I hope everyone had a fabulous christmas, filled with a wonderful, meaningful time with family and friends. I personally, am still enjoying it, now that I’ve come up for air from the craziness of it all. {read: I just organized the mass sea of chaos that is princess dolls/legos/imaginext/tinkerbell/weebles post christmas disaster.} …In the meantime, I just wanted to share a little gift Jamin and I did for our kids for Christmas.
Santa brought them a little red kitchen a few years ago, but it kind of fell apart after a year. We were faced with the prospect of purchasing another, but I’m picky with design (imagine that) and there aren’t many cheaper products that really float my boat. {most places (read:Pottery Barn Kids) were certainly out of the question with their ridic pricetag…} So this time, we decided to make them one. This is what we started with…
Some old furniture from one of my fave junk spots. It’s pretty basic construction, but we basically started with some basic shapes, and went from there. If you can weld a saw, attach a hinge, and paint…You can totally do this one yourselves.
These photos don’t really pay tribute how horrible they really were. Let’s just say they were super gross. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about redoing furniture, it’s strong-stomaching your way through the not so wonderful parts. {aka. roach poo…scary spiders…and other icky things like used q-tips. I know. SERIOUSLY?} But I totally scored all three pieces for 60 bucks.
We basically started by gutting out the unnecessary parts: The drawers for the chest and nightstand, and made a false drawer for the sink. After we sterilized (plenty of lysol and clorox wipes) and primed them, we cut for the additional necessary pieces.
We used a stainless steel bowl for the sink. And a faucet from Home Depot.
I finished it off with sewn curtain, and some aqua hardware. The original drawer front was kept in tact, the real drawer made false, in order to make room for the sink.
In the oven, we used plexiglass for the cut door. We simply cut a hole in the MDF, and attached the plexi with a glue gun. I also used some craft wood to do some simple, distressed “eyes” and more hardware for knobs. I also snagged an extra rack from our microwave, that fit ever so perfectly in their new stove. Score.
May I also recommend the Melissa and Doug line for play food? It holds up, and its actually fun to display in your home when you want their play area to look cute. Just sayin.
We decided to keep a retro design with the fridge. Simple doors attached to hinges, and held steady with magnets. Topped off with some stainless hardware, It doubles as a bonus: great storage in their playroom. They have their little birthday cake just waiting, in the icebox.
Of course we finished them all off with our tea stain for an aged look.
I’m hoping to add a wooden mixer and more wooden accessories, later.
Many props to Jamin, who did a lot of the grunt work. He’s one awesome daddy. The kids LOVE it, and have already baked many a delicacy for us, just in the last few days.
Here’s to thinking outside the mass produced (and sometimes super expensive) box…
It was a bit of a detailed project, but totally worth every minute, to watch their enjoyment. Hurray for play kitchens!
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[…] with a few pieces of old wood furniture and end up with a DIY childrens kitchen that will cause the adults to be envious. Modern style, functionality and durability has been […]