Khloe's Play Kitchen :)

Ever since Khloe was born I've been all about starting traditions- mainly Christmas traditions.  I have things I remember from when I was little that we did ever year and Chris has the same from his childhood.  We've taken a few from each family and also added a few of our own to carry on with Khloe and future kiddos.  One of the things I wanted to do was make Khloe something homemade every year for Christmas.  I just want her to know as she gets older that we didn't just go to the store at the last minute and hurry and pick the last thing on the shelves.  I want her know that on at least one of her gifts, we put real effort into it and took time just thinking about her while we worked on it... It's gettin' cheesy 'round here... better just get to the DIY part...

Through the past year, Khloe has shown a real interest in cooking... even though she's just 1.  Every time I cook, she literally gets mad if she's not on my hip helping.  So, when we started thinking about what to make her for Christmas, the choice was clear... a play kitchen!!  I knew I wanted to make it out of a cabinet, so I went to the Habitat for Humanity Restore and picked up this little beauty for $5.

Oh yeah, she was a looker.  Plastic doors, missing handle, cobwebs... yep this little lady was the whole package, but she was begging for a makeover.  

We started by removing the doors and cleaning everything really well.  Then I sprayed it with Krylon Fusion spray paint in glossy white.  This paint boasts that it will bond to plastic, but it's also good for wood, metal, etc.  I sprayed everything white except for one door.  I went with silver on this door because it would eventually be her oven door.  Once everything was good and covered (it took around 3 coats of paint) I sprayed the whole thing with clear coat to help protect it. 

When Chris reattached the doors, he attached the left one back in it's original position, but he attached the right one at the bottom so it would open like an oven door.

To make the counter top, we bought a plain board from Lowe's.  Chris routed the edges so they weren't sharp or splintery.  He then cut a whole in the top for the faucet and the bowl for the sink (which was just a small mixing bowl).  

We really wanted the look of a real counter top, so we painted it with Rustoleum Stone textured spray paint in Pebble.  If you've never used this type of spray paint, let me just say- coolest.stuff.ever.  The first coat looks like you just splattered a few chucks of something on it, so I was a little worried.  But, as we put more and more coats on, it started filling in and it's just awesome.  After it was covered and dry, we put a coat of clear coat on this to give it a smoother feel. 

After it was all done, we glued the bowl for the sink in place and installed the faucet (without connecting water of course).  Then came time for the finishing touches.  

New handles.

Knobs for the stove.  I used small wooden disks from Michael's that I painted black and wrote on H, M and L on for High, Medium and Low.  Chris installed these loosely with a bolt and nut so she can easily turn them.

For the stove top, I bought a wooden plaque from the craft section at Walmart and sprayed it the same silver as the over door.  Then I added some painted details to it with black paint.  Chris glued it in place with wood glue.

A chalkboard on the side.

Add some cute kitchen accessories and we're finished!! 

We had it sitting in the family room on Christmas morning when she woke up ( I may or may not have been more excited than she was).  She loves it.  She plays with it every day and I know it's something she will continue to play with for years.

Since she's still a little shortcake, we have a step stool that she uses to play with it.

Later on I plan to add a shelf inside for more storage and I would love to actually cut out a square on the oven door and install some plexi-glass.  But for right now, it's finished :)

-Brooke