Every kids cubby needs one of these... ?

When I revealed the kids' cubby at the start of this year, I considered it pretty much complete. My husband disagreed. He disappeared out one day and came back hours later with a big plastic bag and a big smile on his face.

I was suspicious.

A large box materialised from the bag. And my husband disappeared to find a shovel. For the next few hours he dug a trench and threaded a rather long cable in my garden.

In the windowsill of my kitchen appeared a little white box with a button on the top. And from up inside the cubby, I could suddenly hear the sound of voices.

Yes folks, the cubby now had an intercom.

One with hidden wires so the kids couldn't meddle with it and so we could 'eavesdrop' on them for giggles whenever the fancy struck.

Dan had a smile from ear to ear; he envisaged the kids ordering vegemite sandwiches from inside the cubby.

Our daughter was two. Our son, about 6 months.

In reality, Fern was terrified of it. So terrifed was she, in fact, that we had to remove the said intercom for a few months. But kids grow...

and now? It's kinda fun.

And sometimes, while Im working away in the kitchen I hear "bzzzzzzz" "bzzzzzzzz"

I click the 'on' button in the intercom.

"Yes, fern? How can I help you?"


"mum?" "mum?"


"yes, Fern?"


"mum?"


"mum?"


"why-does-the-elephant-go-so-slow-mum? mum?"


"I dont know Fern, why does he?"


"because he's so biiiiig!" says my daughter.

And when the kids are in there together, I sometimes sneakily turn the intercom on to hear what they are up to. I like to hear their giggles. Fern's bossiness. "no, bub! Thats mine!" Laughter. The odd tears.

An intercom. For the kids. Yes, definitely for the kids.

Every cubby needs an intercom, non?

Peek Inside... Fern and Elliott's Cubby!

Hello and welcome to 2011! I hope you all had an awesome Christmas and New Year with your friends and family... I think I did, only I feel like I blinked and missed it! What is it about the month of December that no matter how organised you are, it disappears before you have a chance to say "Rudolf!" leaving nothing but a trail of wrapping paper, stale minced tarts, 2 excess kilos and a neon Santa dangling from your roof? Still, I can't tell you how much fun I had and to what level of fever pitch we had Fern in during the leadup to the big day... we do have a slight problem on our hands as Fern's $5 Santa from Woolworths that was endearing before Christmas is now yet to be extricated from within her grubby paws, meaning it still travels with her to bed... the shops... the park... friends houses... and everywhere in between. Santa is now a bit on the nose and could do with a turn about the washing machine, but I am way too afraid of my daughter to suggest it to her. Um, is it too early to buy her an Easter Bunny?

I would talk to you about my personal New Year's resolutions, but I hung my head in a cloud of defeat hours into 2011, when I swore (there goes resolution #1), finished a bottle of lemonade (there goes not drinking fizzy drinks) and ate a packet of musk sticks (um, I am guessing they count as junk food?)

More achievable are my goals for my blog this year, which I will share with you later in the week......

... but for now, without further ado and ticking my "do what you say you are going to do" resolution, I invite you to come play in Fern and Elliott's little cubby house! I've had so much fun decorating it over the last few weeks. It has no real theme but is a delightful mish-mash of stuff designed to inspire, stimulate and delight! Here it is from the outside:

I chose a summery, bright colour palette for the outside - pink, turquoise, grey and yellow. The woodwork on the cubby is painted Woodland Grey (to match our house), with a turquoise door and railings. The deck is stained in Jarrah, and I painted the window and door frames gloss white (still to be completed!) To add the yellow and pink in, I added a basket of hanging pink potted colour plus some gorgeous climbers that will eventually grow to scale the outside wall of the cubby house on a wire framework. I also added some clip-on turquoise and pink fabric butterflies from the Christmas Bed Bath and Table range onto a little bird house from Bunnings, and spray-painted a Jamie Durie birdie mobile in bright yellow. The little children's deck-chair is from Early Learning Centre.

But enough about the outside... let's get inside, already!

 Like I said, the inside is a bit of a mish-mash... I tried very hard to put a few boyish elements into it, rather than make it overly girly despite the fact that Elliott is not going to care too much for another 12 months or so! Here, you can see some little canvases I got from Typo  (E for Elliott and F for Fern!) with some little dinosaur figurines on one side, and a tea set on the other.

