DIY: Child’s Play Kitchen

Aside from blogging, working, and being a mom and wife, I have spent every waking moment of my spare time over the last two weeks, making this…

I didn’t buy it this way.  I made it! I actually can’t believe it myself.  This is what I started with – a wood nightstand with two drawers.

My daughter turned two last month and she really loves to play with pretend food, so I searched and hunted for a play kitchen for her birthday.  I  found a few I liked, but they were either too expensive or too big, so after some thought, I decided to make one on my own.  I DIY everything else, so I was up for the challenge.  In searching for real kitchens on Pinterest, I came across a few pretend kitchens.  Using some ideas that I had seen, and knowing the desired size I was looking for, I’ve been on the hunt for a nightstand for quite some time.  Thankfully my mom came to the rescue a few weekends ago and brought me this beauty.  It was actually difficult for me to transform this nightstand because it was in great shape and looked really nice.  But that thought went out of my head in 5 seconds!  In no time, I was off and working…

What’s great about DIYing, is that you can search for inspiration, and then add your own unique creativity, to make a one-of-a-kind piece.  To make a play kitchen there are a gazillion things you can do and include, but hopefully with my creation, I’ll inspire you to make your own.

That being said, I will spare you the {play by play} details, and instead show some highlights throughout the process.

Thankfully for my anniversary, the mister got me some new tools, and ALL of them came in handy for this project!  I started off sanding the nightstand with an orbital sander.  Once it was nice and smooth, I applied one coat of primer, followed by using my new jigsaw to cut our the hole for the sink.  {MISTAKE} I should have made ALL the cuts and holes before I painted, because what happened?  The dust got into the paint (but, of course).  No problem though, I just sanded the surface one more time.   Mishaps can be rectified!  And there’s a sneak peak of the paint.

Moving on… 

I made a tall back piece out of MDF board and used “L” brackets to secure it to the nightstand top.

Then came the paint.  I chose to use a mustard-yellow hue with a touch of green undertone – Valspar Wasabi. Then the accents of burnt orange and deep purple (sounds kind of like the rest of my house, doesn’t it?).  To make the paint dry as smooth as possible, I added Flood Floetrol (also used in my kitchen makeover) which is a must when trying to achieve a smooth, even finish.

At this point, I was spending many hours in the garage and I’m sure my neighbors thought I was crazy!

I completed the painting phase of the kitchen, by adding two coats of satin Polyurethane.  Once the paint was finally dry, which took longer than I thought because we had some ultra humid days, I was ready to add the details.  To create the backsplash, I used leftover scraps from the personalized calendar and added a few coats of Mod Podge to harden the surface.  Then I finished it off by adding a decorative scalloped edge wood piece at the top.

Then came time to create the burners.  Using a round kitchen bowl, I outlined two circles and filled them with black chalkboard paint.  Right before that, I drilled the holes for the sink faucet handles and the burner handles (learned my lesson from last time… drill, THEN paint).

Once everything was dry, I attached the faucet handles and burner handles to the top of the kitchen by using screws from underneath.  By not tightening the screws too much, the handles can actually turn.  Then with white paint, I free-handed the burner coils and numbers on the burner handles, and added the H & C with a black Sharpie.

This is the work surface area of the kitchen all complete.

And the last part to this kitchen was the faucet.  That was a little tricky, because the mister and I were perplexed on how to fasten it onto the kitchen top.  If you remember back a week ago, I showed you this picture~

Yes, that is a P-Trap for the bathroom and using a little metallic silver spray paint, it transformed into a sink faucet.

For the “oven drawer” I also used this same spray paint and the black chalkboard paint in the center.  Looks pretty real to me.  Wouldn’t you say?  And then completed the look with a quick hand-sewn valance that sits in place of the top drawer.

What’s really nice about this kitchen is that it has ALOT of storage.  All their play “things” can be hidden away.

This is the result of the kitchen.  After many long days and endless hours, it really was a joy to create!

And one last time just to show you again where this cute little kitchen started…

This is different than the typical Interior Design and Decorating ideas and inspiration that I like to share on my blog, but it was fun creating something that is a little more “out of the box” for me.  I hope you enjoyed!