Remember how we DIYed Clara a play kitchen last Christmas? Well, it was such a hit then (and still is – in fact it’s probably one of the only toys that she plays with every day) we immediately knew that we should add to it. More kitchen = more fun, right?
What can you add to a play kitchen like ours? Well, it was clearly lacking a frigid kitchen staple. You know, a refrigerator. So we quickly homed in on that as an easy way to upgrade Clara’s setup. And the decision was made even easier by the fact that we had another cabinet leftover from the kitchen remodel that we had been hoarding saving for nearly a year in the basement with this play-kitchen “expansion” in mind.
It was from the Habitat for Humanity Restore (maybe for $15? I can’t remember and the receipt is loooong gone) and we had considered using it for above our fridge, but then found one that was a better size. So this puppy has been sitting in our basement for over a year now, just waiting to be fridge-ified. But it had some obvious shortcomings before it was ready for its kitchen close-up. Observe:
But if it’s got a problem, yo I’ll solve it. Check out the look while my drill bit revolves it. (whisper this part: Ice, Ice, baby. Ice, ice, baby). Yup, $herdog isn’t the only one who can spit mad rhymes.
Fixing those aforementioned problems wasn’t too bad. First I removed both of the doors and added three shelves inside using one 10″ wide piece of pine board that I grabbed at Home Depot for $6 (which was the width of the cabinet). I attached each shelf with some simple screws straight through each side as you can see from the photo above.
Here it is with the shelves added. If I were doing a real “to scale” refrigerator I would’ve added more shelves closer together. But from Clara’s experience with her current play kitchen, the wide shelves are easiest for her to maneuver in (and some of her items are around 6″ tall, so spacing these shelves 7″ apart seemed to be the most functional. Neither of us had any great expectations that our creation would ever hit a super high level of fridge realism anyways… we just want the kid to have fun.
Next up, I wanted to cover the recessed portion of each side so that it would be a flat box (plus it would cover up my screw holes from the shelf-adding step). So I used my table saw to cut some panels of plywood to size and then used wood glue to secure them in place. These were the first items I purchased since I didn’t have them in my scrap wood pile, and they ran me $8 for all of the wood that I used on both sides.
Here’s my fancy step of letting my glue dry, with the help of clamps and some heavy objects to keep the plywood pressed flush to the cabinet.
Here’s how it was coming along after both sides and a top panel were done. It was definitely starting to look less like the bedraggled old cabinet that we started with.
Before painting, we lightly sanded the finish off of the doors and the face of the cabinet – just like we do when we’re painting kitchen cabinets for real.
We also thought a fun feature of her fridge would be to make the front magnetic – just like the real deal. So I busted out the can of magnetic primer that we still have plenty of (even after this project and this project). We did three coats, since we’ve found that to be stronger than one (tip: shake the heck out of it before applying it so all the magnetized particles don’t settle to the bottom of the can).
Here are the doors all primed with the magnetic stuff and the rest of it primed with just normal primer (Zinsser Smart Prime, which is low-VOC – it’s actually the same stuff we used for our real kitchen cabinets and we still had it leftover).
Once that was all dry, it was time to get our paint on. While some sort of silver or grey on the outside might have looked stainless-ish, we thought it would be nice if this guy fit in with Clara’s existing white play kitchen. But because we can’t resist a little bit o’ “fancy” we painted the inside a light blue with a small quart of paint that was leftover from a few book projects (Sylvan Mist by Benjamin Moore). You know, to lend an air of “cool” to the thing.
Once the inside was “chilled” with blue paint, we painted the outside surfaces semi-gloss white (Decorators White by Benjamin Moore – which we just always seem to have around for painting trim, the office cabinets, etc). It only took us one coat on the outside framing thanks to the white primer that we added first, but the doors took three coats to cover all of that black magnetic primer. But once it was all said and done, I reattached the doors with some new hinges and added some pulls that matched the rest of her kitchen. Those were the only other items that we purchased for the fridge-building project (also from Home Depot like the plywood) and they came to $5.25 for all the hinges and $6 each for the long fridge-ish hardware pulls – which were 7″ long for anyone wondering.
