The Playhouse Company

It’s a tricky job, building a boat. You have to make sure that all the pieces fit together. You have to make sure it’s the right size. That the paint is the right colour and that it will be able to withstand any weather, from battering rain and wind to beautiful sunshine. It has to be strong enough to accommodate its crew, whether they are fishermen or pirates. From the beginning, where we draw out the plans of the measurements, through the building and ending with the delivery to you, we work very hard to make sure we get all of this right.

But there is one thing we have to ask you to do when we hand over your boat to you. Without it, your boat won’t work. It won’t sail down river or across the seas. It won’t battle against the storms, catch that shark or defend itself against pirates unless it has that one thing….

Your imagination.

We promise to give you the very best boat we can, as long as you promise us that you will use your imagination to make sure that your boat is the best one that ever sailed. Every time you jump aboard, we hope the boat we make for you will come to life and be the best prop your playtime ever had. The only limit is your imagination. Have fun!

Of course, if you haven’t got your sea legs, you don’t have to have a boat! We can build anything from castles to cottages, forts to sandpits. Yes, we don’t just do playhouses. We can make accessories, platforms, slides and climbing walls to perfectly complement your existing play area.

Our mission: To build a castle / tree house for a customer’s children who had a house adjoining Stoneligh Abbey,Warwickshire, a grade 1 listed building.

Background information: Travelled from our Herefordshire HQ to Warwick on a reccy and came up with our initial design which utilised a large sycamore tree in her garden.

Potential opposition: Because our castle design had a platform adjoining it which was over 30cm high planning permission was needed.

Battle engagement: The process was inevitably bureaucratic involving a number of meetings and a tree impact survey needed to be obtained. After a long 10 months planning permission was obtained for a design identical to the original, success!

Mission completed: We installed the castle and according to the customer, it was well worth the effort involved.
Features of the playhouse include:

• Castle with weather proof interior
• Platform wrapping around and within the existing tree
• Access to top of the castle
• Climbing wall

Debrief: According to our customer

‘Delighted that it fits in so well, giving a good size play area without impacting at all on the garden’.

Further info: Here is a handy link from the planning portal and for playhouse information there’s a page on our website.

In this blog we’re championing the brilliant efforts of the Peddling 4 Paddy team who are currently cycling their way down from John O’Groats to Lands End.

This marathon cycle ride is a tribute to Paddy Brick, who diagnosed with cancer in March 2010 sadly passed away on the 4th September 2010. Paddy was incredibly warm hearted and a fun loving, outgoing mother and wife and a friend to all who knew her. The Peddling 4 Paddy team is made up of a group of local boys, including Paddy’s two sons, who are completing the cycle to raise vital funds for Macmillan Cancer Support to help support and care for those with terminal cancer and their families.

The Playhouse Company happily kitted the team out with t shirts. Please do take a minute to go online and make a donation, so far over £4000 has been raised … Good luck boys, you are an inspiration!

I’m a West Ham fan and whilst the last season may not have been the best (not mentioning the relegation), I do remain loyal. Imagine my delight to find myself (along with Chris, who’s in the pic) to be installing this lovely playhouse literally in the shadow of Upton Park last week. A magical day all round!

This week we’ve been working hard on our website, as whenever we complete a playhouse project we aim to get all the details of it online within a couple of week. However, due to a seriously busy couple of months we had amassed a backlog of around thirty playhouses that needed to be uploaded.

Luckily, help was at hand as our daughter Poppy returned from university and started on the task – although is took some persuasion to get her out of bed during daylight hours, she’s been doing a brilliant job! Above are examples of recent projects that are now on our website.

People tend to think they need a large garden to fit in a playhouse, but we are yet to see one that is too tiny!

Even a very small yard can have a nice little cottage in it which gives the children plenty of fun during the summer and storage space during the winter for all those outside toys that seem to accumulate.

We recently finished this job, which is half a playhouse set against a high back wall … And there’s plenty of room to play!

This week Mark and myself spent a glorious day in Hertfordshire installing this 7ft x 5ft playhouse which boasts a number of activities. There are two staircases, a rope ladder, slide, climbing wall and swing seat – phew, plenty to keep you busy! Think we were certainly blessed with the weather as both the day before and after poured with rain but as you can see from the photos, we basked in sunshine!

The summer holiday countdown is on! So that means there’s six weeks until;

• The weather is good (we’re ever the optimists)!
• An eagerly anticipated family holiday takes place (so that’s some of the 6 week school holiday accounted for)
• There’s time for friends and family, with frequent BBQs and people popping over for drinks in the garden
• The tried and tested routines go out the window (we’re thinking bedtimes especially)!
• Children are full of expectation with loads of energy
• Kids still want to play and interact (and perhaps learn) but rather than having a teacher to facilitate all this, it’s down to Mum and Dad!

