Fort Renovation – Turning Our Kids Fort into a Tiny Guest House

Childhood Memories

When my brothers and I were kids, my Dad built us a fort… and a playhouse, and a huge elevated sandbox, and a jungle gym, and the coolest teeter totter ever! Every kid in our neighborhood hung out in our yard. I have so many awesome memories of the play spaces my Dad and Mom built for us kids, that I really wanted to have something similar for our boys when they were little. Enter… The Fort.

The Fort

Several years after we moved to our home in the country, we decided to build a fort for our kids. A place for them to hang out in and play in, and to create their own childhood memories in.

I designed the concept for the fort and my husband and Dad built it – with the help of our boys and my brothers.

I came up with the idea of a fort in – of all months – October. In Minnesota. My husband and Dad would have rather waited for the Spring to start this project, but I was so excited about it, we started the project right away.  Building in October in Minnesota is hit-or-miss. One day it could be sunny and in the high 70s, the next day, it could be snowing and in the low 40s. We were lucky with the October weather, but there were days in November when we were outside building in the snow.

This fort has a lot of meaning to me. It was a place that my Dad helped build for our boys – at the time, he was in his 70s. This was also the first construction project that our boys helped with – at the time, they were all under the age of 10. It’s also special to me because my husband took my design and didn’t bat an eye (at least not in front of me), and turned my sketch into blueprints and went with it – pretty much just the way I envisioned it.

We never finished the inside of the fort – open studs and rafters gave the feeling of a hideout! Our boys played in that fort quite often. It was their spaceship. Their pirate ship. Their cabin in the woods. Their castle. And their restaurant. We also used the fort to play games in as a family on Summer nights – oh the fun we all had together! We also used it as a tiny house to sleep in during the Summer – sort of our own “cabin at camp”. The boys all had beds in the loft, and my husband and I slept on the main floor. With so many windows in the fort, the deer and other wild animals would come and peek in at us when we spent time there in the evenings or overnight. We have a lot of great memories of time spent in the fort!

Our boys are now young adults, so we decided it was time to finish the inside and turn the fort into more of a bungalow or hangout space. I’m guessing we’ll always refer to it as “The Fort”.

The Remodel

For the remodel, we’re insulating the fort to keep it warm in the Winter and cool in the Summer. We’re adding special flooring and walls. There’ll be a living area on the main level for watching TV and playing video games and board games with friends. The second level will be a mini-kitchenette with a refrigerator, cabinets and countertop, and perhaps a small table and chairs. The loft will become a bedroom with a single full-size bed, instead of a space for three twin beds.

The main level has a partially open wall to the second level, making the space open and airy. The ceiling in the main level is open beams from the floor of the loft above. We’ll be keeping the beams exposed on this ceiling open, but I’ll be painting the flat parts a matte black, keeping the beams the natural wood finish.There is currently a wall of open shelves between the main level and the second level. These open shelves are painted a matte black. We’ll be keeping this wall open, but will be adding more shelves. 

The second level has almost a two-story high ceiling that is shared with the loft. We’ll hang a ceiling fan on this ceiling for shared light between the loft and second level.

The loft is above the main living area and has an open railing that allows you to look down over the second level – again, very open. We’ll be keeping this railing just as it is.

There are lots of windows on all three levels, giving you a great view of our backyard and pond. The windows are large and allow for a lot of cross-ventilation. Because we really love the view from the windows, there are no window coverings. I plan on keeping the windows uncovered, just like they are now.

Because we have a well and septic for our main house, the fort won’t have running water, but it will have a self-contained toilet, so we don’t have to run to the main house in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.

Yes, it’s September and we’re just starting this project. I guess I have a thing for construction in the Fall! We’re hoping to have the fort finished by the end of September. Since my husband and I work full-time jobs, we only have evenings and the weekends to work on this project. Our boys are working their jobs, so have little time to help. Hopefully we can finish this up soon and then enjoy the space before the snow flies.

I’m as excited about this project now as I was when we first built the fort! Maybe even more excited now, because I know it will be a great space for my husband and I to escape to! Our boys (and their friends) are pretty excited about having another space (away from the house) to hang out in. We’ll also be able to use the fort as a guest house when we have company stay with us for the weekend. Overall, I think this will be a great space for ALL of us!

The Decor

While my husband is doing the majority of the construction work, I’m having a blast planning the decor for the fort!

Black and white and neutral colored, natural wood are my favorites. I’ll be adding a pop of orange in honor of my Mom. When we first built the fort, she bought us a gallon of orange paint and blue paint (my oldest sons favorite colors at the time). She gave the paint to our son as a gift so he could paint the interior in his favorite colors. While I’m not a fan of blue, I do love the orange. Having orange in the fort will be like adding a part of my Mom to the project (thanks, Mom!).

Here are some of the things we’ll be adding to make The Fort a cool space.

Main Level – Living Area

Second Level – Kitchenette

Loft – Bedroom

To Be Continued

I’ll be sure to create a ‘Part 2’ for this article when we have the fort finished. I’ll include photos of the project, along with photos of the final walk-through. Until then, I hope you enjoy the fort photos below. Stay tuned!

Did you have a special play area as a kid? Share the details in a comment below – I’d love to hear about it!

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