Childrens Playhouses

This will depend on your available space, the size of your children, and how long you want your playhouse to last. You want to ensure you purchase a playhouse that is big enough for children to grow into without losing intimacy of scale. 

As such a playhouse for small children might have a height under 5ft, whereas a two-storey playhouse may exceed 6ft in height. A good way to decide on what size playhouse to buy is to mark out a space in the garden and allow your children to play within it. Adjust it if it’s too big or small whilst they play. For that, and more tips, check out our guide to choosing a playhouse.

This is completely up to the imagination of you and your children. The versatility offered by wooden playhouses means that the sky's the limit when it comes to decorating your playhouse - both inside and out.

Some popular examples of things to put inside a playhouse include:

• Shelves and storage
• Furniture
• Cushions and blankets
• Fairy lights and bunting
• Games and puzzles

There are two answers to this. First, if you’ve bought a tower playhouse with a slide, you could use the underneath space as storage or even a garage for kids cars. On the other hand you might think about installing a foundation or base under your playhouse. We’d advise against building your playhouse directly on to grass as it can lead to undue pressure on the structure as well as water ingress, damp, and rot. 

If you wish to fit a base under your playhouse, then a timber sub-floor, existing patio, paving slabs, concrete slab, or gravel and plastic foundation all work. For more, read this post on preparing your garden for an outdoor building.

If you do decide to build your playhouse straight onto grass, make sure to treat the bottom panels with sufficient wood treatment. This will provide some protection against rising damp and ultimately, rot. However, to extend the life of your outdoor playhouse, we suggest building onto a suitable base.

One of the biggest selling points of our BillyOh playhouses is that they’re sturdy. This, of course, comes hand-in-hand with the fact that they’re also heavy. We suggest carefully planning out your proposed playhouse site, taking into consideration:

• That it’s visible from the house
• That it’s not built on damp ground or at the bottom of a slope
• That it gets sufficient sunlight
• That it’s not built near hazards (such as underneath overhanging branches)
• That there’s easy access all the way around

If you are dead set on moving your playhouse to a different part of your garden, then you could either enlist some friends or lift it using a jack, then place poles/pipes underneath as a means of rolling it to your preferred destination. For more on this, check out this post on moving a shed.

The BillyOh playhouses that we offer:

• Aren’t for domestic use
• Don’t exceed a height of 3m high (with a roof more than 4m high) - including our tower playhouses 
• Shouldn’t take up more than 50% of your garden

There should be no need to get planning permission as they will fall under ‘permitted development’. If you’re still worried however, you can always check with your local council for up-to-date information.

Here at Garden Buildings Direct, we sell a range of our BillyOh playhouses, all of which are built with quality and safety in mind. Take a look below at our top 4 playhouses to get a sense of the variety on offer:

1. BillyOh Lollipop Max Tower Playhouse

Available in a generous 6x7 size, the Lollipop Max Tower offers an abundance of space to play in and enjoy. The option of a slide provides both an additional feature for your children to enjoy, as well as a more enjoyable way to exit their playhouse.

2. BillyOh Gingerbread Junior Playhouse
Let your children's imagination run wild in the Gingerbread Junior Playhouse, with stable doors, traditional fixed windows and optional picket fencing they can play all day long. Complete with floor, roof and felt as standard.

3. BillyOh Peardrop Junior Playhouse

This two storey cottage playhouse will be sure to let your kids imagination run wild. With it's strong tongue and groove construction and the additional bunk, platform, and picket fence options you can personalise the building to your liking.

4. BillyOh Bunny Max Tower Playhouse

The Bunny Max Tower offers plenty of internal space for play, while boasting tongue and groove cladding which helps to ensure your playhouse will last for years to come, thanks to the improved structural strength that T&G offers.