A kids play kitchen made from an old bookcase!
Sorry I don’t have a picture of the before!
This project was a birthday present for my daughter. I used an old bookcase that I found for $5, a $5 faucet from the resale store, an old bowl, 4 old drawer pulls, 4 cork coasters, 1 yard of fabric, a spring-loaded curtain rod, and stuff from a trip to the dollar store.
The bookcase got a good cleaning and was sanded down. My husband helped me cut a hole in the top for the sink by turning the bowl upside down – tracing it – then cutting it out with a jigsaw. After being wiped down again the whole piece was painted with primer and painted white. I wanted to try something different with the ‘counter’, so I got a little bit of green paint that we had left-over and dry brushed it on the top. I did have to do it a couple times to get the look I wanted. For the burners I found 4 cork coaster that were the right size and painted them black with craft paint. After the paint was dry, I used a white chalk marker and drew a swirl on them then coated them with matte sealer.
After all the painting was done it was time to assemble. The holes for the faucet and doorknobs were all predrilled. I also predrilled the baking sheet (on the side – for a message board). And everything was added to the bookcase with its normal hardware. The baking sheet was attached with screws. I then glued the ‘burners’ down and made the curtain (I cut the fabric on the fold line and straight stitched the sides. Making sure to leave enough at the top for the curtain rod). I also found a couple peel-and-stick hooks at the dollar store and added them to each side – just below were the curtain rod sat – and hung a towel that had a hook on it, on them.
Everything else either came from the dollar store (kitchen supplies and baskets, or they were extras I had in my kitchen. Then the last item was a dry erase marker. If you have ever read my blog before you may know that I used the same method for the Kids magnet board.
And I was done! Good thing too, because it was just in time for her birthday. If you are wondering how this little kitchen has fared? Really well. For well over a year it had daily use, when she was cooking dinner for us, and now – a few years later she still plays with it a couple times a week and it gets lots of use when the neighborhood kids come over.
I hope you enjoy – have a great day!
–Dawn
