A little stain can ruin your favourite blouse… but it can sure do wonders for things made of wood….

Around the corner from our home, this little play house had been placed for sale, by the curb side. Driving by I spotted it and immediately began thinking of how to rearrange our yard to include the house…. liking its lines and knowing it would be a fun project, I couldn’t pass it up…. (and the price was right)

First, we had to carry the playhouse, carefully balanced on my daughter’s wagon (it was NOT going to fit in the car), gently guiding the load over the few blocks to our home…

Then, as soon as I could, I made it to the hardware store, excited to pick the colours 🙂 for stain, which would protect the wood from the elements while making it prettier at the same time. If applied correctly stain would have less chances of peeling (as opposed to paint). I chose three colours of opaque stain (although semi transparent would also have been nice), choosing blue for the body of the house and two of the smallest cans of the brightest green made in a stain (sea foam green) and white for accents (and contrast)- all cool colours so they’d mix well.

I gave the house a quick sanding with my electric sander and started staining. The nice thing about older weathered wood is that stain soaks in well 🙂

I bought some bins which would serve as display containers for “produce sold at the market” and added some signs. I was going to make the signs myself but after finding some at a big store at half off, I bought them.

Then, in order to tie in the white and give the house a more finished look, I cut and nailed in some window trim as you can see below (and added curtains- a panel bought at a hardware store some time ago for a few dollars). They needed to be cut to size and sewn together. I then bought small curtain rods at the dollar store (two of them needed to be cut but with a metal saw- very quick and simple job). I installed the rods and curtains 🙂

As you can see, I also added a pinwheel for the roof (from a second hand shop) as well as a metal star I had bought a few years earlier for next to nothing- both which I repainted with Kreylon spray paint (for a bit of punch with a touch of a different colour). For the door, I had found an old door handle years ago lying on the ground (see below) and thought the rough worn look would add a touch of charm.

Now, my daughter and her friends, love the house and I had great fun fixing it 🙂

And on a market day….