Small, white garden playhouse with front porch, picket fence and flowerboxes
Children's playhouse with a wooden door and shingled roof, surrounded by flowers and a white picket fence in a forest setting.
Full Lumber List

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Customer photos do not necessarily reflect the exact plan
Small, white garden playhouse with front porch, picket fence and flowerboxes
Children's playhouse with a wooden door and shingled roof, surrounded by flowers and a white picket fence in a forest setting.

Backyard Garden Playhouse Plan

$ 40.00
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The Garden Playhouse Plan is a delightful, compact cottage designed specifically for toddlers and young children.  A smaller version of the White Picket Fence Playhouse, it features a footprint of 6 feet by 10 feet, offering approximately 176 square feet of usable play space. The design accommodates a classic Colonial aesthetic, complete with a front porch, picket fence, gable roof, and window openings that can support real glass panes. Inside, children can enjoy an interior loft accessible via a ship ladder, adding an element of adventure to their playtime.

This playhouse is designed for children aged 3 to 8 and is built with safety and durability in mind. The plan includes a 34-page step-by-step guide, detailing materials and construction methods to ensure a straightforward building process. Whether you're an experienced builder or a first-time DIYer, this plan offers a manageable project that results in a charming and functional playhouse your child will adore.

Features:

  • Classic Colonial aesthetic
  • 176ft² in usable play space
  • Loft with ship ladder access
  • Front porch and white picket fence
  • 8' 2" max interior head room
  • Gable roof design
  • Designed for children aged 3-8
  • 34 page, step by step plan

Plan Category:

🏠 Classic Playhouse Plans
🏘️ Town & Village Playhouse Plans
 🧸 Young Children Plans

Dimensions:

  • 6' Wide
  • 10' Deep (w/ porch)
  • 6' Deep (w/o porch)
  • 9' 4" Tall

Framing Details:

  • Joists: 2x6 - 16" O.C.
  • Walls: 2x4 - 16" O.C.
  • Rafters: 2x6 - 16" O.C.

Glass Shed Windows:

  • ( 6 ) 14" x 21"
  • ( 2 ) 14" Octagonal

Roofing Details:

  • 50° gable roof pitch
  • 120 ft² of total roof coverage. Typically, 10% should be added to the roofing material order to account for waste and overlap.

Lumber List:

Make sure to take advantage of any volume discount from your local lumber yard!

Decking:
( 1 ) 5/4” x 6” x 8'
( 4 ) 5/4” x 6” x 12'

2x4:
( 15 ) 2” x 4” x 8'
( 19 ) 2” x 4” x 10'
( 29 ) 2” x 4” x 12'

2x6:
( 2 ) 2” x 6” x 8'
( 14 ) 2” x 6” x 10'
( 2 ) 2” x 6” x 12'

2x8:
( 1 ) 2” x 8” x 8'

2x2:
( 3 ) 2” x 2” x 8'

Plywood:
( 11 ) ½" Plywood Sheets
( 2 ) ¾" Plywood Sheets

Not sure you can build this plan?
Hire a qualified professional.

Customer Reviews

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L
Liz Fedak
Playhouse is going to be epic!

I built the main structure of this playhouse in about 3 days by myself as a fairly experienced DIYer. The plans were sufficient... but some additional cut lists etc could have been helpful. Most of the pages just say "use 6 2x10s and make xyz according to the drawing".
I installed the roof solo and it was honestly really difficult. A measurement of the height to the bottom of the roof ridge would have helped. And some links to your site w/ general 'how to do xyz' would be super helpful in the plan.
While building, I made the house about 1.5" shorter, which enabled me to use mostly 2x10s instead of 2x12s... The longer lumber was harder to transport in my car, so that was a big deal for me. Also, for the sheathing, I initially did install full panels and cut out the windows etc, but after 1 wall I swapped to cutting pieces to size and I was able to do the sheathing with only 7 OSB panels instead of 11. I did use OSB instead of plywood with the intention of putting on house wrap + siding over it. For the exterior trim I'm using exterior siding trim instead of the 2x lumber. For the loft, I made one of the hexagon windows be a fuller opening up to the loft and made the loft be a fuller 4x6 loft and used 2x6s for framing it instead of 2x4s. I'll attach a climbing structure from the exterior. I used a bunch of lag bolts to make it very sturdy. Getting it into place was no joke though and I had to also drill in a bunch of temporary braces. I'd add a 10 lb hammer to the tool list too (to get things into place)...
For the vertical supports under the roof, I recommend using a table saw. Honestly I had to practice quite a bit to figure out how to cut that shape out. Some guidance on making specialty cuts would be great to add in the instructions. I wound up using a 45 degree guide on my table saw and cutting out the angled part, then ripped that to width and finally chopped it to length with a miter saw.
For the window cut outs from the sheet I used a flush bit on a sawzall. For framing I actually rented a framing nail gun from the hardware store, which helped a lot with speed.
Also I didn't realize early on that the front windows are facades and had a whole vision of using one of the windows as a pretend shop window for my son. I was disappointed when I realized they were just pretend. Speaking of which, it would have been great for the lumber list to list out pressure treated/ground contact lumber separately from framing lumber. I know it specifies in the 'before you swing a hammer' section to do as much but it could just be more baked into the plan in general.
Other than that, happy with the build plan. It came together as pictured for the most part. Now I just have to get over my fear of heights to install some roofing...