If your could use some inspiration for your children’s play activities this summer, then there’s still time to order a playhouse for delivery by the end of June.  We guarantee that your child will love their playhouse from the day it’s delivered and will cherish it for many more summer holidays to come! Plus, come rain or shine (we’re hoping for shine) a playhouse gives a weather proof space for hours of fun.

Here’s a handy blog post for some ideas of simple things to do this summer with your kids.

A good old fashioned black board has to be one of our favourite playhouse accessories and we recommend it highly! Here’s why we think that a black board makes such a brilliant addition;

• They are incredibly simple but provide hours of play with limitless possibilites
• Black boards are perfect for playhouses as they can get a bit messy, so not something you necessarily want in your lounge
• A black board can be reused over and over, a brilliant saving on paper
• A large chalk board fitted to your playhouse means that children can draw life sized pictures of themselves
• They are an accessory which lasts and can be set at any height in the playhouse, so can grow with your child

According to the trusty source of wikipedia, the term ‘black board’ dates as far back as around 1815, although is now frequently referred to as a ‘chalk board’ thanks to ours friends over the Atlantic. Either way, a black board or chalk board has lasted the test of time and will enrich any playhouse.

Typically, when a child sees their new playhouse for the first time they will immediately go in the door and close it behind them … Then, there’s often a short pause before the door is flung back open and a happy child appears.  Having a playhouse gives your children a space of their own to imagine and play, instantly they will know just what to do – let them remind you how much fun an imaginary tea party can be!

We find that just the playhouse itself gives huge opportunity for imaginative play as the empty space becomes an ‘activity’. A table and chairs set could be added but you really don’t need much else for a child to sit and play and even host imaginary tea parties in their new space. A playhouse is a flexible space which evolves with a child – from when they are a youngster who wants Mum and Dad involved in their play to the ripe old age of the early teens who want their own space, preferably away from Mum and Dad. However, regardless of what stage your child is at, you will always know where their space is when they retreat off and can be assured that because it is within your garden they are nice and safe.

In a recent blog for clothing company Toast, Alastair Sawday, author of Special Places to Stay guidebooks discusses his life long fascination with tree houses – from enjoying having a play den as a young boy to being a teenager escaping for peace and quiet while studying for his French A Level.

Also, it’s worth remembering that a playhouse provides you with an opportunity to reclaim your living room by moving the toys that accumulate to the playhouse – so you too can benefit from some of your own space too.

This week we’ve sadly said goodbye to Ben who has returned to university after spending three weeks with us over the Easter holidays – think he’s suddenly realised just how much revision he has to do with his exams only weeks away! We wish him the best of luck and look forward to having him back with us over the summer, plus we’ll be getting involved with this blog … watch this space!

Here at The Playhouse Company we are frequently asked to incorporate a swing into a play platform. Whilst we are happy to do this, it’s always worth bearing in mind alternatives that have just as much play value but do not take up nearly as much space.

Swing Seat

- This has the effect of a rocking chair giving a gentle swing

- Can accommodate more than one child

- Is lovely and safe because of its low height

- Can either go under a platform or from its own gantry

Tyre Swing

-Can hang under a platform or from a tree branch

-Can be used to sit on as well as scramble over

-Great way to get additional use out of old car tyres

We hope everyone is happily back at school and settled into the familiar routine once more. Luckily the summer holiday count down is on with only 10 weeks to go and there is still time to get your bespoke playhouse installed before the holidays start. If this year your planning a stay at home type of holiday, then a playhouse could make this the best summer yet for your kids with a playhouse to cherish for all the holidays in the future.

Here’s one for our younger fans – if there’s limited room in your garden but you could really use some space of your own to play, have friends over and perhaps even host a teddy bears picnic then this could be the playhouse for you …

This compact playhouse is from our new Go Play range and will fit in any size garden with a floor area of just 4ft by 4ft – plus it looks great, so now your parents have no excuse! This playhouse will provide you with the space for hours of uninterrupted     imaginative fun.

The best features of this lovely little playhouse are;

• Can be fully assembled in an hour (all the differcult bit are already done)         – the roof is already felted and finished and the door already hanging in the side.
• Arrives beautifully pre-painted
• Both the base and wall have an integral waterproof layer
• Price includes delivery and VAT – trust us, there are no ‘hidden costs’
• This playhouse is available for delivery within two weeks from ordering, so perfect for the summer
• If your parents prefer, we can install for a small additional cost of £90
• This is the ideal playhouse if your aged between 2 to 7
• Although it’s compact, we promise there’s plenty of space for your tea parties and teddy bears picnics!