Sunday, January 23, 2011

Playhouse Concept 2

This is a follow up to my January 6 posting for a playhouse concept I am thinking of building this year.

We have a small back yard, so there is not much room for both a play house and a large dining table for back yard summer barbecues.  So I have an idea to make a structure that can do both ...

In this concept, the west side of the structure will have the kid sized door and windows to give the appearance of a play house.  The kids can have fun using the doors and windows that fit their size.  Then the south side can completely open up with French doors and the east side can completely open up with something like accordion doors.  So adults could also use the structure like a gazebo.


I did a quick Google image search for accordion doors and about all the results were for the cheap looking vinyl accordion doors I've seen in offices, hotels, and restaurants. I don't want that look.  I was thinking of doors that fold up like accordion doors.  But I want "slatted" wooden doors styled like those in a tropical beach house. 

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Now for something different ...

Now for something different ...

For the past several years in January, I typically have great aspirations to accomplish a lot of stuff in the coming year.  This year, one of my developing aspirations is to build a play house in our back yard for the kids.  I first got this idea towards the end of last summer just before the weather turned cold and rainy, so I put the idea on hold.  It's still cold and rainy now, but I can take this opportunity to draw a concept or two for the play house.

My motives for this project would be two-fold.  Initially, we would let the kids play in it.  But the reality is the kids are destined to abandon the play house when they get older.  So I would want to make a structure that would also be useful to me as a study or workshop.  My wife sees through this last part of my plan and says it's just going to be my "man cave!"  She might be right...

As I illustrated in my sketch, I am thinking of having two doors.  One that's kid sized, and one that's adult sized, so grown-ups wouldn't need to stoop down to enter.  I've never built a shed, or a house, but from what I can tell, building a wall with a window is a lot more work than putting up a big window.  So I've drawn the south wall of the play house as one big window.  This might save me some building effort and give us a way to keep an eye on the kids in the play house.