Christmas was ruined!
(Not really, but over dramatizing events helps me cope)
It was two days before Christmas and my husband and I decided it was finally time to open up the box and assemble the play kitchen (that we bought weeks ago) for my daughter, Olivia. Unfortunately we discovered a couple of pieces had been damaged….dang! The last thing I was going to do was drive all over town, looking for a play kitchen, two days before Christmas.
What am I going to tell Olivia?!?! “Olivia, darling…your present from Santa fell off the sled, so the elves took it back to the North Pole for repairs and will send it back with the Easter Bunny.” Okay….she’s only one-and a-half , too young to even understand what Christmas is. The only heart that’s broken is mama’s.
I had been toying with idea of making her a kitchen, but being a full time working mom during the holidays doesn’t lend itself to a lot of free time. So, out of tragedy comes an opportunity to create a unique play kitchen for at least half the price of what I would pay for a new one. Sweet!
I googled DIY play kitchen and came across some great blogs. Like this kitchen made from an outdated entertainment center. Or this kitchen made from a night stand. There are TONS of ideas out there…it’s easy to become obsessed.
I started gathering material by scouring the Portland and Vancouver Habitat ReStores and started with these average ‘ol kitchen cabinets.
I removed the doors, sanded any rough edges and drilled holes for the sink and faucet. The sink was the only non-ReStore item…a baking pan from Goodwill. I added white wire shelving in each of the cupboards, one for the “stove” and one for the under sink storage.
At the Vancouver Store, we are lucky to share a space with another non-profit, EmpowerUP, and I was able to snag some computer fan covers that work perfectly as burners for a stove!
I added bun feet to raise the counter height, but they also look totally cute…don’t you think? I painted a black square for the “stove top,” screwed on the fan covers, and what is NOT pictured are the stove knobs that I added. You can use drawer pulls for the stove knobs, or you can get the real thing at the ReStore.
I switched the hinges on one door so that it would open like a real stove, and added a custom made curtain courtesy of psoup, who makes AWESOME bags and accessories out of reclaimed materials (you should totally check out her onion bag totes…so cute!!).
I was so excited to bring home the finished project for Olivia! She LOVES it, and makes me tea, soup and sandwiches every day. It’s just her size, and I love the personal touches.
Tags: Habitat for Humanity, projects, ReStore