Then we thought it would be fun to give the fridge a logo of sorts, to help it look less like a cabinet and more like a fridge (we thought crazy-gluing them in place would help them stick for the long haul). So Sherry found these scrap-booking stickers at Michael’s that were as close to stainless steel as we could find. We thought one of the snowflakes could be a cool logo-ish-looking icon next to the name of our fictitious appliance brand.
We had a nice spirited debate as to whether it should be called “Cool” or “Chilly.” This is what happens when two former advertisers get into a branding discussion.
Ultimately we decided on cool… but we weren’t 100% sure so we just softly stuck them up there without any crazy glue on them quite yet. Just to get a feel for our little logo idea. Then we both stood there staring at it for a while and realized that it was a lot cooler in our minds. Hah. And in real life it just seemed kind of cheesy on the otherwise clean front (there’s not any lettering on Clara’s original kitchen, so maybe we were going overboard with this addition on the fridge). Plus, Sherry was convinced that Clara would peel them off in 2.2 seconds – even with crazy glue (perhaps ripping corners of them off, digging at them with blocks, etc). But here’s a pic of how it might’ve looked had we stuck with it…
But now you get to see the whole shebang all finished and ready for Christmas morning. I hope you’re all gently shaking jingle bells and/or playing various holiday-songs, because here’s what Clara’s gonna wake up to Christmas morning:
Yup, there’s Clara’s new fridge (okay, it sort of could double as a pantry too) next to her kitchen from last year, plus a little food cart that we’ll get to in a minute. And of course, you can’t give someone a fridge without stocking it full of food, right?
For the most part this is actually play food that we already owned. We’d purchased a bunch to give her last year, but after seeing how well the few sets of play food that she opened last Christmas had entertained her, we opted not to shove two more boxes down her present-riddled throat and instead planned to wait a while and introduce them later in the year when she was getting bored of a few other toys that we could phase out. Little did we know that those two boxes would sit unused in the spare room for an entire year. How did a whole year pass? Doesn’t it feel like we were just sharing Clara’s play kitchen a week ago?
Most of it is Melissa and Doug stuff that we scored on Joss & Main at a nice deep discount. I personally love the bologna.
We also supplemented with a few “DIYed” items of our own. For example, we picked up (and emptied) a couple of these teeny tiny Ben & Jerry’s cartons. I took one for the team and downed both of them in about four scoops.
Sherry also found these wooden eggs and egg crates at Michael’s to fill out what apparently is the dairy shelf in her fridge. One day – maybe around Easter? – we might even decorate them with Clara as a fun holiday activity. The funny thing is that Clara met Santa a little while ago (yes, the real one who hangs out at community events) and asked him for “eggs for her kitchen” so we thought that was sweet enough to warrant an actual crate of eggs. Make that two.
Also at Michael’s Sherry found these little Chinese takeout containers. You know, so Clara can pretend she has some leftover General Tso’s or something.
Oh yeah, and about that cart…
It was a thrift store find at one of our favorite local places. It was $5 and it was already this color, which was a pretty lucky break considering how many other strange colors it could have been. Clara actually helped us bring it home, so hopefully we didn’t just damage the illusion of Santa there.
We thought it’d be a great addition to the kitchen set because Clara has gotten a lot of fun out of a little wire fruit/veggie basket that she already has. And since this one is large enough to hold all of her produce along with some pantry-ish items on the bottom and it wheels around, hopefully it’ll add up to hours of enjoyment.
As for a budget breakdown, here’s how this little fridge & rolling cart full of food stacked up:
- Cabinet – already owned (maybe $15 originally?)
