We did it. Holy cats, we did it.
Just a few days before Christmas we started Clara’s homemade play-kitchen (in secret of course, since she thinks Santa brought it)… and we actually finished it on Christmas Eve! Yes folks, it was a Christmas miracle. We went into it with a goal of spending under $99 since this basic play-kitchen from Ikea is that price – but we wanted to add a bit more detail like oven knobs that actually turn, an oven light that goes on and off, a wire baking rack inside the oven instead of a shelf, and a real faucet (not plumbed of course, but movable!). So here’s how we made our own little Clara version in the last 72 hours before Christmas, for what ended up being $74.
More pics in a moment (lots more!), but first the dirty details. The core of our homemade kitchen was initially going to be a real kitchen cabinet, so we had it around already (yessss!). It was actually the one we bought for $14 from the Habitat For Humanity ReStore when we intended to hang a big microwave next to our pantry. Heck, we even hung it temporarily when determining where we wanted the electrician to add our microwave plug a while back.
But in the end it never got used (since we opted for a smaller microwave – more on that here) so we hung onto it in preparation for its eventual rebirth as a play kitchen.
It was a little low (only 15″) so we began by building it up on the bottom with a quick box made out of a 1 x 4″ remnant that we had in the basement. We offset it from the front a bit so it would even look like a real base cabinet in a kitchen (toekick and all).
John also had a spare 1 x 12″ board in his scrap wood pile that, when paired with a leftover plank from our desk-building project, fit perfectly as a counter and low backsplash. Well, perfectly once they were cut down a bit.
Picture me rubbing my hands together maniacally and saying things like “it’s all going according to plan!”
But before attaching all that, we had to build our sink area. We hit up the ReStore again and snagged a real faucet and handle for $10 (and inadvertently crashed their company Christmas party in the process – sorry ReStorians, thanks for letting us quickly grab that faucet!). We thought those two real kitchen features paired with a metal bowl (found at Target for $7) would make for a purty chrome and stainless steel kitchen sink area. Only the best for our girl. Haha.
After tracing around the lip of the bowl, John jigsawed a hole just inside the line (so the edge of the bowl had something to rest on). It didn’t have to be perfect since the bowl would be covering it.
After cutting matching holes in both the counter and the cabinet top (and sanding them both smooth), the bowl was officially transformed into a sink – just by dropping it in.
I wish I had peeled that sticker off for this pic, but you get the idea.
Adapting the sink hardware was also pretty straightforward. The faucet was pretty much ready to go, but the handle had lots of tubing that was just going to be in the way under the counter.
Luckily, with a wrench and a copper pipe cutter we removed the excess mumbo jumbo. Oh, and since the bottom of the fixture will be concealed between the top of the cabinet and the counter we don’t have to worry about Clara messing with it.
Then it just took drilling some holes…
…and securing both fixtures to the underside of the counter (though the handle was so thick it required an extra block of wood to keep it secured).
Now that we could finally secure the counter to the cabinet, it was starting to look like a play kitchen! So yes, this is where we got all weird / annoying / giddy / hyper.
But just wait, there’s more excitement in store. Check this out…
Every play kitchen needs an oven right? So we bought some $3 fence hinges to convert one door to open downwards.
And we also snagged a piece of pre-cut plexi from Home Depot (for just $3!) so that we could give Clara’s oven a proper window (the girl’s gotta check on her souffles). We completely lucked out that this pre-cut pane was the perfect size.
We weren’t so lucky when cutting the hole for the plexi though. John can’t figure out if it’s him or his Dremel Trio, but he has trouble getting straight cuts sometimes (his words, not mine). It looked okay from a distance…
…but up close he was less than happy with it. Yes, there may have even been some hushed cursing.
So after a dash to the craft store (we had to buy materials for some oven knobs anyway) we grabbed some thin pieces of craft wood and cut a miniature frame to trim out the imperfect opening. Huzzah for Plan B!
We didn’t want to actually attach the plexi until we were done priming and painting, so it was onto making some knobs for the oven. I guess knobs are usually for a stove, but we figured it wouldn’t hurt to have something for Clara to spin and interact with. So we took some small wood discs from Ben Franklin (for $2) and drilled a hole in the center for a washer and bolt.
Luck was back in our favor when it came to drilling holes for the nut on the back of the oven door. The Kreg Jig drillbit (which has a small pilot drill on the tip before becoming larger) made the perfect sized holes for not only sinking the nut into the door (since our oven wouldn’t close if they weren’t flush) but also kept the nuts from spinning too, which made attaching everything really easy.
