In this post, I’ll share with you how I created a chalk wall “house” with a cedar shake roof with a secret playhouse inside! This turned out to be one of the most FUN projects I’ve ever done and my kids absolutely loved it! Check the bottom of the post for their reaction!
DIY Playroom Project: Under Stair Closet “house”
This project started off as a simple “chalk wall” idea. My original thought was to add trim molding to a blank wall in our playroom in the shape of a house and paint it.
I thought cedar shakes would be cute for the top of the “house” but when I painted the rectangle shape for the house I thought it looked a little small. I figured it would be much more fun if the entire wall was a chalk board and then I wouldn’t have to worry about the kids being confined to a small drawing space.
I did still want to do the “house” idea though so I got a pack of cedar shakes and stained them. I added them to the top portion of the wall to create the roof.
I spray painted the outlet covers and it was good to go. Then, my husbands aunt had a great idea: converting the closet behind this wall into a playhouse.
While I worked on that, my kids had fun drawing away on the chalk wall!
Converting the closet into a playhouse
I will say that I decided to take this to another level by actually cutting out a “window” in my wall. I’m ok with patching in the future when the kids are older (or not, because we would love to have a bar/entertainment space and it might come in handy! Haha). My kids do love the window though!
I also had a lot of leftover materials that I used for this project. The entire thing, including the chalk wall part, cost less than $50.
First, I identified the studs around where I wanted the window and cut the drywall in between so that I could frame out the “window”
I came up with a general plan that included, painting the walls, adding peel and stick floor (we got the very inexpensive kind from a local discount store) and twinkle lights, of course! I also had some drywall that I put in the back of the closet to close it off since it didn’t really have a back “wall” to the space.
Here’s a look of the rough “plan” after I added the back wall and finished the shiplap on the ceiling.
Painting the space
I wanted to do a cute scallop design around the border of the space like I had done in my daughters room. I also painted the ceiling so that the twinkle lights would pop!
The scallop design is pretty easy! I cut out the general size in some scrap cardboard by tracing a circle shaped object (unsure now if it was a mug? Bowl? Random toy from the playroom?)
Then I started laying the floor! This stuff was very inexpensive. I liked that it was on the thinner side because the scale of it made sense for the space. It cost about $18 to cover this space.
I simply used a box cutter to cut the floor to size on the ends. I installed trim and then finished with decor.
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Finishing touches
I added some finishing touches with art decor, a play table, and some twinkle lights. We also took one of our wyze cams that we weren’t using and installed it in this space so we can keep an eye on them while they are in here.
We did not have an outlet in here so I cut a small hole to feed the wire of the camera into the storage room on the other side of this space so that we could plug it in. The twinkle lights are battery operated.
Here’s the “after” of the space:
Here’s a side by side (note: at the time I wasn’t really trying to document my DIY projects other than to send progress pics to my family and post on my personal social media channels. That’s why there’s no proper “before” and some of the photos and steps may seem out of order)
The kids have “decorated” it with various things like their play refrigerator and they often take each other’s orders through the window. So fun!
I love that we could use this unused space for something fun for them to enjoy while they’re young!
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