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BEFORE & AFTER: DIY Wooden Play Kitchen Makeover

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I don’t do very many furniture makeovers for kids, but when I do, like this cute little DIY wooden play kitchen makeover, I love it! Usually, with these pieces, you can be a little more whimsical and adventurous, right?

When I picked it up from the thrift store, this ugly little wooden play kitchen looked like this:

Wooden play kitchen makeover - BEFORE - Thrift Diving.

 

Well, here’s how it turned out!

 

Wooden play kitchen makeover - AFTER - Thrift Diving

 

I strongly feel that boys can play with wooden play kitchens, too, right?

 

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - AFTER - Thrift Diving.

 

It’s actually a slight miracle that I pulled it off and that I like it so much, because I was >THISCLOSE< to scrapping the whole project!

But I’m sooo glad I hung in there.

 

DIY Wooden Play Kitchen Makeover

The “red” and “blue” came from some girl’s outfit that I saw about 8 months ago at a family naming ceremony. I’m sitting there sipping my wine and in walks this girl wearing these brilliant blue pants and blood red shirt. AHA! Inspiration!! I discreetly snapped a pic of it, but for some reason, I can’t find the pic to show you. Grrr………

When I discovered this awesome Annie Sloan Emperor’s Silk, I knew this would be the red that would bring my inspiration to reality! Mixed with Napoleonic Blue, and I’ve got a recipe for major cuteness.

Related: What’s the Best Paint For Furniture?

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Emperor's Silk Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

This wooden play kitchen was a bit more “expensive” than a similar wooden kitchen makeover that I did for only $2.50, but heck–$7.00 is still an awesome price!

First thing I did was remove the years of nasty stickers that accumulated, with my awesome HomeRight Heat Pro Deluxe II heat gun. That thing is awesome.

Wooden play kitchen makeover - DIY furniture makeover - BEFORE - Thrift Diving

Then I sanded it down a bit. I normally don’t sand, but this surface needed it.

Wooden play kitchen makeover - BEFORE - sand it down smooth, then paint. - Thrift Diving

 

But I’m not kidding when I say that I almost scrapped this project when I first painted it and saw it looked sorta like Papa Smurf! HA!

 

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Painting it red and blue. - Thrift Diving.

What to Do When You Lose Your Creative Streak

By all means, consult your Daddy. Otherwise known as GOOGLE, who basically owns you šŸ™‚ I knew it needed some “oompf” so I Googled “red” and “blue” and suddenly, I kept seeing these nautical-themed outfits. I realized that I could do a nautical theme and totally rock this piece! I don’t think I have seen a nautical theme kid’s furniture. So…why not??

So I pulled out my Silhouette Cameo which cuts vinyl that you can use to make stencils very easily (amongst many other cool tricks I have yet to discover).

BEFORE1_nautical theme wooden play sink.jpg
Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Use a Silhouette Cameo to create stencils. - Thrift Diving

Next, I cut out some anchors to use as stencils on the front.

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Use a Silhouette Cameo to create a vinyl stencil. - Thrift Diving

 

The stencil worked really great! You just have to be mindful to get it on there properly.

 

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Paint over a vinyl stencil. - Thrift Diving

….because if you don’t, the vinyl ends up a warped piece of crap you can’t use. šŸ™‚ And vinyl ain’t cheap! It sticks to itself like you wouldn’t believe!

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Vinyl sticks to itself. - Thrift Diving

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Stenciled anchor on furniture. - Thrift Diving

No Time For Perfection!

Next, I outlined the anchor in red. Sorry, I didn’t get pics of it, but I basically just free-handed it. I wasn’t too happy with the free-hand results, but you know what?? I’m not perfect. And I’m not going to pretend that my projects are, either. In fact, I wanted this piece to be a little “DIRTY” and not-quite-so-precise.

I decided to add white paint trim all along the edges on top and then use dark wax to muddy it up a bit. Who needs crisp perfection?

I showed a friend of mine preliminary pics of the project, and she had the nerve to point out faults! (Did I mention she’s not crafty ONE BIT??).

‘Nuff said. Keep it movin’…..

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Apply dark wax to age furniture. - Thrift Diving

 

I really wanted to pull in some rope somewhere, so I decided to just add a little bit to the side, to hold a DIY dish towel.

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Add rope to the side. - Thrift Diving

Next, I decided I would DIY a little dishcloth to hang from the rope. So I pulled out my trusty Silhouette Cameo again and cut out a sailboat to use as a stencil. Then I stenciled some boats onto a scrap piece of cloth.

 

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Vinyl stencils. - Thrift Diving

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Stencil on fabric - Thrift Diving

Last, but not least, I painted the handles a cleaner red (not shown) and painted the plastic sink bucket that goes inside the sink. It was pretty worn.

BEFORE1_nautical theme wooden play sink.jpg
Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Painted bucket. - Thrift Diving
Overall, I would say it was DEFINITELY a successful project!

What do you think?!?!?!

 Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Nautical theme play kitchen for kids. - Thrift Diving

 

BEFORE

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Nautical theme play kitchen for kids. -BEFORE - Thrift Diving

 

AFTER

 

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Nautical theme play kitchen for kids. -2 Thrift Diving

 

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Nautical theme play kitchen for kids. -AFTER - Thrift Diving

 

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Nautical theme play kitchen for kids. -AFTER 2 - Thrift Diving

 

And all I had were Trader Joe’s Black Beans! HAHAHA.

 

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Nautical theme play kitchen for kids. -AFTER 3 - Thrift Diving

I guess someone lost interest….. LOL

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Nautical theme play kitchen for kids. -AFTER 4 - Thrift Diving

Here’s another look:

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Painted nautical theme play kitchen for kids. -AFTER - Thrift Diving

And then my boys made me breakfast….BEANS and CHEERIOS. How sweet it that??

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Kids playing with play kitchen. - Thrift Diving

And who cares if the two projects don’t match? When you’ve got 3 cute boys playing “cooking” with Cheerios, nothing else seems to matter.

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Kids playing with play kitchen 2. - Thrift Diving

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Painted DIY play kitchen - Thrift Diving

 

Wooden play kitchen makeover from the thrift store - Painted DIY play kitchen for children. - Thrift Diving

 

My oldest son must like it because he asked me, “Mommy, you’re not going to SELL it, are you?”

So what do you guys think?!?! Do you like it?

Check out these other DIY projects for kids!

DIY Backyard Bean Bag Toss Tutorial - Thrift Diving

 

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60 Comments

  1. That’s just so cute Serena and I agree boys should be allowed to play in the kitchen too. That’s what makes them the greatest chefs in the world šŸ˜‰

  2. Love the pirate vibe, super cute! The colors compliment eachother so well šŸ™‚

  3. Deborah Prather says:

    That looks great! The nautical theme is too cute. Wonderful!

  4. Alys Milner says:

    What an adorable transformation!

  5. Love this, you did a great job!

    What color is the blue paint?

  6. Colleeen Busch says:

    What an amazing transformation. I love it!!! You did fantastic work.

  7. What a lucky find! You turned it into something beautiful wow very nice!

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