Remodeled Play Kitchen

So I've been drooling over the play kitchens on Pinterest, on other crafty blogs, and, to be honest, pottery barn kids. But I don't have that kind of mullah. I didn't want a plastic one, because Z is a climber. But wooden play kitchens are hard to find, so I kept my eyes out for a kitchen at the local thrift stores and garage sales... and then I found one!

"The Before"

Z already climbed into it...

This kitchen was well loved. I'm guessing it was made in the 60's, by hand. Its bones were pretty good, but there were a lot of loose nails (scary!), the hinges were rusty. And my god! there were stickers and crayon marks everywhere. The ugly yellow/beige color had to go as well. But I only paid $40 and a case of beer to the neighbor who hauled it home for us, so it was quite the steal.

Project Plan Costs:

Old kitchen ($40)

Spray paint- 3 cans main color, 2 cans accent, 1 can oven = $16

Paint Marker (black)- $2.50

Handles (splurge!)- $7 Ebay

Knobs (splurge!)- $12 etsy

Fabric- 3 yards $14 (sale at JoAnns)

Hinges and screws- $5

Decal = $16 Etsy

Total= 112.50

Let's chat about costs here. You could do this for about $20-$30 less, if you didn't splurge like I did on the handles, knobs and decal. If you inherit a kitchen, well then, even better. But I wanted this to be my daughters Christmas present (I start early), and I wanted it to be special. I think by repurposing old things, you can make something uber-special, without paying an exorbitant amount.

Step 1-

Take EVERYTHING apart. This is a pain. But do it.

Clean everything, very, very well. Bleach if you have to. Use elbow grease. You can do it!

Step 2-

Sand, baby sand! I used a 6-inch sander, about 3 pieces of sand paper. After I did a section, I wiped it down and sanded a bit more to even it out. For those of you who haven't sanded before, this is the easiest of do-it-yourself tools. Don't be afraid- you can't really mess up.

Step 3

Wipe everything down again. Don't skip this step! Use a paintbrush to get the sanded parts that are stuck out.

Step 4

Lay down some cardboard (or not) and paint your base coat. Actually follow the spray paint can instructions and spray a foot away, so it doesn't drip. If you want it to look perty, you're going to have to do three thin coats. Wait a half hour between each coat.

Step 5

An hour after the third coat, TAPE! Just like any project, you need to tape in order to get clean lines. For my kitchen, I wanted the shelves and the stovetop to be the brightest red I could find. So taping was super important, especially since I chose heirloom white for the rest of the kitchen. For fun, I also chose a glossy finish, because in everything I chose, I wanted Z to have a variety of textures for imagination.

Step 6

Paint the inside of the oven. I chose black!!! (bottom right). Here's a neat tip- If you don't "really" need tape, but want to make sure the paint doesn't bleed, use a piece of cardboard as a "shield" and paint... worked like a charm on my oven.

The Bones are done!

Step 7

Now it's time for THE BACK. Now, I could have just painted it and put it back on. But that's pretty boring. I LOVE fabric, and so I thought I'd "wallpaper" the backing, on both sides. This way, no matter where we put the kitchen, if the back shows, its ok!

To do this, I cut the fabric to be roughly 1/2" wider than the backing board on all sides

Then (and make sure you are outside), CAREFULLY spray the adhesive spray (I use 3M spray glue- love the stuff). I sprayed about a 6 inch square at a time. Flatten the fabric as you go, trying to lay it as flat to the backing as you can. Fold the edges over like you would a present. Let dry (about 5 minutes). Repeat on the other side.

Whichever side is nicer- this will be the BACK of your kitchen, as the front imperfections will be hidden by shelves. Nail the backing to the kitchen.

So awesome!

Step 8

Use paint marker to color in details, such as the burners.

Moving on from steps- OPTIONS FOR DETAILS

I bought this on Etsy from a cute shop called Wallsticz. If you haven't used vinyl decals, they are SO easy, and look like stencils/paint.

I bought these rather cheap knock-offs on ebay for $7 for 3. I used the spoon (see below) as a handle for the oven. It was too cute to pass up!

So this is the detail I love the most! Like I said earlier, I wanted Z to have different textures to choose from, so I found these old water faucet knobs on Etsy at OnlineVintage. They came cleaned and painted (unlike others on Etsy), and were just super cute! But once they came, I had a quandary- how do I make them move?

So off to Home Depot we went, and asked the dude in the hardware aisle. He seemed a bit perplexed at first, but then made the following suggestion: Why not just get a long screw/bolt and buy two different types of nuts: One normal one locking. So we bought a package of 4 of each. Then, we put the bolt through the handle, put a regular nut behind it (tight). Then we put the long bolt through the hole in the wood, and then put the locking bolt on back. This can be difficult- use an electric screw to screw the bolt in, while holding the locking bolt with some pliers. The result? HANDLES THAT TURN!!! I felt really cool when this all came to pass.

Detail- Oven Light

This one perplexed me. I wanted an oven light. What I really wanted was one that turned on/off with the opening of the oven. But after much discussion with the electricity guy at Home Depot, I gave up. What I decided to do? Buy a light that can be taken in and out (to change batteries), and that can easily light up the oven when Z turned it on. So I decided to go with a "Wireless Task Light ) for about $9.