Our Cabin Themed Playroom

I am so excited to finally be sharing our kids’ playroom with you! We have renovated entire houses, built everything from built ins to furniture to wall art, but this room gets the biggest share of the love. Maybe it’s because most of us are still children at heart that get excited about relaxing and playing make believe. It’s just fun. 

It seems like kids don’t get the opportunity to be kids much these days. We encourage our kiddos to play, get dirty, build things, and explore. Much of that happens outside, but with the perfect unused space in the house we decided to set our passion for creating and building free.

Well, free within a budget, of course.

Enough talk, here it is!

Guys, this was fun. I’m going to break it all down, and tell you where everything comes from. If I miss anything, please feel free to ask.

*This post does contain some affiliate links, and you can read my full policy on that here.

The Cabin Playhouse and slide

The cabin was inspired by a Restoration Hardware design for a bed. A really expensive bed. A really cool bed. But too cool to just sleep in, so we modified it into a playhouse by changing up the side and back walls and raising it higher off the ground. And we did it for $300 instead of $3000. Dang straight I’m proud about that. Just as we were finishing it up the always amazing Jen Woodhouse and Ana White published their plans for how to create one of these. That’s great news for me and for you, because they are so incredible at creating plans. Here is a link. If you are interested in making it a playhouse you will need to make some modifications. I am happy to answer any questions about our process in doing so.

Where the stuff came from:

Slide, Target (the original slide as I ordered it has changed a little to include handle bars. If you prefer the version without you can also get the slide at Amazon.

Play kitchen, Amazon. This one seems to have gone up a little, so here is a link to another version.

Wallpaper, Target

Curtain fabric: Joann. I got this stuff locally, and ever since it has been out of stock. The navy color I used is not online anymore, but here’s one color that is.

 

The Reading Nook & Bridge

 

 

Do you remember the Hamburglar playground toy? The one you could climb up and then crawl around in a circle? Yep, that was the inspiration piece for this. That space behind the tree is accessible by climbing up the bookcase steps inside. It is not a large space, but the kids love it up there. Probably because adults cannot fit.

I’ll let the photos, and my model kids show the rest.

The bridge is composed of retired fire hose bolted to both structures. The boards are then screwed to the hose, and the rope looped along the sides. Yes, the kids have used this as a trampoline and it has held up without hitch. Yes, they have purposely dismounted via the side of the bridge. No, it does not greatly concern me. But if it did you could always use wood rails instead of rope.

Where the stuff came from

There’s not much to add here. The fabric is the same as that found below the main cabin playhouse. The raw materials came from Home Depot. I sketched the tree by hand and then cut it from plywood using a jigsaw.

READ letters – I had these in my stash for so long I don’t recall where I got them, but I managed to find a few on Amazon.

 

The Climbing Wall

Oh, boy, is this ever a popular area! I wrote about this wall recently here. The design keeps the playroom looking nice and open, fits well in an odd space, and allows for outlets that we needed to work around. I added small hooks to the mats so that we can attach them to the wall and block it off from the kids. It is a simple safety feature that works well.

Where the stuff came from

Mats, Amazon

Climbing holds, Amazon. (I’m including the link even though they are showing currently unavailable so you can see which ones we got. We also got a larger set, which you can see here.)

Board, Home Depot

 

The playroom campfire area

Isn’t that campfire just cuter than a bug’s ear?! I eyed this thing for months before snatching it up on a sale.

Originally we planned to build sliding doors for the television, but the space is a bit tight on this wall. I will probably construct a box to hold a dvd player and whatnot, but for now we are just patting ourselves on the back for mounting the tv to the wall for the first time in four years. We don’t watch it much, but there it is.

Where the stuff came from

Campfire, Land of Nod

PLAY letters, Michaels. Not available online as far as I can tell, but check locally. I have never been able to find a full size Y, which drives me nuts, so if you see one tell me, would ya?

Lantern, Amazon

Log Pillows, Amazon

 

The Toy Area

Surprisingly, with all that is in this playroom, this and the trains and blocks under the playhouse are it for the toys. We keep everything organized in baskets on the shelves. The shelves also hold learning activities such as puzzles, games, crafts, and activity books. The table also doubles as a kid table when we have company over. It is built of the same scrap table that we use to build full size dining tables. You can read about the miniature kid table here.

The directional sign was created using driftwood and hand lettering. It was a fun accent that didn’t cost us a thing!

Where the stuff came from

Curtains, Amazon

Crates and baskets, Home Goods

 

Everything else

The faux fur rug, Home Goods,

The towel wall art, Amazon (the frames I made) I took this idea from The Heathered Nests’ awesome boy room.

Pillow, Amazon

 

We love the playroom. The kids enjoy it so much they wanted to be in every photo I took of it. I love that it is a space where they can play, create, imagine, dream, and learn when they are indoors. Hopefully something in here inspires you! Thanks for reading, and happy creating!