{Upcycled Play Kitchen}

I spent the summer watching Chuck play in the kitchen area of our local Children's Museum.  We went weekly in the morning for "member hours", so the place was basically empty giving her free reign of the kitchen.  She loved opening and closing (and opening and closing, and opening and closing) the oven door.  She loved putting things into the refrigerator.  She loved turning knobs, and pretending she was doing something.  Somewhere around August, I decided I would get her a play kitchen for her Christmas this year.

I did a little bit of searching to see what I could find/afford in the vast world of play kitchens. This play kitchen was - more than likely- going to be front and center in my living room.  What I could afford, I hated (sorry pink plastic play kitchen).  And, what I loved, I couldn't afford.  One sleepless night, I was clicking around on Pinterest and I discovered the bold new world of DIY Nightstand Kitchens. 

This was perfect!   I could do this! I went to Salvation Army, found a nightstand, and drew a diagram of how this magical transformation was going to take place.  It was August, so I had four months to make this happen!

And, I did.

I use the term "I" here loosely.  Really, my '"team"* helped me pull this whole thing together in the week leading up to Christmas. And, by the week leading up to Christmas, I really mean Christmas Eve. Secret crafting with power tools is hard to pull off during nap time.  Stenciling at ten o'clock at night is not something I would recommend.  The good news is Chuck absolutely loves it!  She doesn't see the imperfect cuts or the paint smudges.  And that's why I love her.

Here's How I Did It . . .  
1. Find an old nightstand or two
2. Remove all hardware, and sand it down
3. Paint and prime

Here's the fun part!  You can get creative with how you want your kitchen to look.  I scoured Pinterest and blogs for some inspiration.

I painted some wooden circles black  and glued them onto the top of the nightstand for burners.

What REALLY brought this project to life was this awesome set of stencils I purchased at Michaels from Handmade Charlotte and the little details.  I purchased some kitchen utensils to keep in the drawer, and some towels to place on the hooks.  Chuck's aunt gave her a set of awesome pots and pans for her birthday. I have been working on some felted pasta for her for a while.  I absolutely love watching her stir her little felted pasta in her pot!

This is still a work in progress; I hope to one day add an oven door and some knobs for the burners. Maybe one day, we'll even add another nightstand and make a sink.

The other day, I watched Chuck look at the stencils on the back splash  and say "apple, birthday (aka cupcake) kettle, apple", and it made me feel a fuzziness I can only imagine as pride.

 

*Team Shout-Out
Thank you Tracey for knowing how to paint things.  Even when the paint that I have applied that was supposed to go over EVERYTHING decided to bubble and peel off in giant strips of latexy goo.

Thank you John for all the times you said you were going to come over and help Brian.  I don't know if you really helped, but I thank you for giving me a reason to order pizza. 

Thank you Brian.  Thank you for putting up with my crazy ideas.  Thank you for being Chuck's reluctant Elf this year.  Thank you for constantly reminding me that "this is your idea, why am I doing all the work?"  Thank you for making my little drawing on a scrap of paper come to life.

Thank you mom for telling me the story of the thing your dad made for you that you still remember today (even though, I clearly do not remember what that thing was).  You may not realize this, but your story was just what I needed to re-motivate me to finish Chuck's kitchen.