In Which Mandi Gets A Wild Hair. Again.

My kids have a "playroom". It's the pit of despair. Don't even think of trying to escape.
Seriously it was just scary. There will be a "before" shot over my dead body. All my friends and neighbors who've seen this room are going,
"Yeah. I've seen it. It should be condemned."
It should've. I hope that's descriptive enough of a "before".
Anywho---
as things go, I gave away a massive piece of furniture in that room, and I could suddenly see what the room could be. What it should be. And I had an idea.
These were the rules.
"The rules are there ain't no rules."
Sorry. I love Grease. There were rules:
1. Spend zero money. Every piece of lumber must come out of the garage. 2. Get it done right away, get it cleaned up, and make it usable.
This is what we were working with:

this wall.
Now, normally, I don't approve of such moulding hate crimes,

but when you're making something more, then and only then is it okay for moulding removal.
You know what this playroom closet needs? A window.


And. . .. I certainly didn't expect a non-outer wall to have insulation in it. That was a surprise. All my kids one by one were like,
"Why is there cotton candy in there?"
"Hey, this looks like cotton candy in the wall!"
Don't eat the cotton candy, children. It's "scratchy" flavored.
Regard that I also found the electrical wiring. I'm getting really good at doing that lately. I just pushed it to the side and moved on.
So, the window alone turned the dank, dark toy closet into something better. Something new. Don't worry. The inside of the closet got a makeover, too. Just shush.

So we need some siding, like a house, ya know?

and a roof.

And some paint, and some shingles, and a cute little sign to call it home.

I have a friend who actually free-handed that house sign. She's awesome. I chose "Penny Lane" just so I could sing the song every time I saw it. Because after all, it is in my ears, and in my eyes. There beneath the blue suburban skies. ( The house number is my daughter's b-day.)
The inside got a little makeover too, which totally isn't worth looking at. It's just a fun little dress up spot I threw together.

I should have done this ages ago. Instead of creepy, it's this fun, CLEAN, little hideaway, and so far, it's a hit.
Don't worry-- I didn't leave out my boys. They got their own wall of awesome on the other side. I'm just too lazy to clean it up for a decent picture. I'll show ya as soon as I can talk someone else into cleaning it.