When we moved into our house with a garden three years ago, i knew I wanted to buy my daughters some outdoor toys. I especially wanted to get them a playhouse but had very little money at the time, so was looking for a bit of a budget item. After much research I decided upon this Chad Valley playhouse, which I bought from Argos.

The chad valley house is available in two colours. One is yellow with a orange roof and green doors and windows, whilst the one I chose is completely pink (the same as the dooyoo picture). The house came in 6 parts comprising of the four walls and two pieces for the roof, all of which are connected using the provided chunky plastic nuts and bolts. I put this playhouse together by myself in about ten minutes, I was really surprised and happy at how quick, easy and fuss free it was to do. A variety of stickers are provided to decorate the playhouse including flowers, gardening tools and taps, these were easy to apply but most of them have ripped or faded over the years, which I guess is to be expected. When I was looking at this product on the Argos website there was a large selection of pictures of the house shown in a variety of different positions. Whilst I did find these pictures helpful, I did find a couple of them misleading, as it looks as though the house comes with a pink base or floor, which it does not. The house has a door with a letterbox hole in the middle, unfortunately the door never stays closed, which my children find quite an annoyance. At first I thought this was down to my DIY skills, or lack of, but after reading reviews on the Argos website I discovered that this was an actual problem with the playhouse which many others has experienced. The house has four "windows" only the two side ones have "shutters", the children have no problems opening and closing these shutters and they tend to stay in place. I would have liked to have seen shutters on all windows, but this is only a small annoyance, and something I was aware of before purchasing the playhouse.

A few months ago we moved house and I set about dismantling the house in preperation for the move. I must say it was not a job I was particularly looking forward to as I felt the house would probably just fall apart or break. I was pleasantly surprised when the house was dismantled under five minutes with no problems and it didn't take me long to put it all back together again in its new place.

Both my daughters have thoroughly enjoyed playing in this playhouse for the past three years, my nine year old daughter is less interested in it these days as she is too big for it really anyways, but it is still a big hit with my three year old and I can see it still getting some use for a few more years. It is a good outdoor toy which I feel offers a myriad of role playing possibilities and also encourages social and imaginative play in young children. Furthermore, it has also been a good place for the cat to sleep and keep dry when she has been caught out in the rain! I must admit that the playhouse is showing some signs of wear and tear but I feel this is to be expected considering it has been out in the garden in various weather conditions for three years. When we first got this playhouse it was a very bold bright pink colour, however it has faded a fair bit.

As far as I can see this is only available at Argos. It currently costs £89.00 with free delivery. I think I must have bought this whilst it was on offer as I bought this for around £50. Although I do have a few annoyance with this playhouse (eg the door) I do overall feel it has offered good value for money and my children have enjoyed playing with it. There are more expensive playhouses available but if you are looking for a decent one on a budget then I would recommend this Chad Valley Playhouse.