I have been wanting to get M a playhouse for so long, so when I finally found a good sale on one I was super excited.
There was just one problem…..the tan house with the red roof is just not aesthetically pleasing to me. It’s not the vibe.
With a little creative thinking and a lot of spray paint, I fixed up our little house to maximize cuteness!
Try this Little Tikes plastic playhouse makeover for yourself to make a little dream house for your little lovebug!
Little Tikes Plastic Playhouse Makeover: Before & After!
Before we get into the details, here’s the original Little Tikes playhouse:
And here’s how it looks now:
Little Tikes Plastic Playhouse Makeover Design
Before you get started on your Little Tikes plastic playhouse makeover, get an idea of the colors and overall vibe you’re going for.
I wanted to make our playhouse look like a cute little farmhouse. I kept things pretty simple with my design so the house would be easily decorated for holidays and festivities.
There are a ton of amazing ideas for Little Tikes plastic playhouse makeover on Pinterest, so check them out before you decide on your final design!
How do you prep for your Little Tikes plastic playhouse makeover?
I cannot overstate the importance of prepping your playhouse before you get started with painting! You’ll need to take the house apart and clean the parts well.
To clean your plastic playhouse, you can power wash it or spray it down well with a hose. Make sure there is no dirt or anything on the house before you start painting.
Our playhouse was new, so I thought I wouldn’t have to clean it. I was wrong! I wish I would’ve taken some time to clean it beforehand, because there were some sections that the paint wasn’t adhering to at first that I had to go back and fix later. So even if your house is new, I would still wipe it down with Clorox wipes or spray it with the hose.
Make sure your house is completely dry before you move on with your painting!
What paint can you use on a plastic playhouse?
For our Little Tikes plastic playhouse makeover, we used spray paint and it worked well! Just make sure the spray paint works for plastic!! It will say on the can that it adheres to plastic.
Supplies for a Little Tikes Plastic Playhouse Makeover
As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases, which I use to keep this website up and running!
- Little Tikes plastic playhouse (Pro tip: Wait for this to go on sale!!)
- Spray paint cans
- 6 cans of white (we used Rust-Oleum 2x in Blossom White)
- 4 cans of black (we used Rust-Oleum 2x in Flat Black)
- 1 can of gold (we used Rust-Oleum Universal Metallic in Pure Gold)
- Spray paint primer
- 1 can for just the door, or 6 cans for the entire house
- Spray sealer (2 cans)
- Spray paint grip
- Work gloves
- Canvas dropcloth
- Optional accessories:
How to Do a Little Tikes Plastic Playhouse Makeover
1. Take the playhouse apart
Since you’ll be spraying different pieces with different colors, it will be much easier to paint if the house is taken apart.
We bought our playhouse new, so it was already in pieces when we got it out of the box.
2. Clean the playhouse
If your house has been outside, spend some extra time scrubbing off any dirt. The paint WILL NOT adhere to the house if the plastic is too dirty, so this is an important step!
Even my brand new house needed a little bit of cleaning out of the box.
Lay out all of your pieces on the canvas dropcloth. After cleaning your house, give it plenty of time to completely dry off before you start priming and painting.
3. Prime the playhouse
The door of this particular Little Tikes playhouse will need at least two coats of primer before you start painting. The plastic is more slippery on the door than on the rest of the house. Make sure to prime both sides of the door.
I recommend priming the entire house, even if the paint you use says it’s a “paint & primer”. A light coat of primer goes a long way! This will extend the life of your Little Tikes plastic playhouse makeover, so definitely consider taking the extra time to prime the whole house.
4. Spray paint the playhouse & accessories
You’ll probably need at least two coats of spray paint to fully cover the playhouse. I think I did about 3 coats for the body and roof of the playhouse, then I did 4 coats for the doors.
We sprayed the body of the playhouse white. Don’t forget to spray the screws white as well. You will be able to see them when you assemble the house.
For the roof, shutters, and door of the playhouse, we used black spray paint. I also sprayed the little rectangular pieces black as well, because you’ll be able to see them after assembly on the roof.
We decided to spray the flag pole pieces and the accessories gold. I did 2 coats of spray paint.
The mailbox part is connected to the body of the house, which makes things a little tricky for painting it. I reallllyyyyy wanted it to be gold though, so I tried to figure out a way.
DO NOT use painter’s tape on the playhouse to paint the mailbox!! I unfortunately made this mistake and it was problematic.
Instead, use paper towels to cover areas around the mailbox and tape them together. Then, spray the mailbox area gold.
Make sure the body of your house is completely dry before you try to paint the mailbox!!
5. Let your playhouse dry
Adequate dry time is hugely important in this project! After you paint the whole house, let it dry for at least 24 hours. I would wait closer to 48 hours to let the spray paint fully adhere to the plastic.
Even if the house feels dry, wait the full dry time. If you don’t wait, the sealer could cause issues (I’m speaking from experience lol).
6. Apply sealer to your playhouse
After the spray paint has fully dried, it’s time to apply sealer to your Little Tikes plastic playhouse.
The door will need at least two coats of sealer. The rest of the house will be fine with 1-2 coats.
7. Let it dry some more
I let the sealer dry for several days before I tried to put the playhouse together. You want to give the sealer plenty of time to dry. Wait at least 24 hours before you move forward.
8. Assemble the playhouse
It’s finally time to assemble your playhouse. Follow the directions to put the whole thing together.
9. Make any touch ups necessary
After your house is assembled, you might need to make a few touch ups here and there. For me, there were a few places I missed that I needed to spray over, especially on the roof because of all the ridges.
10. Accessorize & finish up your Little Tikes plastic playhouse makeover!
Now for the fun part—accessories!! Make this Little Tikes plastic playhouse makeover unique with your own personal touches.
We drilled holes in the door to add a handle. I also screwed in an adorable bell.
I added a small command hook to the front of the house to hang a mini wreath. I love how cute it looks with the wreath!! The one pictured is about 8 inches.
If you’re feeling super crafty, try making this DIY modern fall wreath or this DIY easy winter hoop wreath!
I got some cute small planters on Amazon to add to the side windows. Add some faux or real florals and greenery to them to bring some color and nature to the house.
Tips for your Little Tikes Plastic Playhouse Makeover
After completing this project, there’s definitely a few tips I wish I knew beforehand:
- Try to choose a day that is not too hot or humid when you do your spray painting. I stayed within the recommendations on the spray paint can, but it was on the higher temp and humidity side since I did this in the summer. I kind of wish I would’ve done it in the spring or fall so that the paint would’ve dried better.
- Several lighter coats of paint are better than heavier coats.
- CLEAN WELL before you start your Little Tikes plastic playhouse makeover!!
- Take the time to prime the whole house. I got impatient and wanted to get everything done faster (nap time is so short these days!!). I wish I would’ve done a better job with priming.
- Allow for plenty of dry time! I mentioned this before, but it’s super important. Again, my impatience did me dirty on this.
- When you have your house assembled, make sure to put it on an even surface. I’m hoping to make a little platform for this playhouse soon. It needs to be on level ground to stay sturdy.
The Final Product!
I absolutely love how my Little Tikes plastic playhouse makeover turned out!! It’s the mini farmhouse I envisioned. I can’t wait to decorate it for every holiday.
More importantly, my little one is obsessed with playing in it!
What do you think?? Any ideas for what I should put inside it?
