Being Melbourne-based does not stop us here at ol’ Castle and Cubby from spreading the cubby love to every state in Australia! We get a lot of enquiries from all over the country, and as long as our clients are a little bit handy with a power drill and don’t mind heavy lifting, we certainly don’t mind sending a cubby in parts for them to put together. Just like a (very big very heavy) box of Lego!

One such couple, Amelia and Brett, wanted a homemade cubby for their three kids, but being busy members of the police force they knew deep down they wouldn’t have the time to build from scratch. A search began, but nothing online stood out until Amelia stumbled across a competition we were running with One Fine Baby, and it was love at first sight!

Living in Wollongong, just south of Sydney, Amelia wanted to give our Midi Farmer’s Market cubby a coastal feel. They added kid’s deck chairs to the order, nautically-painted flag bunting, and personalised stencilling on the blackboard. The cubby was planned for Christmas (from ‘Santa’, hey, I know that guy!), and after many a trip to Ikea and many hours spent playing Lego, Brett and Amelia were fairly confident in their ability to follow Jon’s easy-to-follow installation instructions!

Christmas Eve rolled around, and with some clever towel placement on the balcony and blinds pulled down earlier than usual, they managed to put the whole darn thing together, and style it to the hilt as well! Harrison, Evie, and Matilda had no idea, and we can’t even imagine the excitement on Christmas morning.

And ABOUT THAT STYLING! Holy moly, this lady does not do a half-job! Amelia says she sourced a lot of the items through Instagram (how did we ever shop before?!), and with the black and white cubby backdrop, she was allowed to go nuts with colourful selections. Sunnylife products were a major contributor to the Summer vibe, with an umbrella and outdoor cushions of a fruity nature.

She also saved egg cartons and pantry boxes to stock the ‘shop’, and stockpiled their empty Nudie juice bottles (a family favourite), then filled them with just enough paint to colour the sides. The juice bar is permanently in business! The kid’s favourite are the hand-knitted fruit from Sunny and Dear (which also appear to be the local ladybug hangout). They even hung a piece of dowel from the ceiling so budding boutique entrepreneur Evie can sell clothes and bags with her cousin Maggie.

The cubby house is at any given time a grocery shop, a boutique, a batcave, and even a jail (hmmmm, I wonder if Mum and Dad have the next generation of Police on their hands!). Their youngest Matilda has started walking, and can now explore the cubby and all it’s treats with her older brother and sister. The icing on the cake, is that the kids are finally using that part of the backyard. The Walls have a split level yard, so mainly used the top level off the family room. Now that the cubby is positioned on the lower level, the kids actually want to use that part of the yard.

A big thank you to Amelia and her family for answering our questions and being so open to sharing their beautiful play space with everyone. Amelia has kindly supplied us with a slew of gorgeous images, have a peek at the gallery below for some cubby styling inspiration.

We are currently taking orders for Christmas cubbies. If you live interstate and would like to know more about how to get a C&C cubby in your backyard, send us an enquiry and we can calculate freight and talk you through the process!

Image Credit: all photos by Amelia Wall