Behind the door, I added a little wooden coat rack (sprayed yellow) to hang a mini broom and mop (you wouldn't believe how popular these are with the kids -- again sourced from ELC) along with other bits and pieces. You can see two blue frames from Ikea which will hold a pic of each of the kids, once I get around to getting any printed out!

I painted the inside of the cubby with some leftover Dulux Whisper White. We then bought a couple of large pieces of plywood and nailed them into two corners, painting one with chalkboard paint and using the other as an art board. My next project is to make a little "MY FRIENDS" section, pegging up pictures of Fern and Elli's friends playing in the cubby! At the moment, I've just pegged a couple of drawings and some pics of the kids. I got the rail and plastic hanging containers from Ikea. These are so useful and cute to boot!

My cubby scrabble artwork was created on a whim when I discovered a vintage Scrabble set I forgot I owned! It seemed appropriate... the little canvas is the first ever painting Fern did. And the "bird with a french fry" print is from Etsy.

Here is Fern's little Ikea kitchen. I'm considering making a little blackboarded 'menu' sign to hang above. ?

I told you I made a special effort to include Elli, well here is my attempt! Its painted with chalkboard paint and decorated with chalk (duh) with our entire Matchbox car collection... I hope to add to it, eventually!

... and what cubby house would be complete without curtains?! My mother-in-law whipped these up for us on Boxing Day (thank goodness for bleak weather!) and I think they are so sweet! I got the curtain rails for $2 each, can you believe you can buy $2 curtain rails?!

I've used some of those rubber puzzle mats you can get everywhere as wall hangings as you can see above... Fern is already hosting little tea parties at her table, and there are about 1400 rogue rice bubbles everywhere from her eating breakfast in her cubby.

Of course, everyone knows cubbies like these are filling the fantasies of the parents as much as the children, and we are no exception! Dan and I adore our cubby house, we spend much time in there after Fern goes to bed just tinkering about, and what you cannot see in the above pictures is the solar lighting Dan installed inside and out. I was skeptical (um, overkill much?), but honestly you cannot imagine how cute it is looking up into the garden at night to see the light shining through the cubby curtains! We write little messages and draw pictures on the blackboard, and I'm constantly dreaming up ideas to make Fern and Elli's special little space a place they will love. 

And of course, the good times, the memories, are all in front of us. And the cubby will evolve as the kids do. We can't wait! To good times - hurrah!

Fern and Elliott's Cubby House!

When you were a kid did you have a cubby house? Did you want a cubby house? I kinda wanted one... but I made do with sticks foraged from the nearby bushland and got inventive with my little hammer and nails. And if the truth be told, the fun was in the building -- I don't really ever remember playing in the cubbies I built and often knocked them down once they were complete to build another. 

But that was then. 

Now, I get to live my fantasies through my own kids, and my husband and I have been secretly champing at the bit to get a cubby since - oh - pretty much the day Fern was conceived! After researching my options, I settled on a modest cubby built by a local company  that could do pretty much anything we wanted AND would construct it for us onsite. Our chosen cubby is a sweet little cottage made from timber and cladding with a colorbond roof (we chose Woodland Gray) with one step-up to a little deck area. It has a door with a little star cut-out and two little windows with perspex sliders. The interior of the cubby is cozy but tall enough for us adults to stand in. Which is just as well, because Dan and I have almost spent more time in there than Fern has! 

My original plan was to lock the door to the cubby until Xmas. But of course, that lasted about 5 seconds before my resolve crumbled. I moved Fern's Ikea kitchen in pretty much immediately and set about painting the interior (Dulux - Whisper White, leftover from painting the kid's bedrooms). The painting is taking a little longer than anticipated, and I still have the exterior timber to paint, plus the window and door architraving. Oh, and the deck railing. And something else, but that's a surprise...

And the decorating? Can I even tell you how much fun I am having fitting this cubby out? Im not spending any money really, most of it is recycled from unwanted bits around the house though I am planning to hit the op shops tomorrow to source a little bookshelf to store toys etc. I'm not going to show you the finished product yet... but it's close, I promise!

In the meantime, here's a little sneaky-peeky at an artwork I've made for one of the walls:

... Plus a squizzy at the exterior door I painted turquoise... oh, and a sweet little birdie windchime from the Jamie Durie range at BigW that I got for $12 and spray painted yellow!

Can't wait to take you on a 'tour' of Fern and Eli's little cubby... stay tuned! x