DIY Mouse House

The playroom has become a total choking hazard for Auggie…I initially made this room for the girls and I didn’t know we were going to have another baby 🤣 The biggest issue is the playhouse we have in here. It’s full of choking hazards. Emery doesn’t play with it that much anymore so I wanted to come up with an idea that would work for both Auggie and Emery. I love these little mouse-in-a-box things. Light bulb! I decided to make a mouse house for them without any tiny Barbie shoes around for Auggie to put in his mouth!

This is the current Barbie house:

Here’s a few inspiration photos from Etsy!

I mentioned this idea to both Emery and Rainie and they were THRILLED, especially Emery who played with this Barbie house the most. She loves the idea of having something that’s better for her and Auggie to play with.

Visualizing

I started out by visualizing with painters tape on the wall. I taped out a few different options for sizing and for the room layout.

Build

I had a few leftover pieces of primed pine from the dining room built ins. I grabbed just a couple more and got right to it!

I made a simple box frame first for the house. I wanted to put a piece of material on the back but I didn’t want it to be visible from the sides. So, I ran it through the table saw a few times with the blade at a really low height to create a channel for the back to just slide into.

I slid the pieces in with wood glue and clamps. Then, I secured them with screws!

Then I installed the shelves, which would be like the different floors in the house. I made a little measuring mistake and ended up pivoting to turn the bottom shelf into drawers for extra furniture and accessories. It’s kind of like a basement!

I built a little roof for the top as well for the attic! Then, I built a divider for the drawers in the “basement.”

Furniture Legs

I decided to secure the house to the wall and attach furniture legs underneath to give it a more moveable look. I also love the added detail it gives the house.

Drawers

For this project, I was trying to be as resourceful as possible without going and buying anything. I didn’t want to go buy drawer slides. So, I made a little rig with some scrap wood. Then I attached this “rail” to the bottom of the house so the drawer would smoothly close. I might need to add a bit of wax to make it open more smoothly, but it worked!

Paint

Then, I filled all the nail holes and seams and sanded! I painted it white with paint I already had around the house.

Decor

Time for the FUN PART!!! DECOR! I laid some “flooring” down, hung up some wallpaper, and painted on some wallpaper. I even printed some of my favorite real life rugs onto some textured paper. It was so awesome.

AND LOOK HOW CUTE?! I finished it just in time to decorate it for Christmas 🥹🎄 This is already so much better for Auggie. Emery squealed when she saw it. I’m so happy with this!