Sunday, May 26, 2013

From Old IKEA Cupboard to Children Play Kitchen

I've been wanting a children play kitchen for a very long time. I think I wanted one even before I had kids. But not a lame, plastic one, but a nice wooden one. One that looks almost like the real thing.
When my mother in law says she dismantles the top part of her old wooden cupboard (that was bought, mind you, some 40 years ago, in a store you might have heard its name before - IKEA - when it was still something only known in Scandinavia), I knew I'm going to use it to finally build my kitchen.

upcycled cupboard into children play kitchen
This is the Before picture, Obviously...
I thought A LOT about how exactly to do it, drew a few sketches and even made a small ceramic model for inspiration.
ceramic model of play kitchen

ceramic model of play kitchen



ceramic model of play kitchen

And after I had the sketches and the model, and I knew what I wanted more or less, and decided on the colors (suitable for him and for her), it was time to start building it.
I found a piece of plywood on the street and used it for the back of the kitchen. I sawed the the original shelves and sides, to make the shape more convenient for play, I dismantled one door and sawed a window for the oven on the other and my husband helped saw a round hole for the sink, that is actually a metal bowl. Then I sanded and painted and got this...

upcycled cupboard into children play kitchen

The stove is made of old CDs covered with black tape...

upcycled cupboard into children play kitchen

To hide the mess, that I knew we're going to have, I sewed a cute little curtain for the lower shelves.

upcycled cupboard into children play kitchen

On the side I screwed together a cute knob, on which we hang the kids' aprons.

upcycled cupboard into children play kitchen

And of course, since I am me, after all, it's been over a year since I finished most of the work on this kitchen, and there are still some things to do:

The window of the oven is still open. It's time to buy Plexiglas...
The oven still needs a handle. Luckily I still didn't fix the Plexiglas, so the kids can open the oven at the opened window...
It still needs knobs for stove and oven.
And a tap...
A rod to hang above the stove / sink, for the kids to hang their kitchenware.
I already bought chalk paint, but still haven't painted the side of the kitchen, like I wanted to, for shopping list and messages.

In spite of all these unfinished parts, the kids love to play in this kitchen and even let mommy play along...


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66 comments:

  1. That is so awesome..I love it very cute!

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  2. aww! That is soooo cute!! I've seen models like this popping up in Pinterest, but I really like what you did with yours!

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  3. You made a small ceramic model for inspiration?! How cool are you?! I love BOTH diys, the model and the real deal.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier! So great to "meet" you.

    Warmly,
    Lauren
    The Thinking Closet

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  4. Thanks Lauren, you made me blush... :)


    Tal

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  5. That is beautiful! Amazing job!

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  6. This is adorable! I love that you made a ceramic model first. Your kids are lucky. :)

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  7. So cute! It turned out fabulous!

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  8. Your play kitchen is SO adorable! Great job coming up with all of that! :-)

    ~Sarah

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  9. Love the little kitchen! Thank you so much for linking up.

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  10. Very cool... my girl's would have loved that when they were younger. You did a great job. I'm featuring it in the PoPP Spotlight this week. Thanks for linking up!

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  11. I used IKEA hook RIGEL (upside down) for a tap.

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  12. I love this! I've been obsessed with play kitchens lately. Yours is awesome!

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  13. It's fabulous! I'm a little jealous, and my kids are 15-22. I won't be playing in any play kitchens for a while. I'll have to keep this in mind for the grandkids. It really is wonderful.

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    1. Thanks! I'll tell you a secret, I think I wanted this kitchen more than they wanted it... Go ahead and make one for yourself :)...

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  14. Very Cut! My girls would love this kitchen! Love the details. Stopping by from SITS.

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  15. Wow, that is amazing! Great imagination!

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  16. I love IKEA. There stuff is already multifunctional but also easy to hack into whatever you want. Stopping by from SITS :-)

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    1. I love hacking IKEA's stuff :) Thanks for stopping by!

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  17. I don't know which one is better--your ceramic model or the actual kitchen! Great job--boy, your kids are lucky to have you as a mom to make this! I would have loved this as a kid. Great job!

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    1. Thanks Nicole! I would have loved this as a kid as well :), maybe that's why I made one for them... My fantasy now is a DIY wooden playhouse...

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  18. Amazing work! Love the attention to detail. I mean the ceramic model is great too!

    Happy SITS Day!

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  19. This is absolutely adorable/incredible! I think it looks perfect just the way it is, and I'm sure your kids do too :-)

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    1. Thanks Bev! They really like it (although I still hope to finish it one day... ) :)

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  20. This is so much fun!! I love this. Such a great job!!!

    Enjoy your SITS day!

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  21. Okay, Tal. You are SUPER creative. It looks amazing! I love IKEA.. their stuff is so versatile and affordable. Hope you have a terrific SITS day. I'm gonna follow you on Bloglovin'!

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    1. Thank you so much Seana! I hate going to IKEA, but I do love their stuff...

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  22. This is amazing! I love to upcycle too! Happy SITS day

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  23. Love this! I wish I was brave enough to try!

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    1. Thanks! You should try! It was time consuming, but it wasn't hard, it's not like building the whole thing from scratch. That's what I love about upcycling!

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  24. That turned out amazing. You can't even tell you made that kitchen. Looks like it was store bought.

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  25. That is amazing! I see projects like this and I would love to try to do it. But I know I don't have the patience for it. Over from SITS

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    1. Thanks! You should try it! It's ok if it takes time! I almost never do one-weekend-projects and I'm always working on more than one project at the same time, that's what I love about DIY projects :)

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  26. Great job!!! To think that my mother spent close to $300 on a play kitchen for my daughter. I love it. Enjoy you SITS Day!

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    1. Thanks! Isn't upcycling great (and cheap...) ? :)

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  27. You should have your own toy company! Wow, what a beautiful job! And you did a ceramic mold that looks as good as the finished project. Impressive. Visiting from SITS

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    1. Thanks Anna!!! I'm blushing now... I once wanted to be a toys designer, I love toys!

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  28. What an awesome kitchen!! And what super lucky kids that have that for creative play!

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  29. That's such a sweet little kitchen. I love that you made a ceramic mold first. Your kids are so lucky to have a crafty mom!

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  30. This is SO cute! Thank you for sharing and Happy SITS Day!

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  31. This is so cute! Love how you are recycling and reusing. Happy SITS Day to you! Following on Twitter and G+

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    1. Thanks! I love recycling Y& upcycling :) Following you back...

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  32. Oh my gosh, it looks SO professional, you did an AMAZING job, even though it's not even done yet (or is it now?)
    You are so inventive, I would have never thought to use a metal bowl for the sink OR CD's for the stove top. I so want to make one of these now for my little one! Pinning this now!

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    1. Thanks Marianne! Unfortunately it's not done yet, but I'm still hoping I'll get to it one day... If you search DIY play kitchen on Pinterest, you'll find tons of great ideas.

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    2. Ah so true! But yours is still extremely creative and adorable. I pinned it so save it for later :)

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