- Wood for shelves & sides – $14
- Primer & paint – already owned
- New hinges from Home Depot- $5.25
- 7″ hardware handles from Home Depot- $12
- Stickers that we never used – $5 (with 50% coupon from Michael’s)
- Thrift store cart – $5
- Wooden eggs, crates, & takeout containers – $6 (with 50% coupon from Michael’s)
- Tiny Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cartons – $2.50
- Other play food – already owned (about $30 originally)
- TOTAL: $50.75 (it would probably cost around $95 if you didn’t already have the cabinet and the play-food on hand)
Under $51 for both the fridge and the cart isn’t too bad, right? The play kitchen from last year rung in at 74 beans, so it’s nice to add two other kitchen items for less. The only thing that’s missing are some grocery store gift cards so Clara can take care of some of the items on her shopping list…
Oh and the magnetized doors are worth the effort, so we highly recommend those if you’re in the mood to add some “extra sauce” to your fridge. We can both picture Clara hanging little drawings that she does on Post-Its and someday writing her own lists in sloppy kid-handwriting.
We’ll be sure to share video or photos of Clara actually receiving her gift, just like we did last year, so stayed tuned for that. And oh yeah, if you were wondering what mystery room we shot these photos in… it’s the playroom, which still has walls painted in a bunch of random colors from shooting our book back in February. This particular wall is Sylvan Mist by Benjamin Moore (the same color that we used on the inside of the fridge, so we cracked up when we realized that).
So, are any of you other “Santas” out there whipping up something in your workshop for next week? Are your kids as obsessed with play food (specifically play eggs) as our daughter? Do you find it funny that play fruits and veggies are usually life sized but most of the “pantry items” are at least half of their normal size (even when they’re made by the same company)? I’ll pause while you ponder that.
Psst- I grabbed a quick video of Clara playing with her kitchen the other morning, so that’s over on Young House Life for ya.
Amber says
Clara’s kitchen is so cute!
And yes, shake that magnetic primer! I’m on coat 5 of the magnetic chalkboard (thanks for the inspiration!) I’m making my neice for xmas. She’s 4 days older than Clara, named Claire and a little blondie too!
Shanon says
We are not nearly as crafty but are doing the kitchen thing for our daughter too! can’t wait to see thier reactions. We recieved a cart and some food last christmas which is possibly her favorite thing so she def needed a kitchen hopefully it will stop her from wanting to play in mine when things are hot!
nice work!
Gabriella @ Our Life In Action says
OH HOW CUTE!!! I even want to play with it. The play food is AMAZING!!!
Angie Lee says
Love it! My parents built a playhouse for my younger sister and I when we were 4 and 2. We even got to help “paint” the inside. For Christmas each year, they built us a new piece of furniture: kitchen table, chairs & benches, fridge/freezer, sink with counter and cabinets, a stove and then an old school desk they found at an antique store. We even had a blackboard for when we played school. The back window of the playhouse was the “drive-thru” where all the neighbor kids could place their orders. We had many many years of fun in that playhouse.
Clara has two wonderful and imaginative parents that will create many years of memories for her too!
Kate says
Re: Clara remembering the little cart – maybe the fridge can be from Santa and the cart could be from Mommy and Daddy? Fantastic project!
Beth A. says
That looks amazing — great job!
I love that she asked Santa for eggs. My now almost 18 year old asked for a blue apple when she was 3 (Santa always leaves apples and oranges in our stockings.) My practical self responded with something along the lines of “no such thing as a blue apple.” But, my sweet husband went to Michael’s, bought a wooden apple and painted it blue. Emma was thrilled on Christmas morning to find that in her stocking!
Kristin @ Little Corbin Hill says
This is fabulous! Love the fridge =) I bought my little one a wooden kitchen from a friend and want to paint it but haven’t yet. I still want to make a cute apron and pot holder too! I need to get on the ball, lol. Can’t wait to see Clara’s excitement.
katalina says
so sweet. looks way better than my frig!
I think the logo could say–ice ice baby!
that toaster with 2 slices sticking up is so cool.
thanks John for posting guy wish list !
Now its Burger’s turn!!!– wasn’t he intently looking at the computer screen in an instagram the other day?
YoungHouseLove says
Ha! Just pictures of bones and bacon. :)
-John
Kay says
I was just fine until I read the part about making the lil fridge magnetic. Definitely just squeed while sitting in my office.
I think adding to last year’s great gift is such a neat idea–adds to the fun of last year’s gift while not competing with or replacing last year’s gift. Genius. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: you guys are great parents.
