Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Repurposed Play Kitchen

I am starting to get super excited for Christmas this year (and if you know me, you know I am not a fan of Christmas!) My little one that is almost two is totally into cooking. Whether we are actually cooking or just pretending. When we go to my in-laws all she wants to do is play downstairs on their play kitchen. I found this AWESOME idea about two months ago (go here to see my inspiration) and thought I could do this! It isn't quite finished yet, but I thought I would share my progress and money spent with you.

First I found a $5.00 entertainment center on craigslist. I tried to get a free one but I just wasn't fast enough. Then I sanded it down just enough to make the surface rough and primed it.

I am keeping it in my dad's garage while I work on it since he has all the right tools. On one of his days off he painted it for me (gotta love dads!!) We decided to paint it bright blue since he had blue paint already. He also cut and stained the back piece (he already had the stain so it cost nothing).
Here is what it looked like after the first coat of paint and the hole cut for the "sink" (oh, and my dad cut the hole for me). Total $ spent so far = $5.00!

Next I put another coat of paint on and spray painted the "oven" and "dishwasher" doors with spray paint that makes them look like stainless steel. Its pretty cool!

My husband and I went to Lowes to find some drawer pulls that will work for handles for the oven, dishwasher, and fridge doors. ($5.00 each. Ouch.) While we were at Lowes we looked for knobs for the stove. They wanted TWENTY dollars for a set of 5 generic knobs. At this point I was feeling a little discouraged thinking maybe my project was going to cost more than I could have purchased a play kitchen for.

At the Habitat for Humanity store and found a $5.00 faucet for the sink and a piece of scrap counter top for $2.00. We also found a sweet picture frame for $2.00 that is perfect for the window.

Back at my parents house I was talking to my dad about how much stove knobs were going to cost and asking for some thoughts on what a cheaper option would be. My mom walks over to her stove and starts pulling the knobs off asking "how many do you need". Apparently my little girl has her grandma wrapped around her little finger ;)  My mom actually had brand new ones so she gave me the old ones to use. Yay!

My husband cut the counter top to fit and glued it down. I spray painted the window red. My dad also already had red spray paint so that cost us nothing.

This last week my dad put the window onto the back piece and put the back piece onto the kitchen. While trimming the counter top some of the paint came off so I will have to do some touch ups. I think I am about half way there though.
I still need to find and paint a door for the fridge, install the faucet, build the stove (I am going to spray paint formula lids black and glue them to a piece of wood) and put it all together. My mom is going to help me with some curtains and Rachel is going to take a picture for the window.
Total spent so far: $29.00!!
Here is my favorite part and this is what I am most excited about. I bought this little pot and pan set on Amazon for absolutely NOTHING. I used my Swagbucks! LOVE LOVE LOVE Swagbucks! :)

I love that they are red too!
I can't wait to see my little one's reaction when she gets her own play kitchen!

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