Final attachment of the knobs wouldn’t happen ’til after painting, but here’s a preview (check out the assembled one on the left). John used some of the leftover craft wood (that he had from the Plan B oven window frame) to cut some little arrows that would later get glued over the bolt head on each knob. But back to these in a minute.
Now that everything was constructed, we snuck it upstairs to the sunroom after Clara was asleep and primed the whole darn thing (after patching some holes with wood putty). It was actually not that bad since we were in priming and painting mode for our real kitchen too. Then it was painting time, and we did all those finishing touches like gluing in the oven plexiglass and adding hardware over the next 48 hours.
The rest of the finishing touches are easier to explain while looking at the “after” kitchen, so through the magic of the Internet we’ll fast forward a bit:
We primed and painted it using leftover paint that we already had. The top is our kitchen wall color (Sesame by Benjamin Moore) and the base is the same stuff we used for our office cabinets (Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint in Decorator’s White in a satin finish). We painted the inside of the pantry Sesame also, but did the oven in a medium grey thanks to a test pot of paint that we had leftover from grey-washing our living room beams (in Benjamin Moore’s Shaker Gray). It’s sort of hard to see in the pics, but in person the gray oven and the grellow cabinet are fun little details to help each side feel more defined.
To dress up the inside of the oven we used heavy duty velcro to hold up a simple tap light, so Clara can actually “turn the oven on” just by pushing it. We also found this black wire shelf (it’s actually one of those bottom-of-the-sink drying trays) at Target for $5. It definitely helps things feel more oven-ish in there.
Oh, and here’s what the plexi-glass looks like from the back. We just used some clear silicone caulk to adhere it to the backside. That keeps it in place, but is totally invisible from the front thanks to the blessing-in-disguise frame that John had to add. Three cheers for happy accidents along the way.
We also whipped up a last-minute shelf on the sink side when we realized that most of the play food Clara was getting from her grandparents (they sweetly offered to give play-kitchen-themed Christmas gifts, knowing what we had up our sleeves) would be dwarfed by one big open cabinet. She’s got the basics covered… soup, cereal, crackers, pasta, tuna, sugar, milk (oh wait, maybe this girl needs a fridge someday…).
We opted not to add a stovetop so that she’d have more flexible-to-use-for-other-stuff-too counter space (you know, for mixing and setting out dishes, etc). It has already been a handy choice because there’s room to house the play toaster her Grammy and Tom-Tom bought her for Christmas (yes, it’s kind of the cutest thing we’ve ever seen). But I did make her a makeshift hot plate of sorts, so she has one burner to play with (instead of four space-hogging circles). What does she use it for? To fry sandwiches, apparently.
All that little DIY hot plate entailed was buying a $5 trivet from Bed Bath & Beyond and a $4 round of wood from Michael’s (which I painted teal with leftover paint from this project) and then drilled into it in three spots (to allow the feet of the trivet to “sink” inside the wood round so it was nice and solid). Then I used a flat washer and a screw to hold the trivet into the round of wood from the center. Voila: instant burner.
Oh and I used little felt furniture feet on the bottom of my burner (to lift it up ever so slightly to keep it from scratching the counter) which you can sort of see in the picture below.
Here’s a closer look at the final oven knobs too. I sprayed them with leftover spray paint (Rustoleum’s Titanium Silver that we bought to test on our old kitchen hardware). It’s not a perfect match to the new shiny chrome door hardware ($5 each from Home Depot) and our sleek sink and faucet, but it’s close enough. And it sort of glitters, which is semi-adorable (new rule: every play kitchen should have at least one glittering element).
We actually bought three of those Home Depot door handles so that one could act as a towel bar on the side of the sink. Little details like that were kind of my favorite part. As for hatching this whole kitchen plan, John and I took Clara and Burger for a nice long walk and chatted about things we could add to “our kitchen” (didn’t want to spoil the play-kitchen surprise for Clara) which is how we came up with things like the towel bar, the wire rack, the oven tap light, all the other little details like those spinning knobs that we thought would make it Clara’s favorite thing ever. The brainstorming part of a project is always my favorite. So much possibility…
So now I think you’ve see just about every nook and cranny of this puppy (can you tell we’re proud of it?)…
So how about a budget breakdown?