Megan @ Rappsody in Rooms says
Oh I just love this! I don’t have kids but it still gives me a thrill! It’s so cute. My play kitchen was definitely one of my favorite items, so Clara is a girl after my own heart.
leah says
Really Really Adorable! I love how you guys take everything to the next level. You put the rest of us to shame! haha.
Jonelle says
This looks awesome. I can’t wait to have kids so I can make cool things like this.
I’m currently workIng on a play tool bench for my boyfriend’s nephew. I scored a $10 vintage wooden play kitchen on half-off Wednesday so it only cost me 5 BEANS!!! I was so excited I think I danced to the register haha.
The only thing is that it is made of pressed board and laminate :( would kilz Primer work on this? And can I just go over that with latex and then top it with a poly? Sorry for All the questions but his nephew is a rough boy and I don’t want the paint chipping in 30 seconds under his terror.
Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We’ve noticed we’ve still had some bleed through on some wood projects with Kilz, which is why we’ve tried to use the Zinnser Smart Prime when we’ve got it around (it’s a little harder to find). So maybe try two coats of your Kilz before you go over with paint and poly. The poly should be pretty good at preventing chipping.
-John
Reenie says
OMG… that is so cute. I can’t wait to see the video of her on Christmas morning.
Love the pic of her pushing her lil cart. Did she know what it was for?
YoungHouseLove says
Nope. She was completely oblivious. (insert evil laugh here) Can’t wait for her to see it again!
-John
Kim says
Cutest thing ever! I would have LOVED this play kitchen when I was little…so much better than the molded plastic ones in stores. I will definitely be building something like this for my future-kids.
Tara G. says
That is fantastic- not just the cool fridge, but that you’re giving her a lot of room to pretend and use her imagination for hours and years to come! Melissa and Doug food is a favorite around here with all of our kids!
Mrs. Ronso says
We made a fridge for our daughter too — a little Ikea hack to match the kitchen she already has from there.
And, Clara and my little girl might be destined to be friends: She asked Santa for Pizza so we got the Melissa and Doug pizza set to add to her play food collection. So cute!
Can’t wait to see you again when you come to Tacoma in January. :)
Jeanna says
I totally called it this year, ha! It turned out so darn cute, too. I love that you go the extra mile for her and DIY something……… so special :)
Jeanna says
Do you think it is worth it to build a little frame for the bottom to raise it up a bit, just like her play kitchen? Might look a little more in proportion with the first piece………… not that its not lovely just the way it is, mind you :)
YoungHouseLove says
It’s something we thought about, but just kept things simple this time around. Maybe if it really starts to bug us visually down the road…
-John
Krystle @ Color Transformed Family says
So cute! It was hard to tell how big the fridge is until you see it next to the rest of the kitchen. She is going to love it.
taria says
these would be so fun in a play house.
John says
Cool, perhaps she could keep real crackers, cookies, etc. in her fridge. Could call it a half pantry and half fridge.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, Burger would love that.
xo
s
Briel K. says
Very cute! I love all of the fake play food too. :)
Cassidy says
Why are you guys so awesome? That is freaking cool! ;)
Santa is bringing wood items to our house too. I bought a rocking chair at Michael’s, it was on sale and I used a 50% off coupon, so I bought a $50 rocking chair for $22! I just need to add a coat of lavender paint (to match her room of course!). We are also building our son a desk and chair (a la Ana White!), so I’ll probably pick up the wood for that today. I still need to crochet my son a monkey and my daughter a doll, but I am super excited for Christmas this year!!
Ed says
K that is a pretty great idea…I think it is great to not only have toys like that for kids but show them that toys can be made and not bought…also the lack of plastic is awesome too!
Patti says
Wow, this is super cute! I took a look at the post about last year’s kitchen set and you guys do an amazing job! When I have kids I would love to do the same for them. Handmade anything is always so special.
I read a comment above about the felt toys. I have some patterns that I’ve been saving and I would love to make some for Clara for her birthday next year. I have the McCall pattern: http://mccallpattern.mccall.com/m6572-products-22763.php?page_id=4267 and I’ll be getting the Simplicity one soon: http://www.simplicity.com/p-4464-craft.aspx.
