With Spring just around the corner and those beautiful daylight hours slowly creeping in, children up and down the country are rediscovering the joy of outdoor play, making it the perfect time of year to invest in a new garden building such as a wendyhouse. But when it comes to the magical world of garden play, there are a few things to consider in order to find the perfect wendyhouse that will not only make your child happy, but your garden happy too.
What Is A Wendyhouse?
A wendy house is, by definition, ‘a small toy house for children to play in’ but with a little imagination it can become almost anything. When looking at the origins of wendyhouses, the magic is thought to date back to a rather impressive 1904 with J M Barrie’s ‘Peter Pan’. One of the much loved characters ‘Wendy Darling’ was given a wendyhouse in which to play and let little imaginations run wild, much inspired by the writers own Scottish childhood home it became something of an inspiration to children all over the country. Today many garden playhouses still capture the essence of these traditional designs, serving as pretty much anything and everything from shops and dens to castles and tea rooms. There are so many benefits to a child’s development that outdoor play can bring, such as helping to facilitate care for the environment, making new friends and improving fine motor skills. Introducing a playhouse or wendyhouse to your garden is the perfect way to provide a child with a space to play outdoors, once encouraged out into the garden their imaginations really can do the rest.
A Wendyhouse For Your Garden
Having a playhouse or wendyhouse is a fantastic opportunity for your child to learn and grow, but it should also be a fantastic opportunity for your garden. A new wendyhouse can be quite a substantial feature for your garden so it is important to feel proud of this new garden building, the trick here is to integrate it perfectly with its surroundings. One of the first things to consider is where your playhouse will be located, if space is on your side then tucking it away into a sheltered spot can really help to bring the ‘magic’ alive. Of course, if you need it to be a little more of a prominent feature, some careful attention to paintwork and materials can really help it to become a welcome addition to your own home. When it comes to garden playhouses, earthy colours are becoming quite popular and if you are able to incorporate colours from your own home then even better, but the most important thing to remember is making this building both look and feel loved. After all this is where those invaluable childhood memories are going to be built and should, with a little luck, last a lifetime.
Choosing Your Wendyhouse
When buying a wendyhouse or garden playhouse of any kind you’ll soon find there are so many options available, whether it’s multiple floors, opening windows, different facades or door styles. Just as purchasing any other garden building, finding the right one for you and your garden can become a little confusing without the right guidance. Here are a few things to get you thinking when it comes to finding the perfect one:
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Space: One of the most obvious starting points for any new garden building, including a wendyhouse, is the amount of space you have to play with and of course the perfect spot. You’ll then need to think about how much impact you would like the playhouse to have, if bold and beautiful are what you’re after then go for larger dimensions with split levels and ladders such as our Chiddlingly playhouse. If however if you’re a little tight for space then a single storey building with smaller dimensions such as our Keymer playhouse could be the right fit for you.
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Cost: Whilst some wendyhouses can be relatively inexpensive, if you would like a new garden building that will really add value to your garden it may be worth investing a little more. A new wendyhouse should give you years of entertainment, and if you’ve invested in a higher quality model it can be handed down for generations to come, allowing the magic to be passed along for generations. At Tates of Sussex we have a range of options available, with prices starting at £650 for our Playden playhouse, to some of our more luxurious buildings such as the Friston Playhouse at £2,209.
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Materials and features: At Tates of Sussex all of our wendyhouses are constructed of high quality timber, making them not only an attractive feature for any garden but also a natural fit with their surroundings. A wooden wendyhouse is fantastically adaptable in that it can be painted to suit individual styles and tastes, its natural feel can even help little ones feel more connected with the environment. The features of a wendyhouse are often one of the biggest selling points, so it’s important to understand them before making a decision. Doors can come as standard or available in stable door options, such as one of our popular products ‘The Playhouse’, which can quite literally open up a whole world of new opportunities for play such as shops and cafes. For extra play space, you can also opt for a wendyhouse with a veranda which can not only do wonders for play, but also look really rather attractive in a garden setting. Our Superden Outdoor Playhouse features a 2ft veranda and is even available in a range of sizes, making it a realistic option for a range of different sized gardens.
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Safety: Without a shadow of a doubt, any wendyhouse or garden playhouse should have safety at the forefront of it’s design and at Tates of Sussex our buildings are manufactured to British and European safety standards. All of our wendyhouses are fitted with piano style door hinges which are cleverly angled to leave a slight gap when shut, our stable doors also incorporate a gap and rounded fascia boards to help prevent little fingers getting trapped. Many of our wendyhouses feature windows such as our popular The Lodge Wooden Playhouse, and so to ensure safety we use a safety acrylic to prevent breakage and accidental damage.
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Maintenance: All of our wendyhouses are built with durability in mind, with fully fitted roofs and only the highest quality timber used throughout to help ensure maintenance is as low as possible. Many of our buildings come with 20mm treated flooring throughout and our Nutley Playhouse for example is constructed with 50x50mm tanalised floor joists as well as antique style ironmongery, making it a wendyhouse to be enjoyed for many years to come.
A Wendyhouse From Tates of Sussex
A wendyhouse from Tates comes in a variety of different shapes, sizes and styles to suit individual requirements and or course, encourage the best quality play possible. Our exquisite Malvern collection of buildings http://www.themalverncollection.co.uk/ comes with a whole host of optional extras, making them the perfect fit for almost any wendyhouse. These high quality buildings are truly built to last, using some of the finest and most durable materials available making our playhouses some of the highest quality in Sussex. What sets us aside from many of our competitors is that we also offer free, no-obligation site surveys to really help our customers make the best possible decision. If you are interested in purchasing a new wendyhouse or garden building from Tates, please visit one of our Sussex Garden Centres where you’ll be able to have a closer look at some of our garden buildings. Alternatively please contact us today and one of our friendly team will be in touch to help you find the perfect wendyhouse for you.
