It may have taken longer than I expected (like any good project) but it's mostly finished! Ha-"mostly." There are still some cute finishing touches I want to add.
Here's how it started. A free, half taken apart entertainment center. My sweet husband and dear father strapped it to the top of our van and brought it home. It was a few inches too wide to fit in the back of the van. So sad. I would have liked to have seen them hoisting it up!
First I removed all the doors and hardware. It's too bad I didn't get a picture in between the original and this one. If you look at the original, behind those 2 big doors was an enormous empty area with a sliding shelf on the floor. I took that out. I finished sanding the whole thing down (somebody had already started). Then I painted it. Then I, with some husband assistance, built the shelf that Clara is showing off here. Turns out I should have had a little more husband help. When it came time to construct the doors for those openings, Carman had to measure and cut crazy because the opening I had created for the doors wasn't square. Oops.
Let me just say the kids LOVE it. If they play with it half the amount of time it took me to make it, we'll be in business! :)
I looked at A TON of DIY kitchens on the internet before I decided what I wanted mine to look like. I swayed toward the bright colored ones. But our playroom has a calm, cool, soothing tone. I ended up deciding I would be happier in the end with a kitchen that stayed in the color scheme of my playroom. I went with white, gray, and a yellow accent.
The biggest thing I want to do to add my finishing touch is get a large scenic picture and frame it to look like you're looking out the window into a beautiful wooded yard or something. I'm hoping to get some cute yellow fabric to make mock curtains to go with it. I also want a cute yellow clock to hang up. And maybe a small shelf also painted yellow. We've been thinking about adding (making ) a microwave to go in the upper right corner but I think that'll get pushed off for awhile. We've discovered I'm not so good at making it square.
Here's a shot of the "tile" counter. That was fun. It's one of my favorite parts. Emmalynne requested a phone. Got that a yard sale for $.50.
Here's the fridge that doubles as a cupboard. We have plenty of play food and our kind neighbor likes to bring us empty boxes and packages for us to use.
Emmalynne's baking cupcakes! My mom picked up this adorable pink metal cupcake holder. I happened to get some Easter egg cupcakes on clearance after Easter that fit in it perfectly. And my mom picked up the cute little pots and pans for us.
Here's another shot of the fridge and freezer. I realized play kitchens have pretty empty freezers! I want to add some shelving to the door where Clara is standing to make it look the inside of a real fridge door.
Here's a shot of the dishwasher. Those tall red things are stacks of neat cups I found at a yard sale for $1. There are 6 of them. With this size of play kitchen, child sized dishes are much better than tiny play ones. I hope someday to add cute metal cooking utensils.
For the oven door, I had seen other people put plexiglass in the center. But I could not fathom how to accomplish that with my already shady cupboard making skills. So, I got out the black paint and painted the center! Looks oven enough for me!
I have to admit, I totally scored on this one. I looked at TONS of play kitchens and never really liked the stove top options. I had decided I'd go to an appliance store to find old knobs because I like the real look. But I was at a yard sale and found an old (and literally rotten) play kitchen. I paid $2 for it. From it I salvaged these burners, knobs, and the faucet! The knobs have a little clicker that's screwed into the wood so that it makes noise when you turn it. That was tricky to install but I just copied the piece I removed it from. The burners, knobs, and faucet are screwed in. The knobs were green, pink, and blue. They totally didn't match. So I used some old spray paint we had in the garage to make them black, and the ones for the sink white.
I wanted to use a metal bowl for the sink. I kept looking (unsuccessfully) at yard sales. Finally I traded in a plastic bowl of mine for a metal candy dish in the church closet. Then I got home and when cleaning out my cupboards, found I actually owned one the whole time! It was even a more perfect size. My dad helped me with his jigsaw to cut the hole for the sink. We turned the bowl upside down, traced it, and then cut just inside the circle. Then we used some glue my dad buys from Lowes to hold it in place. I'm not sure what it's called but it comes in a caulk tube.
The tile looking countertop is my favorite part. First I painted the whole top white. Then I forgot to section off a part for the stove top. I bought detailing tape from Auto Zone and laid it out in a checkerboard pattern. Then I painted the counter yellow. When I removed the tape, it left me with pretty looking tile. Since I forgot to tape off a section for the stove, I had to repaint that part white.
Here's a break-down of the cost so far:
Entertainment center: free
Extra wood needed to change the design: $10 plus some free from dad's garage
Large piece of mdf for backing: $8
Burners, knobs, and faucet: $2
Handles for doors: $2 in the "handyman's corner" at IKEA
Screws for the handles: $4
Paint: yellow-$2 all the other colors I already owned.
Brackets and hinges-$20 this was my most expensive part due to having to reconstruct the entertainment center.
If I think of anything else, I'll add it to the list. For the kitchen itself, that comes to $48. But I feel like I'm forgetting something.
Also, I have to mention that we already had a play kitchen. It was a little tikes one that I had picked up for free. I sold on craigslist for $40.
