The Little Princesses Have a New Kitchen!

I'm really excited to have a "new" adorable kitchen play set for our little princesses!  It is sturdy and should stand up to years of use.  If you are just joining us, here is the short scoop: Big sisters' play sets had sharp edges.

Our model

We needed a low budget but high quality replacement.  A friend shared a photo of an idea she saw on Etsy.

Our kitchen

The story:  I went to Goodwill and purchased an ugly, old entertainment center - on clearance of course!  It is a bit smaller than the model kitchen, but fits the area we have available just perfectly.  We found many of the supplies we needed to transform it in our garage or at the thrift shop.

 A little sanding, a lot painting, and adding little details gave us a darling toy that will no doubt see many years of happy play!

For some of you, that information is enough.  Others have frequently asked me about this project. For my friends who have have been wondering how we did it, here is the to-do list:

1.  Find an old entertainment center (the uglier the better! )

2. Remove any glass doors that came attached to the thing.


3. Lightly sand the entire piece to remove the finish, just so the paint will stick.

4. Paint in your chosen colors.  I sprayed it with gray primer then red spray paint. 

5. Attach a back to the piece...yes this SHOULD have been step  three but.... I guess I needed the opportunity to get the paint out and do parts over again.

6. Have your hubby (or some other handy person) cut doors for the refrigerator, the oven and any cabinet space you set aside.  I used "chrome" spray paint to make the appliance doors look like stainless steel. Attach hinges and hang the doors.  Oh, and if you use some magnets on the doors it helps them to stay shut! 

We chose to use the smaller section under the refrigerator for the oven and the larger area under the stove for cabinets - even though that is pretty unconventional.   The princesses' Daddy thought they needed the larger space for storage. 

7. Use your imagination for the details.

Here is what we did:

The refrigerator handle is a dowel rod and the ends are from a toilet paper holder we found in the garage.

The oven door's window is Magic Mesh (from my scrapbooking supplies) outlined in black paint left over from another project. We are still auditioning random things from the garage to be an oven handle!




 The sink is a stainless steel bowl found at Goodwill.  That was the BIG MESS picture you saw a few days ago.  A hole had to be cut in the "counter" area so the bowl would fit down inside.  You can use any faucet you find lying around.  Since we had recently moved, we didn't have the stash we used to have in the garage, so had to put out BIG BUCKS (ahem .. $10) at Walmart for the faucet.  It was one of the priciest things in the whole kitchen.  The burners were made from Magic Mesh with glittery felt glued on top.  The stove knobs are pot handles detailed with a Sharpie marker.

Ethan made the "window" from little scraps of wood and some photos that I printed of our back yard.   The curtains are fabric our oldest daughter had on hand, and Ruth sewed for us.

Those of you who have been in my living room - now the play room - have seen the AWESOME light from IKEA that hangs in there.  Of course, the little princesses needed an awesome IKEA light too... Check this out as a 99 cent after Christmas clearance sale.




Inside the oven is a rack of some sort that we found in our (real) oven drawer. You can see lots of tasty things baking on it now.

Inside the cupboard doors are drawers to keep the dishes organized.  It was a drawer unit discarded from the bedroom reorganization a few months ago.  Fits perfectly!

I'm going to say that the play room is pretty much finished now, and just in time!  Since we received our LOA, we get to send a photo book and letter to our girls.  I really wanted to include a picture of this room for them.  Here it is!

Note the awesome IKEA light!

I got the idea to take pictures of the toys inside the bins then tape a picture to the front of each bin.  This way the little princesses can find what they are looking for.  Thanks to big sisters before them, they have Little People, Potato Heads, My Little Pony, Littlest Pet Shop,  and of course, Barbie.

I hope they like it as much as we do!