DIY Play Kitchen Tutorial! This is a Toddler Dream Kitchen!
My amazing mother-in-law built this for little Anne, so I don’t have a full tutorial but I can give you the grand tour and some ideas to jump start your own dream kitchen! If you start now maybe you can finish by Christmas:)
My husband got a little carried away and added running water!
Yup- running water
If you have a DIY gung-ho spirit and want to give a whack at it here’s how we {I mean the hubs} did it:
- Take a working faucet and block off either the hot or cold knob
- Thread 1/4″ tubing through the faucet and block off any other passages so the water has to go through the tubing (this increases the water pressure)
- Mix and match brass plumbing fittings to fit your tubing to a hand water pump (we used a weed spray gun). This is the hard step- be prepared to fiddle
***Here’s the big picture: under the sink is a reservoir that holds the water (what normally holds your weed killer). We drilled a hole in the counter so the pump handle sticks up. You just pump a few times and then turn on the faucet and it gives a pretty good stream for about 10 seconds. Which is enough to make a toddler very happy without flooding your kitchen:)
Now let me take you on a full tour!
Some fun tips and ideas:
- Sink: rimmed metal dog food bowl. Comes in and out easily so you can clean up when you’re done playing
- Stove Burners: Spray painted junk mail CD’s. Make sure you spray on a finish coat afterwards so the paint doesn’t chip
- Microwave Buttons: vinyl to the rescue! Grab the SCAL file here
- Adding a valance over the sink and a curtain below only used 1 fat quarter and really dresses things up!
- Add a touch light (found ours at the Dollar Tree) to go above the sink. I forgot to take a photo, but it’s adorable when it’s on:)
- Buy some dollar store baskets to store your food in under the sink. Or…instead you can make the area under the sink into a little fridge
- Beadboard for the splash board makes things extra cute!
- Go to town with hooks! So fun for little hands and it keeps everything organized. We did some for her tea cups above the stove and some on the side for big utensils
- A great place to find cookware is the Dollar Tree: we got a mini pot, a loaf pan and a cookie sheet.
Now let’s take a look at the side…
Can you tell we just couldn’t stop embelleshing???
Some more fun ideas to get you going:
- Add a few vintage silhouettes
- Magnet Board: my MIL is great with clay so she made Little Miss a magnetic flower garden- all of the flower heads and the bees are magnets. This was a HUGE hit!
- Chalkboard: Add a little space for your little ones to write up a menu
Have fun! I’d love to see any toy kitchens you come up with! This one is the Grandma set 🙂
Don’t forget to buy a tea set to go with it!
32 Responses
Hi Amy. I’m in the middle of a play kitchen remodel and I’m looking for how the fabric is hung across the cabinet front. In this version how did your MIL hang the fabric? Thank you!
This is adorable! Thank you for sharing.
Do you have a picture of the before?
Oh that is so stinkin’ cute! It looks like it meets her approval as well! Thanks so much for sharing!
LOVE this kitchen. I have been looking at all kinds of DIY kitchens lately trying to figure out how to make one for my little ones. Did your mother-in-law build it from scratch or did she start with a piece of furniture that she made into the kitchen?
Thanks!
Debbie
wyler27@gmail.com
I like the home made kitchen..Little kids die over something like this.
Send Flowers Pakistan
Send Flowers Pakistan
Send Flowers Pakistan
This is AWESOME…..way cooler than anything from the store!:D
Ok the CUTEST thing in this whole blog post is the
tiny little toes in the pink flip flops……ADORABLE.
My little girl turns 2 in March and I absolutely I love this kitchen I plan on making 1 for her,Thanks for the inspiration!
My little girl turns 2 in March and I absolutely I love this kitchen I plan on making 1 for her,Thanks for the inspiration!
My favorite DIY play kitchen so far. You all did an amazing job! We’re working on our play kitchen now, and this is very very helpful and inspiring.
This kitchen is AMAZING!! So much better than anything store bought! I love the little details on the side. I pinned it on my pinterest board, along with a few other of your amazing tutorials. 🙂
Could you possibly tell me what the name of that fabric is? I’ve been looking all over for it. Thanks so much for the inspiration! I made my daughter a play kitchen after seeing this one! 🙂
This is awesome, Amy! I’m doing a play kitchen round-up and will be including this. 🙂
Aloha,
Charlie
That is insanely cute. Wow! Love it.
She just started from scratch (a true miracle worker!). I’m pretty sure used MDF for most of it. It’s about 30″ wide by 40″ tall which is the perfect size for about a 2 year old. I’d make it a little taller for older kids
What did your mother in law start out with? a tv stand, dresser or something? i’d really like to know more so we can make one for our son! He loves to cook and this would get his little imagination going!
Aww… how cute. It reminds me of my niece who used to play with her dream kitchen set. It’s kinda sad that she’s not using it anymore. And I this reminded me that I too should save up for my kitchen’s renovation.
You’ve been featured on Fabulousity Friday at Sweet Tea Serendipity. Come check out the post & pick up your award: http://sweetteaserendipity.blogspot.com/2011/09/fabulousity-friday-11.html
This is awesome! My kids would die over somehting this cool. I featured it tonight!
Oh my goodness!!! I’m totally IN LOVE with this little kitchen. It’s the most adorable thing I think I’ve ever seen! 🙂 GREAT JOB!!
I’ll be featuring it this Friday at
http://coffeecupsandcrafts.blogspot.com/
😀
Thanks for linking to TAke-A-Look Tuesday – – I featured you today!
– Mandy, http://www.SugarBeeCrafts.com
This is amazing! I’ve been debating on making one of these for my daughter or buying one…I love the running water!
This is great! I have two little girls that would love this kitchen. Thank you for the sink idea. They love playing with running water.
hey dear it beautiful.. i m stealing ur idea. u give me grt idea for my baby,s birthday gift.
I love this! So cute!!
My sister-n-law and I made play kitchens for Christmas gifts last year. I did a play kitchen spotlight earlier this month..http://bearrabbitbear.blogspot.com/2011/08/wooden-play-kitchen-spotlight.html
Thanks for sharing!!
Melanie
bearrabbitbear.blogspot.com
Running water!! You’re very brave! Cutest kitchen ever!
Oh that is so stinkin’ cute! It looks like it meets her approval as well! Thanks so much for sharing!
I’m totally stealing some of your ideas!
…that is if we EVER get Lucy’s kitchen going…
running water!? Amazing. My son wants one now! We have one that my grandfather made when I was a kid, a bit girly for my boy, but mother won’t let me paint it because HER dad made it.
Anyway, this is amazing and inspirational! Thanks!
This is too cute!
So very cute! I love all the fun home made kitchens. They are so much nicer than the store bought ones.