It hasn’t even got a roof on it yet, and my five-year-old is already planning the kitchen and where to put the potted plants. I love his enthusiasm, and it’s reassuring to know that all my efforts, and the seemingly inordinate amount of time it’s taking, are not in vain!
Fitting it in around work and parenting, I’m probably only averaging 2 hours per week. It’s been a work in progress for about 2 months, but it’s finally starting to look like more than just a haphazard assembly of repurposed pallets and other off-cuts.
I’ve departed a little from my original idea of an asymmetrical, crooked design, in part because of the practicalities and the materials I have to hand, but also because my children were not so excited by that idea. Preferring something with straighter lines and that might pass for a tree-house… if we had a tree to put it in.
In the end it will be rustic, and most likely covered in, and surrounded by plants, perhaps with some bright colours here and there. Or maybe not. It’s an evolving project with no specific plans.
I’m following my gut, day by day, and adapting it to the available resources, which fortunately are appearing more or less as and when I need them from number of local sources, mostly via friends colleagues and neighbours.
Here are a few photos of my progress so far.
Stuart Westwood 