Those endless warm summer afternoons (and a few wet ones no doubt!) are treasured times for our little ones. With no concept of the hours ticking by all they have to worry about is where their next snack is coming from. Lucky them eh? The wild imaginations of children can fuel a whole day’s play. Hands up who made a “duvet den” when they were little, or threw a bed sheet over the clothes maiden as an impromptu place to hide? What about wedging a few planks of wood between some branches and declaring it a treehouse?
These days, the den world has moved somewhat upmarket offering children the keys to their very own kingdom. Or something like that. Take the customised treehouses by Miniature Manors, complete with trap doors and balconies. They’ll even stretch to a dormer window if required…What I would have done for such craftsmanship back in the day! I can just imagine accessorising my den with all the Little Lucy Willow soft furnishings I could muster. A throw here, a cushion there, a rocking chair in the corner perhaps? What about some little floral blinds? I digress.
The treehouse has many benefits, my personal favourite being its remarkable ability to transfer the usual mess elsewhere. Coming a close second is its immunity to the weather. Even when it’s pouring down and your rain-shy child won’t go out to play, you can bet they’ll say yes to a picnic in their outdoor den. And if they even refuse that, you know where you’ll be taking your next cup of tea…