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:

 

Well, here’s how it turned out!

 

 

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

 

 

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?

(I participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and other affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites).

 

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.

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

 

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!

 

What to Do When You Lose Your Creative Streak

By all means, consult your Daddy. Otherwise known as GOOGLE, who basically owns you 🙂 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).

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

 

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

 

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

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’…..

 

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.

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.

 

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.

Overall, I would say it was DEFINITELY a successful project!

What do you think?!?!?!

 

 

BEFORE

 

AFTER

 

 

 

 

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

 

I guess someone lost interest….. LOL

Here’s another look:

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

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.

 

 

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!

• How to Make a Backyard Bean Bag Toss
• How to Make a Superhero Shield
• How to Get Kids to Listen and Limit Electronics

 

 

 

 

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