Tour a Treehouse Studio for Work and Play

Designer Ally Whalen’s creative spirit won’t let her keep her rustic-cottage chic décor the same throughout the year, so she approaches each season as an opportunity to make a fashion statement in her home. In fact, she took that creative spirit and continued to spread her cottage style right outside and up to create a treehouse studio!

A Treehouse Studio for Work and Play

The tree-house studio that they built in the backyard is furnished in a cozy cottage style, with shiplap boards that remind Ally of her family’s 100-year-old cottage in Vermont.

The walkway from the home out to the professionally built tree house in the backyard. — **A TREEHOUSE GROWS.** Ally needed a space at home where she could spread out her design work comfortably, so she was inspired to build it in a great tree in her backyard. The treehouse is 20 to 25 feet wide. It was constructed with shiplap boards to look aged and natural. “The treehouse is a space that inspires creativity,” Ally says.

“The treehouse is a space that inspires creativity,” she says. “It came about when I was closing my old shop. I had a good design space there, but not here at home. I had to build up [vertically] because the backyard floods due to the creek. We had a great tree in the backyard so I thought, why not build a treehouse studio?

A view from the walkway up to the porch of the Tree house, featuring it's porch decor and string lighting. — **WOODEN WALKWAY.** The deck, which is attached to the main house for an easy walk between the buildings, is at least 20 feet long.

We hired a contractor who had built one before, and it required special hardware that allows the treehouse to move with the tree. We attached the treehouse to the main house by extending the deck.” I wanted a loft area, which has a daybed with an area for the kids that they love to play in.” The treehouse is 20 to 25 feet wide, and the deck is at least 20 feet long.

The treehouse is a space that inspires creativity.

A view inside the treehouse, a tall gray ladder leads up to a hideout for the kids and straight back a small but useful desk area. — **TREE OFFICE.** Home offices are popular, but a tree office is something special. Ally uses this space in the back of the treehouse for doing her design work. She delights in working on the computer while looking out the window for a treetop view.

Another angle of the hideaway loft for the kids that sits over a cozy couch perfect for reading and snuggling. — **CLEAN AND COZY.** Inside the treehouse, Ally took old branches from the backyard and attached fairy lights as ceiling decorations that complement the tin tiles. Birch branches—popular in Vermont but not in North Carolina—were used as the railing for the loft. Ally had them shipped from Vermont and cut them to size. “It looks like it’s been there for decades and blends in with the environment,” she says. Ally especially likes to be in the treehouse in the winter, when the leaves are gone, which gives it more sunlight. She placed easy-to-move poufs for extra seating inside and outside on the deck, where the family enjoys spending time watching TV with friends over.

Ally continued the rustic-cottage décor in the treehouse. “The walls are done in shiplap boards, with tongue-and-groove paneling on the ceiling. I created my own stain using steel wool and vinegar, letting it sit for five days,” she says.

Want a treehouse experience of your own? Check out this post on a treehouse getaway!

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