Made with HAPPY Treehouse

We are so excited for our latest project. Our made with HAPPY TREEHOUSE! MWH Girl has been talking about a treehouse and asking us for one for months and months, and so we finally decided it was time. Making a DIY Backyard Playhouse was next up on the list!

After a full inventory of the trees and locations around our yard, we came to the conclusion that an actual “treehouse”, meaning a house inside a tree wasn’t going to be possible. All our large trees were located on a hill and trying to design from there, would have sent me over the edge, so we decided on fun alternative.We unfortunately lost a great pine due to disease in a corner of our side yard a few years ago. Since it was cut down, that part of the yard had been sort of the dumping area and collect all of projects along with a small play area for the kids. We decided over the stump would be a perfect place for our DIY Backyard Playhouse that is a makeshift treehouse!

DIY Backyard Playhouse

Once we decided on the location to make our “treehouse”, we quickly realized a number of other things needed to happen to make this area what we were envisioning including:

Clearing out all the junk
Trimming the neighbor’s pepper tree that drops all kinds of leaves on our yard
Fix broken sprinklers
Lay grass
Build Treehouse

Yeah, a probably not going to happen in one day, but we’re up for the challenge. After some sweat and some serious man power we did it and tada… we now have our brand new Made with HAPPY Treehouse.

There are even some spot for adults to hang out in the DIY Backyard Playhouse! The kids are so pumped about the new treehouse, that I would say that every night since completion, they have been out there, dancing, playing and just turning it into their own!

We of course documented our steps along the way to creating this DIY Backyard Playhouse, aka: Our Backyard Happy Place, but have decided that we will break it down into four different posts for those looking to recreate something similar in your backyard. In the next couple of days we will share how we made the

I can tell you that we were very cost conscience on this DIY Backyard Playhouse. We of course wanted something that was built sound and sturdy, but also didn’t want to spend more than it would cost to buy pre-made. I’m happy to report we did just that and will breakdown the cost sheet, but were able to make this for approximately $300.

We’re really proud of this project and are would love to know what you think? We are also happy to answer any questions you have along the way, so just ask away.

Cheers!

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84 comments

Heather September 15, 2014 at 11:44 am

Wow!!! Your house came out amazing! Stopping by from San Diego Mom Bloggers and will be pinning, this is truly awesome! I want one 🙂

lifebycynthia September 15, 2014 at 11:52 am

LOVE it! I’d love something like this for our backyard. I am looking forward to reading your future posts.

Fro Mamma September 15, 2014 at 1:05 pm

Very cool. Great idea

Rachel September 16, 2014 at 9:42 am

That’s so awesome! It really look stunning.

Sandy September 16, 2014 at 10:37 am

LOVE IT!! Great job!

Sondra September 25, 2014 at 10:29 am

So rad! Your kiddos are so lucky.

Vicki Brown October 30, 2014 at 6:53 am

This is amazing, and I love that you have an actual tree stump under it. Even more amazing is that you did it for around $300! Cute and affordable…love it!!

Noelle Holohan January 11, 2015 at 6:42 pm

I am kook by forward to reading each step. My Dad is going to come & visit me this Spring & I would love to build something similar with him!

sarahspencer617 January 22, 2015 at 8:31 pm

I’d love to build this this summer, can you post your plans soon?

Alli January 23, 2015 at 9:39 am

Yes, I’m working to finish it all up for you all soon. Will send along plans as soon as its published.

Leanna January 24, 2015 at 8:27 am

can you at least tell me the dimensions of floor, height of ceiling and depth of room. we are going to start building one like this in next few weeks. thanks

Anna February 18, 2015 at 5:44 am

This looks very similar to The Handmade Hideaway on The Handmade Home blog, they list all of their dimensions there with step by step instructions. We just built one last fall! Love it!

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[…] 6. platform. This is the one that I really want to make for my own yard! I’ll show you pictures if/when I get it done. […]

Brett April 17, 2015 at 9:45 am

This is GREAT! We are going to have to do something similar for our little ones 🙂

Amber April 18, 2015 at 10:04 pm

Amazing! Love this wld absolutely love to do this for my daughter! We are actually talking about now! So, more thn likely she’ll have one here in a month or 2!!! Lol. Thanks for sharing! I always wanted a tree house but was like u, I don’t want my soon to be 4yr old up in a tree! Lol… this is amazing n adorable! On top of tht, it’s affordable! 🙂

Trish Blood April 24, 2015 at 5:47 am

Love this. My husband and my childcare dads are going to build this soon for my preschool. Wondering what you did for curtains? Buy premade outdoor material curtains or sew your own?