Marlena says
That looks great! We had my uncle build our daughter a play house like a picture I saw on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/174373816792944454/ and painted purple. We’ll have it waiting for her Christmas morning in our living room :)
kristen says
so where did the daybed/pillow machine go from this post?
https://www.younghouselove.com/2012/11/finally-now-we-can-show-you-the-playroom/
secrets!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh, it just got shoved to the other side of the room since this was the only wall where the paint went all the way to the floor. :)
-John
Grambie of Six says
As a kitchen designer, I must say that you two think of everything: repurposing a cabinet, the cool interior, the very “in” handles, the magnetized doors . . . brilliant! Clara is a very lucky girl!
Katrina says
Ahh so sweet the fridge and pantry area are the perfect addition!! Next Spring I want to DIY a BBQ grill for my son, he’ll be almost two I think he’ll really enjoy it!
Randa says
Sooooooooooooo fun!
One little typo: “two” (not to) former advertisers (above the cool & chilly “logo” options photo).
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Randa – fixed!
-John
Gina says
What table saw do you guys have/recommend?
YoungHouseLove says
We have a Skil brand table saw. I think it was the most affordable option at Home Depot (or Lowe’s? – can’t remember). It’s worked well for me so far!
-John
Pamela O. says
Cute kitchen but I had to comment cause I did a major double take. We have the same cart! Color and all! We found ours at a yard sale. The lady was going to charge me a dollar but then saw my daughter and gave it to her for nothing. :) Ours was beige when we got it but we spray painted it that color! We turned ours into a triple bunk bed for my daughters’ dolls. I don’t blog anymore and can’t figure out how to share my photo otherwise I would. Anyway, just thought I would tell you that Clara’s cart has a twin over in California! :)
YoungHouseLove says
No way! That’s so funny. Cart twins!
-John
Stephanie Nelson says
As soon as I saw that first pic I said “They are making a fridge!!” :)
So cool!!!
Hahaha, no pun intended!
Tiffany says
I have to try that Ben & Jerry’s trick for my kids kitchen, good idea.
Fran says
Bahahahaha!!!! This statement almost cost me a new keyboard!!!! “But if it’s got a problem, yo I’ll solve it. Check out the look while my drill bit revolves it. (whisper this part: Ice, Ice, baby. Ice, ice, baby). Yup, $herdog isn’t the only one who can spit mad rhymes.” Ya’ll are too funny!!! :)
K says
Hm, I haven’t gotten too crafty with gifts this year, but I did sew my son a pillow, so I’m looking forward to giving him that gift.
K says
Oh, and I resewed our old stockings using felt instead of fleece, which I mistakenly used the first try years ago, so now we have stockings that are sturdy and can actually be stuffed!
Kellee says
So cute! I love the addition. We recently made a play kitchen for our daughter’s 2nd birthday last month and it has been a big hit.
http://behappyvb.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/play-kitchen/
We are now in the middle of building a dollhouse for Christmas. My husband thinks I’m certifiably insane with all these projects but I feel like they are more from the heart when you make them instead of buying.
YoungHouseLove says
Oooh, what a cool piece to repurpose. Great project!
-John
Anne says
That is so cool, Kellee! Boy, it is fun to look at everyone’s projects. :)
Cayce says
Having 2 children myself, ages 6 & 4, i can say the rolling cart will be definite hit. It will probably be a grocery cart, a racecar, a moving van, etc and will end up all over the house. anything with wheels is always a hit here.
Dianne says
LOVE! Clara will be so excited to have a more complete kitchen. What’s next, a dishwasher? For children, their play is their work — and Clara certainly gets her play-on with her made-with-love kitchen. Look forward to her seeing an image of her facial expression and precious words on Christmas morning.
YoungHouseLove says
Maybe a wine fridge? No? Too young? :)
-John
becca @ sewLOVED says
since you didn’t use the “logo,” you can flip it over to make the frige open in the other direction too. so much fun!
T.G. @ Young Recessional says
This is a really random question. Did you recently change the saturation on your “Us” pic on the sidebar? It looks brighter to me somehow. Not in a bad way, but it is definitely ‘popping’ more.
