Indoor Playhouse; Built-in Hutch
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Building A Hutch for the Playhouse
One of the things I always wanted as a child were toys that at my scale. A random example would be the little jiffy mix boxes, cuz, they were my size and made me feel like I was big and grown up. So I am trying to remember that as we plan this playhouse. Hence the little hutch we just built:
In this little playhouse, I want to have a lot of fun “to scale” features. And one of the very best features we came up with is a built in hutch. I want to keep the floor as open as possible, so a few of them can play in there at a time.
We decided to cut away some of the drywall in places to have recessed furniture. And this hutch is the first piece we finished.
We built the whole things with scrap wood and little bits that have been sitting around or were purchased for old projects and never used ( I am so bad about that). Here is the pile of scrap we(meaning Justin) began with.
He cut them down into strips for the shelves and body of the hutch, and just nailed through the sides to hold everything in place. This is just a toy after all, so it didn’t need to be heirloom quality! Here is the body, now he just had to make the face frame.
I want this playhouse to feel like an old cottage. Lots of old carved detail… (my main inspiration are the original doors from this project, which will probably make an appearance in the play house in a secret way)
To get that extra detail, without expensive appliques, Justin added this cute gingerbread to the hutch. It was really simple to accomplish and makes the piece so special! If you want to try something like this all you need is a scroll saw and some sanding blocks. The pictures show you what he did.
First, draw the shape you would like to cut out on half of the face. And cut that shape out.
Use the piece as the template for your next cut. See below.
Cut the other half out. Then you will have a mirrored cut that is almost exactly the same, easy-peasy.
Justin finished cutting and spacing out the face frame. He used our pocket jig to put it together… (we now have the Kreg Jig and it is amazing people! We love it! )
We decided to use the old cabinet doors from our kitchen. Since we will hopefully be redoing that cabinet… if all else fails, we can take them back if necessary later!
Here it is finished (minus doors) The back doesn’t have legs, since it will be sitting on a 2×4 in the wall. (the bottom plate for the wall). Below, Justin is just sliding it in place. He was then he just secured it with 2 screws into the 2 x 4 of the wall. That way we can take it when we leave… maybe!
It was an immediate hit! Even without paint… (which I still haven’t gotten to… just keeping it real)
You can see in the image below, that I asked Justin if he would notch out a little plate groove, so that we can make the hutch look cute. Of course, I need to go find some fun, unbreakable plates to put in there. For now we had these dinky little plastic ones. Not as cool as I imagine. I need to get some of those special pens…. and go crazy!
So often, when something is unfinished I don’t show you, but I am trying to get over that. So this is what it basically looks like even today… (although Justin did get the doors on) I should go paint them…
p.s. the board above the hutch is the location of the future second story…
What do you think?
Cassity Kmetzsch started Remodelaholic after graduating from Utah State University with a degree in Interior Design. Remodelaholic is the place to share her love for knocking out walls, and building everything back up again to not only add function but beauty to her home. Together with her husband Justin, they have remodeled 6 homes and are working on a seventh. She is a mother of four amazing girls. Making a house a home is her favorite hobby.
Wow! It looks amazing! Justin did a fantastic job with the play hutch! Target usually has really fun melamine(cheap and unbreakable) plates. You might even be able to find some of the Missoni ones clearanced. I know there’s some at my local Target. Can’t wait to see it all finished.
Wow! Amazing!
Love this idea!!!
Thanks Cristin, I can’t wait to get it all painted!
I think it looks lovely! I am glad you shared it with us – unfinished or not! So cool! Great parents your kids have!!
Love it!!!
This is adorable!!! You are very creative.
That is just adorable!
This is great. How fun for your daughter. You are a sweet momma.
So cute! Justin is really talented with woodwork.
My Dad is a custom cabinet builder and he made his 5 daughters a whole set of kitchen stuff. My folks still have it for the Grandkids and it always makes me smile. I’m heading over to Grandpa-claus’ house next week to build a triple dolly bunk bed. It’s so fun to pass all of that on to our kids.