Any recommendations for (wooden) playhouses?

[shelley72]

We are looking for a playhouse for our DC (4 and 1) and wondered if anyone had any ideas? We have seen the little tike plastic type ones and they look to me as though they will fade a lot if left out, which of course they will be. I like the idea of a wooden one, but are they very expensive? Or a pain to build? Are there any companies/makes which should be avoided?

We probably have a budget of about £200ish - instead of relatives asking what to buy for upcoming easter/birthdays etc was going to suggest they could contribute towards the playhouse if they would like, so that the DCs get something that they would enjoy and use for a few years to come.

Any advice welcome!

We bought a 7'x5' Summerhouse from Garden Buildings Direct for our DDs as at the time it was cheaper than a decent size playhouse, we paid about £250. The styles have changed a bit, ours is more wood and less window, they also do playhouses so that range might have changed a lot too.

What I would watch out for is headroom - when you have to chuck the toys in at the end of the day, you might regret buying a child size one! Also, we thought the full height one would be used longer term - you could put a small table and a couple of chairs in it, teenagers could chat in peace without being overheard etc

We painted ours with garden paint, the kids love it. There's a photo on my mumsnet profile, scroll down to the bottome of "housemum's photos" :)

Thank you that looks the kind of thing we are after! And what beautiful girls you have btw

thank you!