The other day I was coming back home from a run when I came across a Little Tikes house thrown out by the curb. It had definitely seen better days and was even missing the roof but I was still interested in its potential. Even though our daughters are a little big for a playhouse of that size, our son would definitely be interested in it. The problem was, it was pink and white.
I got home and proceeded to tell my Mother-in-Law what I found and she suggested I go back and get it. One problem, I dont dumpster dive. I have seen many great things sitting on the side of the road but I have always felt bad about grabbing them, even though I know they are destined for the dump anyway. Well my Mother-in-Law had no problems with going up to the front door and asking them if we could have it, and she did. 🙂
Here is how it looked when we first got it.
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| House Before |
After we figured out how it all needed to be assembled, we proceeded to tear it all down and give it a really good scrubbing. This thing was dirty!
After it was all clean, Ashley and I went onto Pinterest to try and find some color inspiration. We finally decided on a Nutmeg for the walls, a Colonial Red for the door, chairs, and outside flower pots, and Flat Black for the sink and table. All colors were RustOleum Ultra Cover 2X. A note of caution, if you get this stuff at Wal-Mart, it does not have the Primer + Paint option and it also doesnt not specifically say it will work on plastic. The first cans I got at Wal-Mart. The second coat, I got the paint at Home Depot and right on the can it said will work with Plastic and had the Primer already added. The stuff from Home Depot covered much, much better.
I ended up using 5 cans of the Nutmeg and 1 can each of the Red and Black. I think had I gotten the Home Depot paint the first round, I could have covered the walls with 3 cans and been done.
The final product turned out great. Even though it doesnt have a roof, you cannot beat getting the house for free and only spending $40 bucks on paint!
