Creating a Batcave

Most pregnant women are busy building calls creating a beautiful nursery for their impending princess. Instead, I'm fighting the heat and swelling to convert an old play house into an awesome Batcave for my son.

I felt bad doing much to the playhouse because it was still in such good condition already, but I need it to be a strong attraction for my 3 year old to play in independently. I don't want to be tending to a newborn while constantly entertaining my son.

I started by taking all of the pieces off without first considering the amount of bugs I would deal with. I scrubbed down all of the pieces and let them dry. Since it was so hot, the pieces dried quickly, and I got straight to work. I started with a clear primer by Valspar that is meant specifically for plastic. It was hard to judge where I had covered, but it seemed to do the trick.

I started with the roof with a Rustoleum textured spray and was incredibly disappointed in how poorly it covered. Two cans didn't even make a dent on the roof pieces and it globbed up in parts. I moved on to the trim pieces and walls with a Valspar black and charcoal spray.

After a run back to Lowe's for more paint, I continued working on the roof by typing it with a Rustoleum metallic spray that turned out great!

Now I moved on to the picnic table. I kept it simple by priming and taping off the top of the table. 

I then used chalkboard spray paint to cover the top of the table. I followed the cans directions and applied two light coats. 

Once dried, I put the house back together and touched up the spots that I missed. I SHOULD HAVE waited 6 days before putting the pieces together to prevent scratching, but I have no patience for that (or space to store the pieces). So it did scratch a little at the part where the picnic table attached.

I then started working on the keyboard/control panel. I started with an old wireless keyboard that my father donated to the cause and cleaned it up.

After reading numerous options for painting the keys, I realized that I did not have the patience or time to pop every single key off, paint each key (multiple times) and remember where the heck they all belonged. So instead, I bought a Super Hero Skin for a Macbook Keyboard and put those on the main keys. They didn't fit perfectly, since this isn't a Mac, but it fit close enough to entertain the 3 year old. I painted the extra keys with regular paint and wrote some numbers and letters on those keys. 

I tried using a Sharpie to write, but half of my markers were dry. So instead, I used the tip of the marker as a paint brush. It worked really well!

Then I worked on the final touches of the house by adding a Batman logo to the front door. It didn't take well to the textured plastic, and a clear coat made it MUCH worse. So I tried using ModPodge to apply the sticker. I put two coats of that, then topped with a clear coat, and it worked much better.

The chalkboard paint worked really well on the table and will add even more fun to this play area!

 I painted the stools yellow, and they took FOREVER to get the right color with at least 4 coats of paint. The texture of the stools was different from the house, and it was much less forgiving or accepting of the spray paint. But eventually, they added a nice touch to the house.

 

Inside the Batcave, I put the finished keyboard over the old stove (I had already removed the knobs for the stove.)

And I added a magnetic chalkboard that was meant for a playground set. I had to install it sideways to fit between the windows, but it really didn't matter. I also laminated some pictures of common villains, then attached them with magnetic clips. We drilled some holes into the bottom of a tin bucket to store the chalk in. And I took some old birthday decorations and used Mod Podge to attach those to the wall with a clear coat finish.

He's in heaven!