Clara has had her play kitchen for over a year and a half and she still plays with it nearly everyday, which is practically a toy miracle considering how quickly other items are dismissed. So play kitchens have a special place in our hearts. And this one is extra special because, well, Casey and Phil had a ton of fun making their own – and brought lots of new ideas to the table. They don’t have a blog, but they outlined their process here for you guys:
Much like you guys, my husband Phil and I decided to build our daughter Zoey a play kitchen for Christmas. I sketched it out to mimic our kitchen cabinets, and I knew she’d love a pretty realistic looking stove in a fun color. Luckily my husband is a fantastic carpenter, so we built the whole thing from scratch using scrap lumber from from our whole-house renovation and butcher block left over from our previous house’s kitchen renovation.
All said and done we spent an embarrassing amount of time on this, but I think the end result was worth all the work!
The cabinet building was pretty straightforward- we built basic cabinet boxes, added the face frames, then added the extra paneled detail on the sides. Phil build the doors separately and we attached them after everything was painted. The stove was a little (okay, a lot) trickier. We build it in 2 major parts- the lower half (the painted part) is all one unit, and the upper half (the stainless part) is the other half.
Phil loved the idea of dimmable “burners” so that was definitely our biggest expense in the whole project – but he was right that it takes the whole thing to the next level. Zoey loves them! For the top half we sandwiched the LED lighting in between 2 layers of wood to hold it in place. We used a 6″ hole saw to create the 2 openings where the coiled LED lighting shines through. We wrapped the top part in stainless contact paper, covered the lighting with a piece of tinted plexiglass, then we put the whole thing on top of the lower half.
And I know people love a good resource list, so here’s where we got things:
- Cabinets- made from scrap wood from other projects
- Countertops- leftover from previous kitchen (lumber liquidators)
- Sink – Amazon
- Faucet – Amazon
- Cabinet knobs – Target
- Paint color on cabinets – Benjamin Moore’s Super White
- Paint color on stove – Benjamin Moore’s Meadowlands Green
- Handle on stove – Ikea
- Knobs on stove – Amazon
- Timer – Anthropologie
- “Stainless steel” contact paper – Home Depot
- Oven rack – Dollar Store
- Flexible LED neon – Del Lighting
- Dimmers – Amazon
- Plexiglass for stovetop – eBay
- Wallpaper on interior cabinet – leftover from Zoey’s nursery, Wallpaper Direct
Hope you enjoy! -Casey
Isn’t it awesome? Zoey is one lucky kid to have such resourceful and creative parents who have so much fun building things for her. Thanks for sharing your creation with us, Casey and Phil!
Incredible!
Too delightful for words! Kudos!!
I couldn’t agree more !!! lovely mini kitchen
Oh wow, this is amazingly beautiful! What an amazing kitchen.
I love this!!! I sure wish my husband and I were crafty.
Wow! SO cute! Love that…looks like all that went into it paid off!
OMGosh! I am in love with this kitchen! So fun. Seriously, I love kiddie play kitchens, I think they’re as much fun for the parents as they are for the kids, ha.
I found our son’s kitchen on craigslist (original 60s era play kitchen) and it’s been so much fun stocking it. If you wanna check that out: http://hennablossom.com/?p=2430 (so cute). :)
Nice job on Zoey’s kitchen! I know Mateo’s is always where all the kiddies want to be. It’s totally worth spending “an embarrassing amount of time” on, ha. :)
Wow! Way cool!
That is the cutest thing I have ever seen! What a lucky little girl :)
WOW, that is so adorable!!!
We went the quick route and bought a kitchen for our crew but if I had the time I would make this in a heartbeat! It is delightful!
~Sarah
This is beautiful! And the neon LEDs are truly impressive. I love that they made this using leftover scraps from a kitchen reno.
Um…can Casey and Phil either a) adopt me; or b) design my kitchen? That is the most amazing play kitchen ever! The led lights are mind blowing. Mind.blown.
Ditto!!! Maybe they can adopt 50,000 of us?? :)
Those cabinets and faucet are nicer than the ones in my kitchen!
As Joey Lawrence says, “WOAH!”
