(Play) Kitchen Remodel

When you find a perfectly good play kitchen on the side of the road, you can’t not pick it up! Am I right?

My mom spotted it while walking in her neighborhood and called me up. I was there 15 minutes later loading it in my trunk! (With some assistance from its previous owner.)

And this isn’t my first time picking up treasures off the side of the road! Check out my bar cart upcycle here.

Once I got it home and unloaded, I realized it was actually missing a lot more than I had originally thought. Only 1 of 4 doors was still in place.

It seems this little kitchen was well-loved and well-used since it looks like the other doors had been opened and closed to death leaving behind holes where the hinges were ripped out.

And everything else had faded long ago and just looked tired.

So this became a more extensive kitchen renovation than originally planned. I decided to keep the main structure and repaint or recover EVERYTHING. It was a labor of love, for sure. But now I get to look at this in my daughter’s room every day! 🙂

At first I was planning to make it over in time for her birthday in October. But time got away from me and I didn’t get started until December. So a Christmas present it became! And while she may be a little young to ‘play house’, you’ve got to take advantage when a free opportunity knocks! And it looks a heck of a lot better fixed up in her room than it did taking up storage space in my already-crowded garage.

Here’s what I did to take it from before 🙁 to after 🙂 !

• Removed everything-sink, faucet, old handles, shelf, etc.
• Filled old holes with Bondo, sanded, and then re-filled as needed

• Covered the counter with faux marble contact paper, just like I did here and here

• Added a tile backsplash with gold glitter grout

• Spray painted faucet, sink, and oven knobs gold

• Made new oven, microwave, and fridge doors with 3/8″ plywood

• Drilled holes for new cabinet pulls

• Cut a window in oven door using the oven shelf as a template and a jigsaw

• Traced oven controls, microwave controls, and phone buttons on wax paper

• Painted the entire structure light pink and doors a slightly darker pink (colors listed below)
• Installed new gold bar pulls, pivot and piano hinges, and plastic friction catches on doors

• Cut, painted, and installed thin trim around tile backsplash
• Cut new oven/microwave/phone buttons on sticky vinyl with electronic cutting machine

• Added a metal grate and friction lid supports to oven door

• Painted old CDs and glued to counter for stove burners

• Top-coated EVERYTHING with the same matte finish I used on my bar cart
• Loaded her up with play food from Grandma Deb (my mother-in-law)

And now it’s ready for (hopefully) many years of entertainment for my little nugget!

It was SO fun working on this project with my little girl in mind. Maybe even more fun than working on something for myself. Oh the joy Mary Helen brings! What projects have you completed for your kids? Did it take them 1.5 seconds to tear it up like it took MH to unload all of the food onto the floor? I’d love to hear about your labor-of-love projects in the comments!

Check out the source list below for where I got all of the pieces and parts to makeover this project. Thanks for Checking In! ~Chelsea

What and Where I got it all:
Paint (main) – Behr Strawberry Yogurt

Paint (doors, phone, stove burners) – Krylon Ballet Slipper

Paint (oven knobs, sink, faucet) – Rust-Oleum Universal Metallic in Pure Gold

Top Coat – Black Dog Salvage in Clear Matte

Cabinet Pulls – Amazon

Pivot Hinges – HardwareSource (SKU 286442)

Plastic Friction Catches – USKnobs.com

Hexagon Tiles – Lowe’s (currently on sale for $3.99!)

Glitter Grout Additive – Amazon (You can read my review of this grout additive here.)

Metal Grate – M-D Building Products

Play Food – KidKraft

Pots & Pans – Melissa & Doug