With her grandkids living in Missouri and Alaska, Kathy Thomas doesn’t get to have them at their home Texas very often. On those rare occasions when they do come, she wanted them to have a really cute playhouse. Her husband David, on the hand, wanted a shed.
They decided to purchase a playhouse that would double as a backyard storage space. With an adult door on the side and the upgrade to extra tall walls, an Ulrich playhouse would let them store lawn chairs and power cords most of the year. Once or twice a year when the grandkids showed up, they could easily convert it into a play space.
Since much of the Thomas’ yard space is taken up by the pool, they decided to keep their playhouse quite small. They settled on the 8×8 ft Victorian. The adult door faces their house, and the kid’s door faces the pool.
Playhouses look much cuter with some skirting around the bottom to give them a finished, built-in-place look. David proved you can achieve this look very inexpensively. Rather than installing actual skirting, he simply planted dense, vigorous lantana plants around the edge. At the door, he used pavers to form steps and a small patio. It looks great and it was really cost effective.
The grandkids think it’s great — they think it’s their playhouse. And it’s true, it is their playhouse to use when they visit. But in reality, it’s Grandpa and Grandma that are getting the most use from this Ulrich playhouse.