Amazing. I LOVE all of the attention to detail. Wish we were crafty enough to make a kitchen for our little one!
That’s nicer than my big girl kitchen, lucky little lady!
Definitely my favorite kiddo kitchen I’ve seen to date! Really awesome!!
kinda puts my $10 garage sale kitchen to shame. but one of the knobs costs more than that, so…
pretty cool lighting feature, i will admit, just a little too expensive for me.
That is really incredible! I’ve got a soft spot for these, as my dad built one for my sister and I back in the day! Such a great way to play using imagination!
I want this for myself, and I’m 27 with no kids. The burners are awesome, I’m storing this idea away for potential future kids one day. Such an amazing job!
Whoa. That’s amazing!!!
#[email protected]%^&?!!!!! SO COOL!
What an adorable kitchen!! The dimmable burners are awesome – so realistic!
Adorable! We are currently working on a kitchen for our daughters for this Christmas! It probably won’t be as realistic as this one – those burners are impressive!
Wow! So impressive. Please tell me that after this post they are going to start selling these.
That is so adorable! I love all of the little details – the led lightning, the timer & the wallpaper in the cabinets! So cute. They did an awesome job.
Wow, those light coils are amazing! Is it weird that I really wish I could make some fake dinner on that stovetop?
I need me some grand babies – pronto!
Dang. This is nicer than my actual kitchen. If you need me, I’ll be crying in the corner.
Wowsa, how creative is that?!! Love what the coiled LED lighting adds to it! Awesome build!
I love that it lights up! Such a cool idea!
Wow! Mega talented – love those cabinets! :) No kiddies yet, but this one is on the list of fun projects when we do have them :)
I too, have just a teeny obsession with play kitchens (no, I don’t spend HOURS perusing them on Pinterest and searching Craigslist! Not every day anyway..) But this one. THIS one. This one tops them all. This is better than my actual kitchen! Absolutely love it. Bravo to Casey and Phil!
Whoa! I have to draw the line somewhere, this kitchen looks way better than my real kitchen. ;)
Great job! It looks amazing!
Hi,
What’s the total cost of this project(excluding the materials they didn’t have to purchase and already had on hand)?
Thanks!
Jackie
Hope they drop in with that! I’d guess it wasn’t super cheap, but couldn’t be close to those $500 Pottery Barn kitchens (even the discounted ones at the outlet are $250)!
xo
s
I took a minute to add it up, based on the links they provided (so, not counting lumber, hinges, paint, butcher block, or wallpaper they already had on hand) and came up with $146 for the listed supplies.
Awesome! Thanks both!
So sweet! Such a nice kitchen–I wouldn’t mind using this kitchen on a large scale!
Uhhhh, [shuffling feet in embarrassment], I just scrolled down looking through the photos first, and was thinking, “holy cow, I ADORE that oven, what a cool kitchen.” Yeah. I. Thought. It. Was. Real.
Haha! I love that! It’s the ultimate compliment.
xo
s
This is amazing!
Completely cool and so totally awesome!! Thanks for sharing this – even if I can’t go that elaborate, I may be able to try something else. I think my grandson would love it! (yes, boys can have a kitchen!)
WOW the little girl in me is so sincerely jealous…I would have spent hours enjoying that..what a treat..great parents..what fun!
Holy moly, this is awesome!!! I wish they sold them, you just can’t get the dimmable lighting option with other toy kitchens. Just awesome!
I can’t even handle this — it is amazing! Way cooler than the kitchens you can buy.
Totally amazed–great job, Casey!
Love! We happen to be in the middle of building one of these ourselves (as in I literally just opened the box from Amazon containing the faucet and sink) and I’m eyeing the oven knobs they used but the link doesn’t work :( Any help much appreciated!
Hmm, maybe just try in stores? Anyone have a link that works>
xo
s
What, no running water? ;)
That is amazing and adorable!
Sweet baby Jesus! That is awesome! I want one. Seriously.
Oh my gosh, what a fun project!! That family must be a blast!
xox
Bailey
http://akabailey.blogspot.com
Wow! What a sweet kitchen.
That’s awesome!!! Love love love :)