Many families have embraced the challenges of lockdown by improving certain life skills, whether it be baking, art or DIY.
Hannah Emberson, 35, from Wiltshire, made the most of her time stuck at home by building an impressive ‘Lockdown Lodge’ together with her husband Darryl, 40, and their four kids aged five, nine, 10 and 13.
The pastel playhouse cost the family just £250 to create thanks to their clever use of upcycling, and sourcing spare materials from their community.
‘The idea for our tree house project came about whilst making a fruit and veg planter as a family project,’ Hannah said, speaking to money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk.
‘Our nine-year-old son asked whether we could build him a tree house. We didn’t ave enough wood to do this, nor a big enough tree, but he was quite persistent.
Hannah Emberson, 35, from Wiltshire, built an impressive ‘Lockdown Lodge’ together with her husband Darryl, 40, and their four kids aged five, nine, 10 and 13, during lockdown. Pictured, at the start of the build
The pastel playhouse (pictured, after the build) cost the family just £250 to create thanks to their clever use of upcycling, and sourcing spare materials from their community
Hannah says that when she looks at what has been achieved, she and her family have a huge sense of accomplishment and gratitude. Pictured, with husband Darryl, 40
The stay-at-home mum went on to explain that George is autistic and once he has an idea, he tends to get his heart set on it.
‘Despite our attempts to appease him, he continued to ask, so we agreed to post in our village Facebook group to see if anyone else had some spare pallets or wood that we could have,’ she continued.
‘We live in the village of Winterslow in Wiltshire and have a wonderfully supportive community. During the pandemic, everyone has come together to support one another; we have only lived in the village a year, but it truly feels like home.
‘Fortunately our pleas were answered and we were offered much more than we could have imagined!’
Hannah added that amongst pallets, one particular family had spent the previous two years developing their property and had lots of quality cladding off cuts, old barn doors, decking, bannister spindles and more.
So everything was arranged so they could make a safe contactless collection.
With unexpected resources, the family decided to start building and plan as they went along to make the most of what they had. Pictured, the interior of the lodge
Hannah says they upcycled as much possible – making the barn-style door (pictured) from all the offcuts, carefully securing them together and sanding to a nice finish before painting
The roof (pictured, after the build was complete) was made using two more doors, secured together with end timbers and covered in roofing felt
‘Our initial plan was to make a raised structure using a couple of pallets – nothing fancy,’ explained Hannah.
‘But with the unexpected resources, we decided to start building and plan as we went along to make the most of what we had.
‘We began with the base and moved on to the back and far side, making a frame and using the wood to clad it out.
‘We extended the frame to make the opposite side and when we ran out of the cladding, we used two old barn style doors for the front, cutting out windows and fitting some perspex we already had, leftover from a previous project.
‘The roof was made using two more doors, secured together with end timbers and covered in roofing felt.’
Hannah says they upcycled as much possible – making the barn-style door from all the offcuts, carefully securing them together and sanding to a nice finish before painting.
‘With some adjustments, we used an old section of decking, carefully cutting it in around the tree… it’s as close to a treehouse as we could manage,’ she said.
‘Finally, we added the bannister, rope, steps and window boxes.’
‘My favourite part of all was decorating it. I used Frenchic’s ‘Alfresco’ range to paint and stencil the inside and out, adding finishing coat for extra protection on the steps, flooring and window boxes.
‘The stencil was from eBay. When IKEA reopened, I took my nine-year-old son to choose all the interior decoration and we already had the pillows that were used.’
The couple were given a helping hand from their four kids aged five, nine, 10 and 13. Pictured, together
The family named the playhouse ‘Lockdown Lodge’ (pictured) as a memory of this time and to show that despite the challenges faced, there have been some positives to come out of the pandemic
Hannah’s favourite part was decorating it – and says she used Frenchic’s ‘Alfresco’ range to paint and stencil the inside and out. Pictured, her children enjoying the lodge
The couple spent around £250 in total and for extra bits they couldn’t source for free such as fixings, rope, door and window trims, felt for the roof and extra decking boards, they used B&Q’s click and collect system.
Hannah and her family feel that building Lockdown Lodge provided the perfect distraction from the stresses of the outside world during the pandemic, and even helped them feel closer to their community.
‘When we first began the project, I hoped it would give our children a safe space to enjoy outdoors and make the most of an unused, overgrown part of the garden,’ she added.
‘We hadn’t planned for it to be anything fancy, but the generosity of others and access to wonderful paint made it what it is.
‘With my husband furloughed and myself staying home due to my asthma, it gave us the opportunity to enjoy time together during lockdown.
The kids helped with removing nails from pallets, sanding, painting, some drilling and screwing, and painting (pictured)
Hannah says she’s also found a love of upcycling and plans to carry it on long after lockdown. Pictured, the floral-patterned plant pot
She continued: ‘We named the playhouse “Lockdown Lodge” as it seemed fitting to have it as a memory of this time and shows that despite the challenges faced, there have been some positives to come out of this pandemic.
‘When we look at what has been achieved, we have a huge sense of accomplishment and gratitude.
‘Our children now spend hours in there reading and drawing, they have even started to write their own stories together.
‘I have also found a love of upcycling and plan to carry on this long after lockdown.’
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, commented: ‘Many of us will resume normal life eventually and have mixed memories about lockdown and all the complications it brought to our lives.
‘However, the Emberson family will have incredible memories thanks to their amazing Lockdown Lodge!
‘I can’t believe the beautiful pastel creation cost them just £250 to create – it really shows that if you’re savvy when sourcing materials, you can keep costs down hugely, not to mention that a family DIY project like this is hugely rewarding!’