- Secondhand cabinet (from the ReStore): $14
- Secondhand faucet & handle (also from the ReStore): $10
- Stainless sink bowl (from Target): $7
- Oven knobs and frame (from Ben Franklin craft store): $5
- Hinges for oven door (from Home Depot): $3
- Pre-cut plexiglass and wood trim for oven window (from Home Depot): $4
- Wire oven shelf (from Target): $5
- Tap light for the oven (from Home Depot): $2
- Wood counter, backsplash, and toe kick: $0 (already owned scrap lumber, but it might be $15 or so to buy it all)
- Trivet (from Bed Bath & beyond) and wood round (from Michael’s) for hot plate: $9
- Three hardware handles for oven, cabinet, and towel bar (from Home Depot): $15
- Primer and paint for counter, cabinets, and hot plate: $0 (already owned, but a few $4 paint testers would do the trick if you needed to buy it)
- Miscellaneous wood pantry items (by Plan Toys): $0 (Christmas gift from Grammy and Tom Tom, but they might cost around $15 if you were to buy them)
- Play toaster (also by Plan Toys): $0 (another super thoughtful gift from John’s parents!)
- Total project cost: $74
And as they say in the commercials, watching Clara play with what Santa brought her: priceless.
If only a certain larger kitchen were this easy to knock out. Oh well, I guess that’s the difference between one cabinet and 20 of them. But I gotta say that this little guy is getting a ton of action. Stuffed animals regularly get bathed in the sink, fake slices of lettuce and tomato get toasted, boxes of cereal and crackers get baked in the oven, and random cars, balls, and trains get stuffed into the pantry cabinet. It’s also really nice to have a little “Clara zone” shaping up along the living room wall right off of the kitchen (we moved it to the wall on the left side of her new desk after Christmas). Good stuff.
Oh and oddly enough, folks ask us all the time what we want to “parlay” this blog-thing into, and for the past few years we’ve never really known how to answer that question because we love blogging as-is (we don’t want a TV show or anything – ack, that makes us break out in hives – so, we’ve actually turned those opportunities down a few times). But I can honestly say that “designing” Clara’s desk and her play kitchen have been hugely amazing and fun projects for both of us. So for once I might have an answer the next time someone asks what sort of side projects we’d love to end up doing in a decade or two (right along with the blog of course, since YHL = our first baby). Designing cute and affordable kid furniture (which seems to be surprisingly hard to find for some reason) might just be the sweet spot. Ya never know, right? So I’m just putting that out there into the universe. Who knows where we’ll end up…
Kelley says
There are no words! You guys are awesome. The details on that thing are crazy! Clara is a lucky girl!
katrina says
amazing. simply amazing. i love it!
ali says
Adorbs! What a great job! And she will continue to play and play – our kitchen is still very popular with our almost 4 year old.
Question: did you guys ever reveal your Secret Santas? And what you did for whomever you had?
YoungHouseLove says
I don’t know mine yet – but can’t wait to find out!!! I hope we all get to do a post about it this week or something!
xo,
s
Ashley says
Absolutely love this and wouldn’t have thunk it possible to do so charmingly and affordably. You guys inspire!
coucoumadame says
fantastic!! what a beautiful gift for your daughter!
Shunta says
so did you guys want to adopt me? :-) I’d be a great big 29 year old sister to Clara…. just saying! This is just the cutest thing ever!! Also, I’d like to respond on behalf of the universe and say if you sold this, I’d buy it!! so I hope you follow up on that idea of making cute and affordable things for children!!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- sure! When can you move in?! I think Clara would love a big sister!
xo,
s
Jessica says
Really cute! Congrats on finishing it! The nice thing about these types of gifts is that they will get played with for many years.
Rebecca @ the lil house that could says
This is so funny, Mike and I were in Ikea last night and he spotted that play kitchen and said something like “I hope our baby doesn’t want a big ugly play kitchen”, so I told him of all of the amazing hacks I’ve seen around Pinterest. Yours came out awesome! I must now go Pin it… :)
MJB says
I love that Clara has a blue casserole dish, just like her mama.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I didn’t even think of that. So funny!
xo,
s
Lindsay says
Yeah, I thought the same thing! I love that it ties in to the colors in your real kitchen. Not that I would have expected otherwise. The whole thing is truly just the most adorable thing! You guys did such a great job!