Also, the fridge/pantry looks awesome! I saw a ton of Melissa and Doug toys at Homegoods recently and wanted to buy them all, but I figured I should wait until I’m at least pregnant? haha.
YoungHouseLove says
We actually had to rebuild that box a little while back, so we re-imported the pic and everything so it definitely could be reading differently (more bright, slightly larger, etc) since we didn’t have the old one to compare it too. Hah! Blog buttons tend to go bad/disappear on us from time to time… so we just guess and frantically try to fill in the blanks!
xo
s
Jerri says
You two are such fun, loving parents! This brought back my childhood memories of my play kitchen sink, stove and refrigerator! It was store-bought and made of metal! Yeah, I’m 50ish. But, kids love the play kitchen stuff. My 7-year-old grandson is going to have fun this Christmas because, among other stuff, I have wrapped a play cash register and play BBQ grill with all the goodies for us to have hours of play. Yes, I seriously mean, “us!” I love that quality time with him! Merry Christmas John, Sherry, Clara and Burger. Can’t wait to see the video of Clara enjoying the new frig!
Amy says
Love it!!!
Joelle says
Love it! I have been researching play kitchens like crazy to buy my twin girls this year. The one I settled on has a vintage feel to it and have a phone attached to the side of the fridge. I’ve heard this was one of the most fun parts for the kids (read in the comments). so you could put a phone on the side too, to make it look more “fridgey.” just a thought, adorable though!
Jillian Welk says
I just love it! Homemade holidays are the best!
This year I am attempting a felt playhouse for my sons. It will fit over our dining room table which is huge, so it will be a great way to maximize the play space on our main floor. I certainly recommend this as your next kids craft!
Crystal @ 29 Rue House says
Hi! Feels like it has been forever! I love how the fridge turned out and timely since we just finished our play kitchen for Ruby (a week late for her 3rd birthday – I feel bad but at least she’ll get to have another mini-party with cupcakes tonight when we give it to her) with a cabinet like yours. As soon as we have some pics up I’d love to show you!
I’ve been thinking about a fridge too (using a cabinet) and keep saying to hubby, if we had to do this again (he should be taking it as a hint but he’ll probably be blindsided ;), it would be a lot easier, right?
Happy Holidays!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, sounds right to me!
xo
s
Crystal @ 29 Rue House says
I finally got pictures up of the kitchen that we built inspired by you and wanted to share! It is pretty much the same thing although we did some things differently and worked with what we had. I’d like to add a couple of bins to the side someday to hold food and dishes(this would be the equivalent of having the cute rack that you do).
Happy Holidays!
http://29ruehouse.blogspot.com/2012/12/rubys-in-kitchen_27.html
(I hope that by putting this on the third page of comments on a week old post you’ll know that I genuinely want to share/show you and not just try to get traffice).
YoungHouseLove says
Oh my gosh Crystal!!! It’s amazing!!! Thanks so much for sharing it! What a sweet little kitchen, and the cork burner idea is awesome.
xo
s
Crystal @ 29 Rue House says
Oh you’re too sweet! You know it was all inspired by you!
The only problem with the cork burner is that Archer (the 16 month old) just wants to chew it apart. lol
YoungHouseLove says
Hahah! It really is adorable!
xo
s
Carol says
Wow – you guys are seriously amazing parents.
Laura says
So cute! You guys should put some magnetic letters on there for her! Maybe just ones for her name. Or write out “Merry Christmas” or “Love, Santa” or something. Magnetic letters are quintessential fridge art! It really looks great! I found a wooden kid fridge at goodwill for $5 a while ago, and it completed my kids’ kitchen. But be sure to add that to the list of places to search when something is missing! Many, many things disappear into that fridge!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so cute! Love that!
xo
s
Kara says
I LOVE it! The magnet layer is genius.
littleoakcreations says
Aww, I kind of liked the name on the fridge, haha. As someone with an advertising degree, I definitely get the discussion. :) And I am just in love with the play food too.. especially the giant mustard over the tiny ketchup!
Erin says
So clever! Great job!