DIY Play Kitchen

My daughter’s 2nd birthday was approaching, and I’d been scoping out different play kitchen sets.  I had one that was on clearance in my cart, and something told me to put it back.  Boy, am I glad that I did!!  (I’m still a little ashamed I was going to buy one in the first place, now that I know what I am capable of making!)  Check out this beauty!

I stumbled upon a picture on Pinterest of a handmade play kitchen.  It was linked to an Etsy account, but the couple wasn’t making them anymore.  I started searching a little more for DIY play kitchens, and found that people make them from old nightstands and media centers.  I knew I could do the same, I just needed to find the perfect piece of furniture for the job.

I set out to my local ReStore and found this media center.  It was a little more than I would have liked to pay ($30), but since it was freezing and snowing here in Chicagoland at the time, I knew I didn’t stand much of a chance of finding anything better at a garage sale anytime soon.

• I took off all the doors and used wood filler to fill in the holes
• I removed the top shelf (which it looked like someone had made to add extra storage), cut a small part of it off, and reattached it to the right side.
• The color scheme is based off of a piece of leftover fabric I had laying around. I used the fabric to make a curtain to cover the bottom, right side of the kitchen.

• I painted the different parts in semi-gloss paint, all colors left over from other projects except the green.

• I used a jigsaw to cut a hole for the “sink” and an opening in the oven door.
• For the back, I used 1/4″ plywood and cut it down to fit the back.
• I used large paper from Payprus and Mod-Podged it to the back.  (Paper Source is also an awesome store for specialty paper.)
• I added hinges to the bottom of the cabinet door (so it would open like an oven) and reattached it.
• I also added a little touch puck light inside the oven.  (She needs to see what’s cookin’, right?)

• The stove burners are made from wooden discs from the craft store (I’ve seen them at Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and JoAnn’s).
• The stove knobs were a set of drawer pulls on clearance at Target ($4!)

• The sink is a dog bowl.
• The faucet knobs are actual faucet knobs, but I found them at ReStore for only $1 for both.
• The faucet is a spray painted PVC pipe kit (what the kit is actually for, I have no idea, but it was $3).

• The “window” is really a DIY bulletin board.  I thought that it would be neat for my little girl to draw her own outdoor scenes, and change them up as often as she wanted!