BillyOh Tete-a-Tete Summerhouse from Garden Buildings Direct
There has been one particular area of our garden which has niggled us since we moved in over 5 years ago and that’s the spit of land behind our double garage. It is long and thin so really, it’s a bit useless. A few years ago when the Beans were much younger we used to have a raised playhouse which the Beans loved but eventually, we had to pass it on because the Beans became too big for it.
BillyOh Summerhouse

The plan, in the very long term, is to build a solid construction behind the garage to make an office/clubhouse for the Beans to escape from the house when they feel the need but until our finances are a little more substantial we wanted to put in a Summerhouse for the Beans to have as a ‘chill-out zone’.
As if the garden fairies had read our minds we were contacted by Garden Buildings Direct to see if we were interested in receiving a complimentary BillyOh Tête a Tête Summerhouse to review and of course we jumped at the opportunity.
Getting Started

Unfortunately, the British weather has been against us on the weekends we were available to build our Summerhouse so we haven’t had the chance to build it as quickly as we would have liked BUT it is now built.
Building the Summerhouse was pretty straightforward (thankfully) with easy to follow instructions. We made sure that we paid full attention to the first part of the instructions which was to sit down with a cup of coffee and thoroughly read the rest of the instructions! The only part of the build which slowed us down was putting in the window panes because we had to take special care not to break them.
The Build in Process
The finished Summerhouse is very sturdy and impressive. It feels bigger inside than we first expected it to so that has been a welcome surprise. The boys couldn’t wait to get inside, it didn’t matter to them that we hadn’t yet put the windows in, they moved their bench straight in and had lunch. The build quality is very good tongue and groove walls so it feels solid and built to last.
It’s a hit!!

Our next job will be to paint the Summerhouse to make it fit with the theme of our garden and then I am looking forward to getting stuck into the interior. As you can see from the photographs, we decided to leave the protective covers on the windows to make painting the summerhouse a little easier (however we didn’t think about it until after we had removed the covers from the windows on the doors). We are hoping to make some bench seating which will also act as storage and will possibly also be insulating it too but will have to see how the finances go first.
What sort of Garden Building would you like to have in your garden?
20 Comments
Caro | The Twinkle Diaries
May 27 at 11:42 am
Aaah it’s SO exciting!! We bought a Billy Oh shed in January and have been working really hard to turn it into a garden office for me! Hopefully we’ll finally get it finishes this weekend!!! Can’t wait to see what you do with yours 🙂 xx
IamMummyMatters
May 27 at 1:24 pm
Oooh that will be lovely, I would love to have an office to myself. I’m really looking forward to creating a lovely outdoor space for the Beans though, I just need to find the funds for the paint and wood first 🙂 x
Realweegiemidget
May 28 at 2:47 pm
Thats such a cute picture of your boys, think they will be claiming it for themselves soon
IamMummyMatters
May 29 at 2:11 pm
Soon?? Haha they claimed it there and then! 😉
Rachel
May 28 at 5:55 pm
This is fantastic, I am slightly jealoous as I want one, the design is fantastic with all of those windows x
IamMummyMatters
May 29 at 2:10 pm
I think it’s the windows which make it so nice, they just flood it with light 🙂
Chelle
May 28 at 7:38 pm
This looks fab. I’m hoping to have something similar in our garden when we finally move.
IamMummyMatters
May 29 at 2:10 pm
It’s nice to have somewhere to retreat to yet still be outside isn’t it 🙂
Tita
May 28 at 9:14 pm
That looks so spacious! I’m pretty sure your boys will start ‘living’ there when it’s all done.
IamMummyMatters
May 29 at 2:07 pm
It’s great isn’t it. I’ve noticed that Daddy has started storing things in it ‘for now’ not that the kids have let it stop them from playing in there. Hoping to get some paint this week 🙂
hannahhowell912
May 29 at 4:41 pm
I would love one of these in the garden!! I secretly want one for my two bunnies to live in…
IamMummyMatters
May 29 at 5:52 pm
Wow you must have REALLY big bunnies 🙂
Kara Guppy
May 30 at 10:25 am
This looks fantastic, we did struggle to build our shed as the instructions were not very clear. I would love a summer house
IamMummyMatters
May 31 at 7:11 pm
Oh no that’s a shame, we didn’t have any problems with ours (unless you count them blowing across the garden and having to put them back into the right order) x
Sonya Cisco
May 30 at 10:42 am
OOh that looks fabulous! Sadly we dont have room for anything in our garden, but I dream of a summer house as an office!
IamMummyMatters
May 31 at 8:04 pm
They’re amazing aren’t they. Eventually we would like to put a permanent structure there to make an outdoor office or bedroom but this is a great cost-saving alternative for the next few years at least.
Kaz & Ickle Pickle (@IcklePicklex)
May 30 at 8:31 pm
This looks so great – I really want a summer house for Pickle this year, we have a lovely big garden and it would be perfect for him. Kaz x
IamMummyMatters
May 31 at 9:16 pm
It’s nice for them to have an outdoor room I think, that way they can still play outside even if the weather goes off a little x
mummyoftwo2
June 2 at 6:50 am
That looks great. It’s definitely something on our list for the next few years!
IamMummyMatters
June 2 at 10:38 pm
I think it’s nice for the children to have their own space outdoors (though I will admit I’m a little worried about the number of windows!!)