Steph says
SOOOO cute! My son loves his play kitchen, too. I was worried that at 15 mos. he was a little too young, but he’s been playing with it non-stop since Christmas! Now you’ll have to get down with your sewing machine and do up some felt food, Sherry! :)
YoungHouseLove says
I love that idea!
xo,
s
Amanda says
So amazing! Clara is one very lucky little girl. :) I’m actually kind of jealous; I want one of my own (despite having my own big girl kitchen)!
Katie @ Epistle says
Oh this brings back the memories! I asked for the Barbie Dream House one year and instead my mom made me a HUGE 8 room wooden dollhouse complete with hand made furniture. Each room had a themed decor and she even painted tiles on the floor of the kitchen, made bedding, and created a reading nook in the attic for my dolls. It was sooo much better than a pink plastic house.
My parents still have it and I hope to give it to my daughter some day.
YoungHouseLove says
That is amazing! I can’t wait to make Clara a dollhouse when she gets a little older (hmm, maybe when she turns 2 in May…)
xo,
s
RebeccaNYC says
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! Thank you for sharing the video…I love the look on her face as she absorbs just WHAT this is! great job…and I think you are right, Sherry…I see a future plan a-perking away on that little kitchen burner!
Michele says
What a great kitchen!
Amy says
I have a very nice kitchen, if I do say so myself :), but I really wanna play in Clara’s kitchen!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, come on over!
xo,
s
Alissa says
What an adorable kitchen!
I have to second the kitchen accessories at Ikea. We got our daughter the kitchen for Christmas (DIY-ing one in our apartment wasn’t really feasible!), and all the Ikea pots and such are adorable. The baking set comes with a bundt pan!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, that does sound adorable!!
xo,
s
Michelle says
We did the same thing for our little love for Christmas (or should I say Santa’s elves did!). I love Clara’s oven- such sweet details!
Here is Genevieve’s kitchen: http://lifebygrace.com/2011/12/santa-came-early-play-kitchen/
YoungHouseLove says
Adorable! I love it!
xo,
s
Whitney Dupuis says
The kitchen is absolutely precious, but the best part of that video was the excitement on Clara’s face when you went into her room with that Santa balloon. There is nothing sweeter than a child on Christmas morning – even if they don’t quite get it yet.
Shannon says
What a fabulous idea! You guys definitely nailed that project and I think Clara would agree. Her voice might be the cutest thing ever by the way!
Katie says
I love watching Clara babbling in that video — so cute! Thanks for sharing the kitchen — such a fun idea! Also, in the video I thought I caught a glimpse of a piece of furniture to the left of the front door? Did you guys add something there?
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes that’s a night stand or a side table – I just have to figure out what I want to do with it! Haha. More details when I do (and it finds a place to land)!
xo,
s
Brandi @ His Shabby Her Chic says
That is too stinkin cute! Seriously. I am jealous. My play kitchen was one of my favorite things when I was little.
You guys did a terrific job!
Jennifer (iffles) says
Best play kitchen ever! I love it! I love your ability to look at something – like a bowl or a trivet – and see something completely different. We’re trying to get inspired by you around here… we have some plans for some leftovers from our kitchen remodel a year ago… if we make something even a quarter as cool as this is, I’ll be happy!
Dixie Redmond says
ADORABLE. My kids are past this stage but they so loved the play kitchen. :-) You guys are good parents and good Santas!
Dixie
Harmony says
Ok, thats just awesome!
janie says
That’s adorable! The light is genius. I love the trivet – I couldn’t find anything when I was making ours, so my kids have black painted circles for their elements. But, our stove is electric, so it does look like the grown up version. I used round wooden handles painted red for knobs, because I was determined to find a way to make them “click”, but the clicking never panned out.
For the sink, dog bowls are even cheaper, and because they’re shallower, might be a better fit for some kitchens.
I toyed with the idea of making and selling them, but it seems that there are no small entertainment units left around here, they’re all those enormous six foot tall flimsy cabinet things. I’ll have to check out kitchen cabinets in the Restore.
caroline says
o.m.g!!!! you guys make me want to reproduce!!! ive always seen little mini kitchens on pinterest that ive adored but you guys took it to another level. kudos. cant wait to make my own one day <3
Katie @ StrawbridgeStuff.com says
What a cute idea! My nephews wanted a play kitchen for xmas and my sis-in-law just ended up buying one. Wish I would have seen this – totally doable and way cuter (and less plastic-y).
strawbridgestuff.com
Elisa @ The Self Life says
Wow, looks great! You made her a lovely leftie kitchen :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- you noticed! We thought she might appreciate the leftiness of that faucet handle!
xo,
s
Lindsay says
I didn’t notice that… would never have thought to notice that, actually. BUT, I think that is the most awesome part of it all!
