An alternate title for this post could be - "P.S. My Dad Is Awesome!" but I'm not one to brag.
Oh wait, I am. ;)
Ummmmm......
yeah.......
my dad.......
built this thing........
from his own plans............
 |
| math - no problem - spelling - uh? not so much |
in less than 2 weeks...........
working practically by himself!!!!
I mean, I did all the
really hard work..........like painting...........
decorating............
and picture taking.
Yep, that's me - a hard working diy'er up in here.
The Story:
I believe kids need grass and air......... and room to play and scream and.......... dream and giggle and tell secrets and......... move and bounce and climb......... and swing and laugh and
twist. Yep, they definitely need to be able to twist - because we all know twisting on a swing can be
way more fun than just plain old swinging.
I believe they need a place where they can grow - away from the tv, computer and all other electronic devices. I told my dad I wanted my kids to have what I had when I was a kid - a beautiful backyard setting for their childhood memories - a place they will remember fondly when they're grown. Basically, I dreamed it -
my dad built it. We make a killer team - his know how and my dreams - they work well together.
The Deets:
It's made from weather treated wood - the same wood you would use to build a deck - all from The Home Depot. I had to rent one of their trucks to get it all home.
It's hard to really give a set of plans or a how to because this was built very specific to my backyard. This area of the yard is sloped, so some of the posts are dug in deeper than others. The playhouse/clubhouse/miniature deck (whatever you want to call it) is almost 8 feet wide and 6 feet deep. The sides of the deck are 38 inches from the floor to the top of the hand rail. I had just one hand rail added going up the stairs instead of two for aesthetic reasons. I like the way it looks with one side open. My kids are 6 and 8, so one handrail is perfectly fine for safety reasons and the side that has no hand rail isn't as far from the ground as the other because of the way our yard slopes. Obviously for younger kids 2 hand rails would probably be a safety necessity. The whole thing is just under 5 ft above the ground, but it's only about 3 and half feet from the ground on the side that doesn't have a hand rail. We've had no issues at all with just the one hand rail so far, but adding another could be done easily if this becomes a problem.
The chairs, pillows, table, rug and ottoman all came from my second home - Target - the Threshold line rocks -you know this.
The red lantern is from Pier 1 Imports.
The polka dot window boxes were a diy project- more on them coming soon.
The flag is my favorite part. I bought it at Michael's.
The blue swings are from Lowe's.
I had originally wanted a roof over the clubhouse, but I changed my mind. The way it sits under this tree makes it feel like a treehouse, and I felt like a roof would take away from that feeling.
Soup to nuts - the whole thing was built for just under $500 which includes the wood, the screws and other hardware, the swings, the concrete mix, the paint (I only had to buy a gallon as I already had some on hand. I used the colors from
the exterior of my home.), and the truck rental. Considering that most of the put-it-together-yourself sets cost almost double and still take loads of time to "build", I think we came out pretty darn good.
Having this in my backyard definitely doesn't suck.
Dear Dad,
Thanks for everything! Thanks for helping me
build a patio and fire pit, for building me a
raised garden box, and for never rolling your eyes whenever I come up with another project
for us to do together for you to do for me. Thanks doesn't really seem like enough, but I know you know what I mean.
