I had always hoped to build the ultimate clubhouse for my two kids. I wanted it to include all of those little things we all dreamt of as a child—secret passages, hidden doors. This past summer, I finally brought some of those fantasies to life! At our cottage, we had a basement room that was only used for storage. No one really liked going down there. So, over the course of a few weeks, my eight-year-old son and I embarked on a DIY project where we turned the previously unused room into a magical escape.
Everything was either repurposed items we already had or built from scratch. We pulled up the musty old carpet and painted the floor, painted the walls, and bought some old kindergarten cubbies at a yard sale. We also added bunk beds.
Off the back of this main clubhouse room is a second room (it will be next season’s project; maybe a rainy-day den for kids with a vintage video game console). We covered its entrance with a bookcase “door,” which opens by pulling a “secret” book (called Secret Society, of course) that we bought at a local second-hand bookstore.
The best part of the clubhouse? We built a trap door in the ceiling that comes up through a cupboard into the kitchen. This is fun for the kids, obviously, but it also creates a more direct link from the basement space to the main cottage, as the basement was previously only accessible by a door outside.
The best part of the clubhouse? We built a trap door in the ceiling that comes up through a cupboard into the kitchen. This is fun for the kids, obviously, but it also creates a more direct link from the basement space to the main cottage, as the basement was previously only accessible by a door outside.
Most of our kitchen cupboards are labelled, for the sake of guests that use the cottage when we aren’t there. My son came up with the brilliant plan of marking the secret entrance cupboard Expired Milk. That way no one would be tempted to open the cupboard door—and find his clubhouse!