Melissa says
This is AWESOME! Y’all are so creative. The best play kitchen I’ve ever seen!
Suni says
That is probably the cutest kitchen ever, and it’s not made with “fake” wood, it’s hardcore, and sturdy, and solid. You two are amazing!!! What a wonderful gift you have, and to be able to share that with Clara is wonderful.
Meredith @ La Buena Vida says
Really cute guys! I bet Clara is having a blast with it!
We planned to build a kitchen for Lizzy this Christmas, but my parents found a new-in-box kitchen set at Goodwill, so we went with that instead since we couldn’t have built it cheaper than that! But, I do love that Clara’s kitchen doesn’t have as much height as Lizzy’s does–it makes it a lot more flexible for different spaces!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, finding one at Goodwill that’s as good as new is amazing luck! I hope Lizzy loves it!
xo,
s
Louise says
Oh my goodness!!! Soo cute!! My 4 year old and I were watching the video, and now she wants to make one for her lil’ sister!! And I luv luv luv how you used things that you already had! That is just up my alley! o affordable and so easy to do! You guys ROCK!
Kate says
Have you ever seen this adorable play fridge?
http://herewegoajen.com/play-fridge-finished/
She used Ana White’s plans to make one to go with her existing play kitchen. And now I want to make some changes to out Ikea play kitchen…great work, guys!
YoungHouseLove says
Love it so much! So sweet!
xo,
s
Kylie D. says
Loving this. I am 25 and need one of these for myself. The video is priceless — loving her with the santa balloon. Thanks for sharing. PS. I’d love to see a shot of the desk and kitchen set all together in the living room :) Happy New Year!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we’ll have to shoot that whole side of the room soon!
xo,
s
Sam says
That. is. awesome.
Janet S says
Adorable! what a fun project and Christmas surprise!
Rachel McCoy says
So freaking precious and what a labor of love! It looks better than anything you could buy! All those little details are just wonderful. Clara’s a lucky gal.
KatieF says
Cutest (and best) Christmas present ever! You guys are amazing- I love all the creative extra details you put together to make it so special. Would love to see a line of affordable kids toys one day!!
Rachel says
Absolutely adorable! I think this is one of my favorite projects you’ve ever done. I love all the little details! When Clara is older she will appreciate how fantastically creative her parents were (are) to have made this for her! And unlike a plastic store-bought play kitchen, it will be around for Clara’s kids and grandkids to enjoy, I bet. Bravo!
Kristen@OldHouseNewFolks says
Oh my god, that’s the best thing ever. She’s going to love it (and love you for making it when she’s older and figures that one out!).
Clare says
This is so awesome!
Shannon @ Bungalow960 says
Holy cow that is amazingly cute! So much better than the Ikea one. I love how it matches your house as well. I can’t wait to see what you design next! (Also I will be first in line when you start selling your kiddie designs, because you know it’s going to happen)
Heidi says
I just can’t get over how creative you both are! What a lucky little girl.
Caitie says
Ahhh this is amazing! You guys are so darn creative! And Clara is so stinkin cute! :)
Emily says
Best Post Ever… I love the home decor stuff, but this is one I actually read from start to finish. Clara is one lucky girl!
Pam says
Amazing! Sure to be an heirloom, and I would definitely buy your kid furniture, but I would also love to see you guys on tv!
Ann L says
For me, this is hands down one of the best posts you guys have done…so beyond the “normal” creativity you usually display. My niece just got her first plasticy play kitchen for Christmas and I’ve got to say, Clara’s kitchen would make one certain 13 month old green with envy. Adorable!
Happy New Year!
Ann
Megan says
That is so cute! And Clara’s reaction was adorable- she has such a sweet little voice :)
Born and Raised RVA says
That is the most adorable, creative thing I think I have ever seen. Clara is such a luckly little lady!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw you guys are so sweet! Thanks for all the kind words. We’re so glad Clara is loving her kitchen!
xo,
s
Elizabeth says
Awwwwh!! I love it!!! My mom and dad made me one pretty similar to that when I was little. Not as many awesome details though! Good job Santa!!