Thanks ladies, there's some great ideas there

SammyRo the the kitchen your dad made sounds great, do you remember what the blog address was?? I think we might look at making our own also. I was watching some gorgeous kitchen items (wooden stove, cupboard, microwave) on ebay that went for over $200.

I do want to make it girl/boy friendly as DD will play in there soon enough also.

peanutter i was thinking about ikea, haven't been to look around the new springvale one yet.

RhiChiChi i might look into the blackboard paint also, the kids would love that.

Thanks ladies, DH has had the fun of making the cubby/fort (it looked pretty fun anyway ) and i'll have the fun in decking it out for the kids and then the kids can go for their lives and enjoy it for years to come.