Mum In Lockdown Creates Amazing Fairy Playhouse For £100
- Danielle Paterson, 30, wanted a creative challenge during lockdown
- She spent less than £100 transforming a plain playhouse into a pink paradise
- Danielle stocked up on materials from Homebase and Aldi
Lockdown has brought out the creativity in many of us, whether that’s in the form of baking, crafts or DIY.
And one mum took the opportunity of being stuck at home to revamp her daughters’ plain wooden playhouse.
Danielle Paterson, a 30-year-old mum of two and senior account manager for a marketing firm from Bedfordshire, decided to use her time during lockdown productively to transform her daughters’ playhouse into a gorgeous pink paradise.
Danielle’s husband Stuart bought the playhouse last year from the local garden centre, but the couple took the chance while in lockdown to personalise it, turning it into a stunning girly space and spending under £100 in the process.
Danielle told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: "During lockdown I found myself become increasingly stressed with housework.
"I’m a bit of a clean freak and trying to keep the house clean with two young kids constantly in the house is a bit like brushing your teeth whilst eating chocolate biscuits!
"I decided to channel my energies into projects where I could see a quantifiable change. The first was the fairy playhouse and garden!
"I’ve had the idea in my head since last year but have just never gotten round to it.
"My husband bought my daughter the plain wooden house last year as a gift from her new little sister Darcy, in a bid to quell any sibling rivalries.
"I loved it but wanted to make it really special for my girls. Poppy is very much in a fairy princess stage, so I decided to paint it pink (I used Cuprinol shades in sweet pea) and white.
"I added details such as white frills to the arches by drawing round a vase. I then added a ton of fairy lights. I then made her fairy garden by using nine strips of artificial grass from Homebase which cost £4.95 each.
"I really liked the idea of having a white picket fence, so I picked up two bits of fencing from Homebase for £6.99 each and spray painted them white.
"She absolutely loves it, and I’ve still got more ideas. I bought some light-up cherry blossom trees from Aldi for £14.99 each and intend to decorate with toadstools and stumps soon to really give it a fairy feel.
"The whole project took me two days, and cost me just under £100.”
Danielle was delighted with how the project turned out, and says it provided a great mental distraction during the lockdown.
"It was really good for my mental health, because as much as I love my children, I, like a lot of other parents, was finding it a struggle during lockdown mentally,” she explains.
"These projects allowed me to have some time to myself - I stick a book in on Audible and just concentrate on the task at hand!”
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “Many of us buy plain furniture or garden accessories and live with them for years, secretly wishing we’d gone a bit wilder with our choice of colours or styles.
“Danielle’s lockdown project proves that you can jazz up items in your home - whether small, like a chest of drawers, or large, like this massive playhouse - and save a fortune while doing so!
“By using simple ingredients such as pink paint, fencing and artificial grass, her daughters’ playhouse has gone from a sweet but uninspiring garden hangout into an incredible space that will be the envy of all their friends!”
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