There’s something so special about little girls playing make believe. Watching them create their own little world is so incredibly sweet. I’ve been looking into play kitchens for about a year now and never found one that I absolutely loved. And honestly, they can be so expensive
I’m part of a Facebook group for my neighborhood called “Buy Nothing, Sell Nothing.” These groups exist in so many areas, so I highly recommend checking to see if your neighborhood has one! One day, someone posted this old play kitchen and said it still had plenty of life left in it. I thought, it’s free… maybe I can give it a little facelift!
I wanted to brighten it up and modernize it a bit! It had great bones, but the colors were pretty drab and honestly just not enticing for playing.
I took a picture of the kitchen and threw it into ChatGPT. I told it I wanted to use creams and greens and update the hardware. After using ChatGPT to help decorate my own home, it is pretty familiar with my taste at this point!
The picture below is what ChatGPT came up with for my inspiration:
And the best part? The entire project cost me under $100! Since the play kitchen itself was free, I was able to give it a completely new look for a fraction of what I would have spent buying a brand new one.
Here’s everything I did:
Step 1. Prep
I removed all the existing hardware, took off the doors, burners, curtain and clock. I then lightly sanded everything down.
I didn’t go too crazy with this part because I kept reminding myself that this is, in fact, a play kitchen. It didn’t need to be absolutely perfect. If you have toddlers, I’m sure you know how quickly toys eventually end up looking very loved.
Step 2. Paint
I went to Home Depot for most of my supplies.
- Green paint – 1 Quart of Behr Sage Brush (semi-gloss)
- Cream paint – 1 Quart of Behr Nice Cream (semi-gloss)
- Top Coat – 8 oz Satin Clear Fast Drying Water-Based Interior Polyurethane
- 1 small roller crush
- 1 small hand brush
- Paint tray
- Paint tray inserts
- Fine-grit sanding sponge
I did about 3 coats of paint for each piece. I potentially did one more coat with the cream color as I was covering up grey. After the paint was dry, I went over it with a top coat. This gave it a slightly glossier finish and made everything nice and smooth to the touch.
Step 3. Hardware and Smaller Details
For the pull handles, knobs, faucet, burners and sink I used spray paint. I got this exact can from Amazon! I laid all the pieces on cardboard in my front yard and went to town! I waited a couple hours for them to dry and then flipped them over to get the other sides.
Once everything was completely dry, I put it all back together.
And then it was time to show James! She couldn’t have been more excited. Noah was also looking forward to using it because he loves to play pretend cooking, too.
The Grand Reveal…
This was such a fun project for me. After the kids went to bed at night, I’d work on it in the garage with the door open. I’d play an audiobook or podcast, or sometimes just enjoy the quiet neighborhood. It was honestly so peaceful and gave me a chance to tap into my creative side.
Painting is also a pretty therapeutic way to decompress after spending all day with toddlers!
But what I love the most about this is the love and thought that went into it – Picturing James playing with this kitchen for years to come.
And when she has friends over and they ask where she got her play kitchen, she can say, “my mom made it.” :’)
That makes all the time and effort worth it.
I hope this inspires you the next time you see something on the side of the road that looks a little rough to give it a second chance. Sometimes all it needs is a little paint, some creativity, and a lot of love!
XO,
Kassie
