What child (or child at heart) doesn't love having a back yard wooden playhouse? Sometimes it can be difficult to get your little princess to get outside and play dirty, especially if she doesn't like bugs or mud or if she has brothers who make it hard for her to get her own space. With a few easy steps creating a back yard retreat for her could be the stuff her dreams are made of. Building or buying a girls playhouse can be possible on any budget, as long as you use creativity and have fun with it. Let's take a look at several options for both outdoor and indoor playhouses.

If your budget is high and you can afford to spend several hundreds of dollars, look into companies that build custom playhouses for kids. Among their pirate ships and tree houses, they often have country cottage or Victorian mansion styles. With gingerbread trim, tiny doors with doorbells, windows that open and close and darling shutters beside them, they have left no detail out! These houses are already painted, often wallpapered and floored, and leave your little miss nothing left to do but move in (and accessorize!)

If these high profile, high price girl's playhouses are outside of your realm of financial possibility, consider the cost of building one of your own from new materials or, better yet, reuse scraps from construction projects! A tiny playhouse handmade by someone close to the little girl in question is no better gift, and what a wonderful way to teach her the lesson of recycling.

In the event that your playhouse building skills are lacking, a less expensive option are molded plastic playhouses that are lightweight, easy to relocate, and take all kinds of weather. These come in several styles, from one that would be perfect for the girliest of girls or the more tomboyish of them. Many have fun features such as working doorbells and play phones on which she can have long conversations!

Whether you're building your own childrens playhouse or purchasing a less expensive plastic model, don't let that get you down about decoration. There are so many ways to spruce up a girls playhouse to make it so fantastic she won't notice you didn't spend over a thousand dollars on it!

Let's start at the beginning; the entrance. A darling addition to any little house would be a couple of hardy potted flowers that your little girl could assume responsibility for along with a little watering can. A few dollars spent on a colorful and fun doormat would brighten up the facade, and perhaps a set of miniature wind chimes which could be hung from the eaves of the house or from a shepherd's hook nearby.

Inside, a small throw rug and chair would give her a good place to sit. A basket nearby could keep books and toys, another could keep rocks, flowers, acorns feathers, leaves and pine cones she finds around the yard.

Obviously, in many areas of the world, an outdoor playhouse ceases to become practical in the winter months, so what can you do indoors? A popular furniture item available from many manufacturers is the play stand. Play stands are small shelving units that curve up into an overhead rack. Two of these play stands side by side become a playhouse (or "fort") when draped with a sheet, blanket or play silk. These are easy to set up anywhere inside the home and can easily be broken down and turned back into bookshelves at any time.

The interiors can be set up with anything her little heart desires, from play kitchens to pillows and books, from a table with crayons and paper, to a baby doll's bed and all the stuffed friends she can fit inside.

No matter what, you can be sure that any girls playhouse set up for your little girl is going to be dearly treasured by her. For years she will find respite and joy inside, any time she needs quiet time to herself, she will always know she has somewhere to go. She will be occupied joyfully for hours and hours, and you may discover it was the best thing you've ever given her.