After a long couple of months (mainly more for my dad), the play kitchen is now open!
Let’s start with the beginning. I knew I wanted a kitchen for Kyler because I LOVED mine as a kid but I wasn’t finding the exact color scheme I wanted. I saw this corner kitchen from Kid Kraft and loved the green but I simply did not have room for it.
The more I searched and searched the internet, the more DIY kitchens I came across. I called Daddy-O up and asked if he wanted a new project. His response was “Sure, I am always looking for a project.” I whipped something up on CAD and sent it his way. This was in mid November and my only goal was to have it done by her birthday as this was going to be her “big” gift.
This is my first draft.
I wasn’t in love with it so I tweaked a few things and ended up with this:
I would like to think of myself as the Architect/Designer, Chris as the Engineer (he put everything to scale for me and made my CAD drawing actually work), and my dad as the General Contractor. The three of us tackled the playroom and we were going to tackle the play kitchen next.
After a good month of sitting on the project, my dad got to work. Within a few days he had this… amazing right?
One Sunday, Chris and I headed over and did the first round of paint.
Later that week…
Add some tile back splash and finish it up and ta-da! I can’t get over how talented my dad is. Everything is top-notch and just looks amazing.
Couple of answers to some questions you may have:
- Yes, that is stainless steel. It is a contact paper and actually has the brush strokes in it like a real fridge.
- The fridge is magnetic.
- We used a dog bowl as a sink and found a cheap bar facet.
- Yes, that is real tile back splash.
- The hood is made out of metal. One of the perks of your dad owning an Air Conditioning business and sheet metal shop 🙂
- The lime green paint is called Japanese Fern by Behr.
- I made the microwave “buttons” on the computer and printed them out on computer paper. I then used Mod Podge to glue and seal them on!
- And although it was DIY, it was not cheap (thanks Dad!).
**UPDATED**
I have gotten a lot of questions about the dimensions of this kitchen. See below!
- Total Length: 55″
- Height of the fridge: 36.5″
- Max Height: 40.5″
- Height of Countertop: 20″
- Depth: 13″
Kyler’s birthday rolled around and we gave her the new kitchen! She loved it!
Since then, we have added all of the fun play food and accessories she got for her birthday! It makes a great addition to her playroom and I hope she likes it for years to come! A HUGE thank you to my Dad (and Mom) for helping and taking the lead on the kitchen.
*****
This is AMAZING! Well done!
I love this you have great ideas I wish i could do this for my daughter one day. Where did you get her Birthday outfits they r just adorable.
Thank you 🙂 I got her birthday dress off Amazon, it is made by Hartstrings and her shirt was made by Pocket Baby on Etsy!
Do you have dimensions for this? Would you be willing to share them? Thanks!
I updated this post with dimensions!
Would you consider sharing any of the measurements or dimensions? I would be GREATLY appreciated!!
Yes! Let me dig up the plans and/or do some measurements and get back to you!
I updated this post with dimensions!
Thank you!!!!!!
Yes, measurements would be great! Love it!
I updated this post with dimensions!
Hi, where did you order the stainless steel contact paper?? Love this!!!
You can order this from a number of places online! Amazon, Heom Depot, etc. Just google search it and you will find a lot of options. If I can give you a tip though: It does not do well over wood. Over time, this has bubbled up and we are actually going to have to remove it and just paint it metallic silver! Hope that helped!
Michelle
I love the stove top! Is there anything painted below the wire rack?
Thank you!! And yes there is! We cut 3 inch circles out of wood and painted them black to give the appearance of burners.
This is awesome! I have been looking for a play kitchen but am having a hard time finding exactly what I want do you know approx what the final cost was?
Erica,
Thank you! I will be honest, with most DIY projects- they come out way cheaper but not this one. It definitely cost a lot more than just buying one already made, say a KidKraft one. That being said, I don’t know the final number but at least a few hundred dollars. Her grandfather built it and he tends to buy better quality and more expensive things than I would thus why it wasn’t to cheap to make 🙂
My daughter is going down the list for Santa these Christmas and completely loves it of course she said pink please lol may I ask an estimate on how much you spent 😦 (yes I know it’s way early) thank you 🙂
🙂 Totally understand! Honestly, we spent (and by we, I mean my dad) quite a bit of change on this. If I had to guess at least a few hundred. That being said, my dad is the type to buy the best wood, best paint, best everything. I would imagine if I actually built this, I would probably have paid $200 (my dad said it actually took quite a bit of wood). I do know KidKraft makes some cute pink ones if you are looking to buy made already! If not, then depending on your resources, I would say low end $150 all the way up to $400. Good luck!
love this kitchen. great job. would you be willing to share the plans for this project? this would make a great xmas gift.
Hi there!
We don’t have the exact plans as we did the main measurements and built as we went. I have listed some of the main dimensions, however, are you looking for anything more specific?
I have to say, your daughter’s kitchen is fantastic! You gave us the inspiration and motivation to create our daughters’ kitchen. (I’m starting my CAD plan this weekend). Given our work schedule, it’s too soon for Christmas, so I’m aiming for our older daughter’s birthday in May. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks Renee! I am happy to hear that! Good luck and if you don’t mind, I would love to see pictures when you’re done!
I love this kitchen!!! Can you tell me what kind of wire rack you used for the stove top and where you got it? Thank you!!
Hey there! It is a cooling rack and we cut off the sides then filed it so it wasn’t sharp!
Looks really nice.
Did you make her apron? And the baskets on the shelf? Do you have a tutorial on those?
Hi sorry!! No I did not! Apron was off Etsy and the baskets were bought at Target!
We made a kitchen set too, for the burners we took clear tubing and spray painted bright red/orange paint to emulate electric burner and coiled them up and attached to stove top. We also took a toy cash register and used the key pad for the microwave that beeped!
That is awesome! would love to see a picture!!
Awesome job! I love this! I have been designing a kitchen for my 15 month old and happened upon yours. How sturdy is this? I was planning on a total depth of about 12.5″ but my dad thought it might tip over if the oven and fridge were open at the same time. Any issues? Thanks!
Thanks Amber!! Oh man… this thing isn’t going anywhere… it’s quite heavy… the oven door handle rests of the floor when it’s open so no issues there and the kitchen is really to heavy to tip over from the fridge doors… you could always anchor it to the wall, like a bookshelf, when you have it where you need it!
I love this and designing my two daughter’s kitchen now!!! I don’t see what the counter is, can you give some insight on that please? Thank you!
The counter is made of wood and we used a textured spray paint to give it a granite look! Good luck!
Thank you! One more question (I hope)…what kind of wood did you use? My husband and I don’t have good luck with painting projects and I think it definitely has to do with the TYPE of wood. Thanks again!
Thank you so much for the inspiration!! Your blog gave my husband and I (mostly my husband 😊) the motivation to transform our guest room into a playroom for our daughters. Complete with a huge kitchen! Thank you so much for the tutorial and tips along the way!
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Your playroom looks awesome!! You will love having your own space for the kiddos. Glad we were able to help 🙂
I know this post is from several years ago but I was wondering how you made the fridge magnetic? Additionally, did you use full-size knobs for the stove? Thanks!
I used magnetic paint under the contact paper and yes, full size knobs from Lowes!!