Clara has had her play kitchen for more than a year and a half, and she still plays with it almost every day — a rare victory considering how quickly most toys get abandoned. Play kitchens clearly hold a special place in our hearts, and this handmade version is extra meaningful because Casey and Phil poured a lot of creativity and effort into building it. They don’t have a blog, but they kindly shared their process here:
My husband Phil and I decided to build our daughter Zoey a play kitchen for Christmas. I sketched a design inspired by our own kitchen cabinets and wanted a realistic-looking stove in a cheerful color. Phil is a talented carpenter, so we built the entire kitchen from scratch using scrap lumber from our whole-house renovation and a leftover butcher block from our previous kitchen remodel.
It took longer than we expected, but the finished result made the time worthwhile.
Building the cabinets was straightforward: we assembled basic cabinet boxes, added face frames, and attached paneled details to the sides. Phil built the doors separately and we installed them after painting. The stove was more challenging, so we constructed it in two main sections: the lower painted unit and the upper stainless-look section.
Phil wanted dimmable “burners,” which were our biggest expense but really elevated the design — Zoey loves them. To build the top section, we sandwiched LED lighting between two layers of wood to secure it. We cut two 6″ openings for the coiled LED lights to shine through, covered the lights with tinted plexiglass, and wrapped the top in stainless-look contact paper before fitting it onto the lower unit.
For those who like a resource list, here’s what we used:
- Cabinets — made from scrap wood from other projects
- Countertops — leftover butcher block from a previous kitchen (Lumber Liquidators)
- Sink — small stainless toy sink
- Faucet — toy faucet
- Cabinet knobs — Target
- Cabinet paint — Benjamin Moore Super White
- Stove paint — Benjamin Moore Meadowlands Green
- Stove handle — Ikea
- Stove knobs — small appliance knobs
- Timer — decorative timer
- “Stainless steel” contact paper — Home Depot
- Oven rack — Dollar Store
- Flexible LED neon — LED neon lighting
- Dimmers — inline dimmer switches
- Plexiglass for stovetop — tinted plexiglass
- Wallpaper inside cabinets — leftover nursery wallpaper
We hope you enjoy the project and find inspiration in building a play kitchen of your own. – Casey
Isn’t it wonderful? Zoey is lucky to have such inventive and hands-on parents who clearly enjoy crafting special things for her. Thanks for sharing your creation, Casey and Phil!