1. I had to sand back the existing paint and prime everything so we could change up the colour combo we previously had for Everly’s first cubby hack on her first birthday.
Choosing a colour combo we wanted took some time, but in going for a French-inspired look, we finally settled on a really pretty pastel green.
2. My partner and his father built the back wall for me as one solid piece to allow shelving and benches in the patisserie and bookshelves and other decor pieces for the reading nook.
The Johnson family started with the $179 Kmart wooden cubby house (pictured)
They made it with VJ panelling and timber from Bunnings. I then covered the inside with embossed French-inspired wallpaper I bought from a store here in Perth called Wallcandy wallpaper.
3. My partner then made an extension for the patisserie walls to bring them up to the same height as the pitch of the cubby roof. We made those extensions on top with more VJ panelling, timber, 3mm MDF and some pine moulding.
We put in crossbeams between the front and back signs as extra structural support, and so we could hang festoon lighting (of course!), which I just bought from the Kmart party section.
4. For the patisserie and cafe signs (front and side extension panels), I just got wooden letters from Spotlight, primed them and painted a few layers of bronze spray paint from Bunnings, and they have been super glued on.
5. We made the shelving and benchtops from wood from Bunnings and then wrapped the shelves in marble contact paper from Kmart and the service window benchtops we left bare.
Structurally, everything is from either Bunnings or Kmart.
6. Along the patisserie wall, we made two shelves and modified a HULTARP rail kitchen wall storage solution from IKEA in polished brass to tie in the patisserie sign and overall French inspired design.
Evie and her siblings are delighted by the finished product (pictured in construction)
7. The cooktop/benchtop along the back wall we covered in marble contact paper from Kmart. I ordered some awesome MDF stovetop pieces from the amazing Sass & Spunk Styles, which we primed and spray-painted black so our kids could cook and create to their heart’s content!
8. A lot of the storage (cookie jars, candy jars etc) are from Kmart. The play food is a real mixture from a lot of places, including Kmart, Juni Moon felt toys, felt tarts by the talented madebyclairelouise on Etsy.
9. In the cubby’s book nook area, we secured two floating picture shelves from Kmart to the back wall to display our daughters favourite books. We used a fluffy pink rug, a floor cushion, and red velvet cushion from IKEA on the floor.
10. There is also a moon and stars cushion, which are so adorable from the talented Little Bambino Bear, to create a really cosy place to relax and read books (or chill on the iPad).
11. Attached to the ceiling is an adorable beaded chandelier from the talented store Elok that does custom coloured beaded chandeliers.
12. I’ve had quite the obsession with Neon signs and have been busting to get one for our daughter, and this was the perfect opportunity. So I sourced a cute little heart neon from Neon Poodle, which brings a bit of a quirky modern flair to the fancy French design we were going for.