KAREN WIGHT -- No Place Like Home

I have always had a soft spot for playhouses. I vividly remember the

version that Santa brought to my house when I was 3 years old. It was

dark brown and had a Dutch door. I thought it was the best place on earth

until the day that I found a huge spider hanging from one of the corners

inside my palace. Born an arachnophobe, I never went in my playhouse

again, much to my mother’s chagrin.

So, when my first daughter was offered a hand-me-down playhouse, I

jumped at the opportunity to play ‘house’ on a miniature level all over

again.

The house was in need of repairs, but that was just the excuse I

needed to completely ‘cherry out’ the next playhouse generation. A new

roof, fresh coats of paint, raised panel shutters, a painted

black-and-white checkerboard floor and a porch. No Dutch door, but we did

hang window boxes, complete with flowers.

I think I enjoyed the house as much as Annie did (or maybe more than

my tomboy). And I always checked the corners for spiders. The house had a

couple of small chairs, and eventually the plastic kitchen moved out of

the big house into the little one. We crammed a lot of living into that

little house with siblings, neighbors and friends until the floor gave

way one day to the dirt underneath. The playhouse was retired, but the

good memories remain intact.

A playhouse can be as humble as a blanket thrown over some chairs or

as over the top as a custom French chateau built at two-thirds scale.

Michelle Pollak, owner of The Lollipop Tree, a design firm that

specializes in children’s spaces, plans kid-sized living spaces with

adult amenities.

Michelle’s playhouse designs include finished interiors, recessed

lighting complete with dimmer switches, air conditioning for the summer

months and central heating for her clients in the Midwest and eastern

states.

Michelle is effusive about her career choice and her design philosophy

encompasses more than the expected. Her playhouses incorporate serene

spaces for kids to unwind from their stimulating world of sports,

television, videos, and computers. No primary colors for this guru of the

shorter set, and her designs look more like a Barbara Barry showroom than

a preschool.

“The kids like to have their own space to think and create,” explains

Michelle. A sense of ownership is important as well. “One little girl

insisted that her friends leave their shoes at the front door, and feet

were not allowed on her furniture.”

Michelle is often asked to design the playhouse to compliment the

style of the parents’ home. You want Mediterranean? No problem. Cape Cod,

complete with window boxes? She’s got an entire portfolio.

These projects become the jewel of the backyard and are landscaped

with child-friendly plants and flowers.

Michelle’s most complicated design to date is a five-room playhouse,

complete with running water, a media room and a garage for the bevy of

children’s vehicles. The most popular style is cottage, although she has

produced every style imaginable.

In addition to the playhouses, Michelle designs kid-scaled furniture.

No Formica or easy-to-assemble tables in this upscale line. Michelle’s

designs are appropriate in scale, style and quality.

“Kids love to have their own upholstered pieces that are their size,

but soft and beautiful, just like Mom and Dad’s,” she explained.

“Playhouses have such an emotional appeal,” she adds. “My projects are

a joy from the beginning to end because everyone loves to create a

child-friendly space.”

Michelle concludes, “I am an interior designer that has found her

niche in a small world, and I love it.”

Whether your child’s “fort” is made of cardboard or rivals Fort Worth,

small spaces are cozy, inviting and fun. Make one in the living room out

of blankets on a rainy day, or you can call Michelle at The Lollipop

Tree: 877-404-1184.

Give yourself a little timeout and remember the joy of being princess

of your own castle.