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Laura Diaz June 12, 2015 at 8:58 am

This is awesome, I want one! What a great way to make a safe, family friendly tree house.

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Darlene Dickinson July 26, 2015 at 11:05 am

Love this idea!

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[…] an exciting week we’ve had. We were finally able to reveal the tree house and I can’t tell you how good it feels to finally check something off the list of projects. […]

Michelle January 23, 2016 at 6:18 pm

Love this project!! Its super cute and just what we were looking for to jump start our own little backyard hideouts. Quick question for you – what did you use the shower curtain & rod for? Is that what you used for the fabric front closure? Thanks so much for sharing!!

Alli January 24, 2016 at 11:30 am

Hi Michelle,

Just this past week, I realized that I left out that piece of the project. I will update it soon, but what I did was make little holes in the top of the curtains and hung them on the small hooks. I placed the hooks approximately 6 inches apart on the inside of the front roof frame. Then, cut small holes in the curtain and hung on them. The important step is to make sure the bottom of the curtain is level with the floor before you cut the holes. Hope this helps.

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Vineta @ The Handyman's Daughter April 7, 2016 at 5:00 pm

OMG, that little playhouse is just perfect! We have a tree stump in an abandoned corner of the yard too. Our son would LOVE this!

Alli April 11, 2016 at 1:44 pm

Thank you!

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Julie May 3, 2016 at 3:46 pm

What did you do to keep the rain/snow out?

Alli May 5, 2016 at 9:22 am

If you live in an area of snow, I would hang heavier front curtains. Maybe made of tarp or something that is a bit heavier and keep it out of the front. W

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James June 8, 2016 at 2:24 pm

I made this for my three daughters. It looks great and they love it. Thanks for the great idea and instructions!

I’ll share some photos, especially the nighttime ones after My oldest strung a string of lights inside–it glows and is extra cool in the dark.

Alli June 9, 2016 at 9:47 am

Oh my gosh, I am so excited for you guys! How awesome are you to make it for them. I can’t wait to see pictures. Definitely email them over when you have them! alli@madewithhappy.com

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Zyah D June 25, 2016 at 3:43 pm

Thank you for the post. My 12 year old has been asking about a treehouse for years. We do so much traveling there hasnt been enough time. My husband has retired and now it time to to work 😉 we have a new home and Im really excited about finally being able take on this project with the family.

Alli July 6, 2016 at 8:49 am

Can’t wait to see how it turns out!

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Krista November 17, 2016 at 4:04 pm

Is there an actual plan for all of this or do we just follow the blog directions? Thank you. Love it!

Alli November 18, 2016 at 5:39 pm

I currently don’t have printable plans, but hope to have them done shortly. Thank you so much!

Melissa November 24, 2016 at 10:50 am

I absolutely love this we will looking at the same house on the other Pinterest post,we couldn’t afford $1,000 so glad we came across this one! question what sort of wood did you use?

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Mel February 20, 2017 at 3:38 pm

I am a mom to a 4 year old boy who loves to be outside and my backyard is my first backyard and it’s beautiful before we moved in (previous owners) so I copied and pasted your blog and printed it out to try to start my first house project Eva!
Melanie , Missouri

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Kristin June 1, 2017 at 6:33 am

Are the posts set in the ground or just sitting on level ground?

Alli June 1, 2017 at 9:39 am

Hi Kristin, It is just sitting on level ground. The whole structure is so heavy, it wasn’t necessary to sink the posts.

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crystal February 20, 2018 at 6:07 am

Do you have the cost breakdown? we just purchased all of the materials on the list and it was double.

Alli May 8, 2018 at 12:40 pm

I am so sorry Crystal. I do not have the breakdown, but our supplies put us right at $300.

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Kristen April 30, 2018 at 4:59 pm

Hi! I’m working on this project now! I have a question about the paneling. Do you have a link? I found some that looks the same, it’s pine, I’m just not sure if it’s acceptable for this project, because it will be outdoors?? Thanks!!

Alli May 8, 2018 at 12:28 pm

Hello. I am so sorry for the delay in seeing this question. While pine isn’t the best wood to use in outdoors, it will all depend on where you live and what you are going stain or paint it with. It rarely rains where we are and so its not as much of an issue for the siding.

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Jessica December 6, 2018 at 6:49 am

How was this anchored into the ground? Thanks!