Hobby Lobby.
Those cute little already dirty gardening tools were $1 each at the Target dollar spot too!
Does her house number look familiar? It should! We used the exact numbers on our mailbox makeover! Except we found them at a local scratch and dent store for $1!!!
We paid almost $6 for each of our numbers for our mailbox.
This is actually a foam playmat that looks like hardwoods! It’s brilliant for inside your little plastic playhouse.
They look a little worn because I put them in and then it stormed super bad overnight, but whatever.
I bought this almost 2 years ago from Zulily (but here is a similar one) and hadn’t even opened the box yet, but it was the perfect addition.
Helps keep her feet less muddy while she’s playing and it allows her to sit on the ground or kneel in there without getting her knees all scraped up.
She’s been asking for a garden for a long time but she would be real sad if I was in charge of her garden. So we stuck with flowers in pots.
I took her to Home Depot and let her pick out her own flowers and she’s actually got pretty decent taste!
We just need to get her a kid sized watering can. This thing is bigger than her, but she strong armed it and did just fine!
I have to say, I’m pretty pleased with how this little painted playhouse makeover turned out! But don’t ask me. Let this face speak for itself!
How do you sttatch door knob?
Can you link the door paint or what brand you used?
It’s linked in the post!
What did you use to remove the stickers?
Like a putty knife similar to this one here. Nothing special!
Beautiful! Where do you live? Just wondering how the spray paint is holding up in the elements.
We live pretty close to Charlotte, NC. We don’t have too many elements other than rain and heat and there has definitely been some chipping, but I think it would probably be less if we would have done some primer or even sanded some parts of it prior to spray paint. The good news is spray paint is super cheap!
I love this! I’m curious. What is the hook that you used to hang the succulent?
Thanks so much! Honestly it was one in my husband’s tool closet haha so it had to either come from Home Depot or Lowes, but I don’t have a link. I’m so sorry!
How did you attach the hook and door knob? Did you screw into house? Or use adhesive?
We screwed it in!
How did you put the playhouse back together? I bought one used and looked up the directions, but it says there is a special tool from Fisher Price that I need for the doors. Thanks!
Sounds like Fisher Price is tryna get some money out of you because we did NOT have to have any special tools!
Hello! Could you tell me how you attached the house number? Has it held up?
Just a little nail! And it’s held up perfectly 🙂 Occasionally our daughter or son will pull it off, but you can just pop it right back up there
What a lovely job you did!! I’m curious, does the roof leak or does it stay pretty dry inside? Thanks in advance 🙂
Honestly, we’ve had no leaks!
Hello! I’m currently in the process of doing the same thing and loved your little door knob your using so I got the same one, although I had a quick question! What did you do to the back of it so that there wasn’t a huge piece of screw still sticking out? I’m thinking of cutting mine shorter and then a cap on the end or something. My 2.5 year old is very injury prone so I’m trying to cross all my T’s lol.
Thanks!
haha, I get that totally! It sticks out a bit, but honestly you could probably cut it shorter with no problem I’m sure!
I am in love with this !!! We are planning to do this to my daughters house ???? question how did you place the door knob on the door ?
It comes with a screw! We just screwed it in the back 🙂
How did you affix the mailbox to the plastic?
We just hung it on a screw we put in. There’s a little hole in the back that was already in it to hang it 🙂
This is absolutely stunning. So much nicer than the original out of the box version. She is going to get hours and hours of fun playing in it. Beautiful.
Oh, she already has! 🙂 She’s IN LOVE with the thing so I consider that the best win yet!
I love this! I was wondering how the primer/paint is holding up. I’m getting ready to tackle this and wondering if it’s alright to take the short cut.
Great question! Honestly, it’s been through a TON of rain storms and I have yet to see a chip. The ONLY place that’s chipped is the doors and that was because putting it back together was a little tougher than expected and chipped it off, but other than that, it’s in tip top shape! 🙂
I’d live here, no jokes 🙂 The playhouse you made for your daughter is so pretty and I love the gentle colors and details you’ve incorporated to give it more personality and interest. Thank you for sharing this, it’s lovely and it’s obvious that it’s making your daughter super happy!
Thank you so much!! We had so much fun making it 🙂
I will definitely be looking for one of these playhouses for my grand daughter. She is just a baby right now but I want one so badly after seeing yours. You guys did an excellent job and she looks so happy! Thanks for the inspiration.
It was worth it totally! SO CHEAP to do!
What a great makeover, I wish I was a kid to be able to play there
I seriously need one of these for my grandkids!! Your makeover turned out so cute!
It’s so easy! I say go for it. She LOVES it and you can find them super cheap or used. Ours was used!
Okay, this is flipping adorable! We totally have one of these little playhouses but I’ve never done anything with it other than throw it in the backyard for the kids to play with. Now I totally want to make it over for the kiddos. I love that you added the interlocking mats inside. Our yard can get really muddy (I swear it retains all the water for the neighborhood) so that would be a great way to minimize the tracks coming back in the house. Love it!!
Yes girl go for it! Spray paint FOR THE WIN!! And for us, it’s at the bottom of the hill so mud is DEFINITELY an issue. But the mats and the rug at the front does help for sure
This is too cute! The look on your daughter’s face says it all!
For sure! She’s loving it so so much!
Such a wonderful upcycle – great colors and looks so classy. Absolutely love it.
Thank you so much! 🙂
The playhouse turned out so cute!!
Thanks so much!
This is the cutest! I want to take my kids house apart and paint it, but they are getting to tall for theirs. I wish they made the roofs higher. Your little girl is going to love playing in it.
I agree with the short roof! She’s 4 and has to duck to get in already 🙁 Wish I would have gotten it sooner but we have her brother. Hope he likes girly things haha