Our kids have been asking and asking for a treehouse for years - every since we moved away from our first house and playhouse half a decade ago.

But in between having more babies and building bigger projects, it just hasn't happened.

My oldest daughter has been asking less and less, and one day, I know she won't ask anymore. The playhouse can wait ... but childhood does not.

So we decided this week to work on a kids treehouse in the evenings.  I knew with our busy schedules and our baby, whatever design I came up with would have to be super easy to build.  

Sooooo.... here's what I came up with!

And here's how we built it-

Treehouse Base Building

We started with three strong and healthy trees.

Using a level, we attached a 2x6 to two of the trees with lag screws.  

Then we added two more 2x6s at the same level height in the same manner.

From there, we built a 2x6 floor and slid it up on top of the three boards attached to trees.

We screwed at an angle to attach the platform to the tree boards, and also cross braced (see below).

From there, we added cross bracing to support where the platform overhung the tree boards.

And on top of the floor, we screwed plywood down.

Modern Playhouse Framing

Now for the modern playhouse on top.

I knew I wanted to do the "work" in the garage on a flat surface, and then just haul it out to the project.  It's no fun working up in the air, especially on a tiny platform.

So I cut and screwed together four wall sections.

Then we just brought the four wall sections out to the treehouse platform and handed them up.

We tied them together with 2x4s and 2x6s to create the framing for the modern playhouse.

This worked REALLY slick and we were able to frame the playhouse in literally minutes!

Inexpensive Cedar Siding Hack

Now for siding.  I used cedar fence pickets (about $2 a stick) to cover the framing, leaving parts open for doors and windows.

The cedar fence pickets are much cheaper than regular 1x6s, weather resistant, need no finish (I'm going to let mine gray up naturally), and are lightweight and easy to work with.

We sized the plans so there's minimal waste in the siding either.

Now for the roof.  Normally a roof is a big task, but because we worked the roof framing right into the wall sections, it's anything but!

We screwed 2x4s to the tops of the wall sections, overhanging the ends so that the sides have an overhang.  This gives us something to screw metal roofing too.

And then we just screwed off the shelf 8' panels of metal roofing on top.  

We LOVE how this turned out! 

Full Length Video Tutorial

In our full length video (different than social media short videos) we also show you how we did the railings, and lots of other little details, so do please take a second to watch.

We know you can build this one too!  You don't need to build it as a treehouse either - you can build it on the ground or on a playhouse platform, or even on the lawn!

So ... are you ready to build your own Modern Playhouse?  Please tag me on social media so we can see how you rocked this project plan!  Thanks so much, we can't wait to see your versions.