Creating a Beach Hut Playhouse
October 23, 2014 by Jenni Clutten | 2 Comments
Finally I’m allowed to reveal my post on creating a beach hut playhouse. It’s been a really exciting project to be a part of the Waltons Make It Your Own Playhouse and the transformation below was achieved with a budget of just £50.
Let the kids line up those sand castles and search for treasure on the beach of this stripy beach hut in the comfort of your own garden. Create a picnic feast to enjoy at the hut table and cuddle up in the seating area for story time as you all stare up at the fisherman net ceiling and watch the breeze gently move the driftwood mobile.
THE INTERIOR
The beach hut playhouse interior was put together with a collection of thrifted finds, mainly from items we had lying around the house.
- The Walls and Ceiling – I used a quick splash of cheap white emulsion on the interior walls and ceiling we had leftover really lightened up the playhouse, and gave it that extra beach wood feel. Once dry I stapled some pea netting from the green house to the ceiling, to create a flowing fisherman’s net and added some dried seaweed we picked up from the beach.
- The seating area – I used a woven beach mat from the garden center, (£1.50) to create a comfortable floor then for the seat I used a pregnancy pillow (or you coud use a few old pillows) covered in an old blanket and added a cushion we had lying around in Nye’s bedroom.
- Toy Storage – An old picnic basket or wicker basket creates fantastic beach style storage. Wicker is perfect for storing away any tray toys and keeps them clean and dry.
- Furniture – I used a spare set of table and chairs from inside the house to showcase all our other beach finds from our holiday. These are fantastic sensory treats, and they look just perfect displayed on a nautical paper tray from Tesco (50p)
- Driftwood Mobile – Create a perfect holiday momento with some free beach driftwood and some string. You’ll seed a drill, some drift wood (and shells) and some string. Select a drill bit that is slightly bigger than the thickness of your string and drill holes through the center of each piece of wood and tie knots into the string where you’d like the wood to sit.
It’s been too long since I shared any pictures of our garden, but I’m finally back with an update.
I don’t know why, but I actually find Autumn the most invigorating time for thinking about the garden. I’ve kind of just left summer to look after itself, I think I take it for granted, even when I’m harvesting courgettes and sweet peas on a daily basis At this time of year I’m always looking ahead to Spring, my most favourite season I’ve come to realise. I am always wanting to ensure that we are planting bulbs for a bright and vibrant colour explosion when the warmth starts to return.
I have a subscription to Gardner’s World which Neil bought me for my birthday and relaxing in the bath with it is my favourite way to relax. I find it’s full of tips and inspiration and really inspired me to create a gorgeous garden. I also love the Sarah Raven catalogue, and I’m pleased to say after a year of admiring it, I finally ordered some products. I am so excited for them to arrive and to be able to share them with you once I’ve planted them up.
We all know that things grow over time, but I don’t think I’ve ever been so aware of it as this week. I was flicking through my laptop and I could see the transformation was just so striking. It’s the change and varieties in colour more than anything. Here are some of my before and after photos from January 2014 to June 2014. Have you seen any big changes in your garden tis month?
The garlic has been wonderful, such a fragrant thing to plant in the winter months and look forward to in the summer. I’ll certainly be planting some again this year and I am hoping to learn to to keep what I’ve grown for as long as possible. The bulbs themselves arent enormous which isn’t a surprise as I didn’t add anything to the soil before I planted. Once I’ve emptied the bed I’ll be adding more 
The beautiful roses are in full bloom. I can hardly believe they were woody stems just a month or so ago. I have used them for the village flower arranging compeition, to give to a friend and I have just started to make some confetti too.
And of course there are other beautiful things that have been growing, plentiful peas, sweet peas and more subtle white/pink roses and lots more to enjoy.
Interested in getting the kids out of the house? Got your trowel and wellys to hand? Here’s my guide to get kids gardening.
A small container is a great way for kids to take responsibility for their own space, giving them a sense of pride and accomplishment. We selected a lovely deep raised bed that was looking bare since the daffodils have faded. Nye chose the Calibrachoa Cabaret Yellow, Fuchsia Semi-Trailing Buds of May Jean Taylor and Ivy Geranium Supreme Burgundy White. Alongside these he went for a cucumber plant, which was in need of a new home.
Some of the onions went to seed so we chopped them down and ate them, and they were delicious. The tops of the onions have blown over too now so we have been slowly pulling them up gradually. They have the most beautiful bright white flesh and a lovely strong smell and were just perfect in the 
A lick of paint:
This week I’ve been working on improving the year round colour and foliage in our garden, starting with the borders which appear to be full of wild flowers.
And linking up with Mammasaurus for the wonderful How Does Your Garden Grow Linky. Last week I loved these 
I am loving the combination of the pink blossom and the yellow rape seed at the moment. I find the contrast crazily enjoyable and kind of psychedelic. Soon the blossom will be gone, (it’s already falling) and then the next phase of growth will come along. There are tulips galore, these are ones we planted when I was still pregnant back in early November. I had forgotten which ones I’d bought and these pink blossoms are very unlike me, however I’m finding them strangely appealing. 
Then on with the next stage of the garden. I think these are my anemones de caen coming through. I soaked the bulbs and planted them months ago and hoped they would grow so I can cut them to display inside. The bulbs seem to have swelled from these tiny corns to gigantic conkers, I’m so excited to see them bloom.
The garden is being somewhat taken over by the field. It’s wonderful having such an open fence but as the wildflowers creep in I think I will have to take some of the garden back. I find myself madly googling what weeds look like in their infancy so I can strike before they grow madly. It is a battle I am loosing at the moment. The ground up there is rather mossy with a couple of old tree stumps and fungus seems to grow in abundance. 
The flower assortment is growing, I just love this unusual double daffodil and the gorgeous tiny flowers on the rosemary. Then there are the big floppy pansies that Nye insists on ‘watering’ by ripping them out of the ground and blasting them with a hose pipe! I’m thinking more and more about flowers now most of my fruit and veg seeds are sown. I recently bought which I have been feasting my eyes on. It’s done nothing for my addicition to buying seeds and I was totally blown over by a bed of poppies, verbascum and astrantia. I’ve bought some similar varieties to grow from seed so we shall see how it goes!
One of the major easter jobs has been re-painting some teak garden furniture we picked up from ebay a few weeks ago. I ended up applying about 4 layers of this blue paint but I am so in love. As I spent yet another afternoon dripping in blue paint I tried to imagine how pleased I’d be when it was finished. I’ll be sharing a full set of before and after pictures later this week.
The veg patch continues to grow, we now have potatoes, big fat onions and garlic, peas and lettuce. I went to sow some more carrots, thinking the first ones had failed, but just as I crouched down I found the tiniest of carrot seedlings sprouting up from the earth. Nye has been trampling all over them, I hope some survive, at least I can be certain that they will be hardy!