KidKraft play kitchen makeover!

My DIY makeover of a KidKraft play kitchen! Here I will share my process with tips and resources, in case you’re thinking of tackleing a project like this.

     There is rarely a time when I find an item that is exactly what I want right out of the box. More often than not, I see certain aspects of different pieces and wish they were together as one. Then I try to come up with how to modify one or make one to replicate the idea in my head. It has taken many years and lots of self reflection to be content with something not being exactly what I wanted. I have learned that, sometimes it’s better to settle for “good enough” in order to save my sanity. With all that being said, choosing a play kitchen for my son was NOT one of those times!

I knew from the start that I would be changing some things and personalizing it. There was a whole process of choosing which kitchen would be right for him (and by him, I mean me). You can read about that in my review of the kitchen, to come shortly. But this post is about how I transformed it into what you see above! If you don’t want to read the review and just want to know the model of this kitchen: It’s the Kidkraft Ultimate Corner kitchen in white. The price on the white one seems to flucuate quite a bit for some reason, but I just kept checking on it and got it for $159. 

     Had I not had such specific must haves, I would have just bought a used play kitchen locally. In fact, I enjoyed this project so much, I may still do that! (I love taking something that has been well loved and breathing life back into it.) People (my husband for one) may think it absurd to buy a brand new thing only to change almost everything about it. Maybe that’s true, but I am who I am! Hahaha! For real though, I had misgivings as well, but after seeing the finished product I would do all over in a heartbeat!

Getting Started

         This kitchen comes in two finishes: all white and espresso. I chose the white thinking that since I was painting it, it  would be easier versus trying to cover up the darker color. The first thing I did when it came it was check off all the pieces on the packing list to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. Then I made a list of the pieces I would be painting.

Next you want to sand everything you’re going to paint. I made the mistake of not sanding the plastic pieces…learn from me. Sand EVERYTHING! Sand the wooden pieces until the surface is no longer shiny. You can just scuff up the plastic pieces.

Painting

    I highly recommend using spray paint for this project. I didn’t. However, that is because spray paint is getting weirdly scarce in my area. Pandemic problems, according to the sales associates. I knew I wanted a navy blue for the bottom cabinets. No navy blue spray paint to be found. So I went to my stock of paint samples that I accumulated while trying to choose the right exterior color for our 1930’s Craftsman. 

I ended up choosing Naval by Sherwin Williams for the kitchen project. And the little paint sample jar was just enough for what I needed to do. The reason I reccomend spray paint though, is because regular paint WILL NOT stick to that shiny surface of the wood. So this requires more sanding than if you spray painted.

Countertops

The countertop transformation was my favorite! It also caused me the most grief. LOL! It took me 3 times completely recovering the sink countertop to finally get it right The paper kept getting bubbles in it even after I meticulously laid it down, smoothed it out and used a heat gun. It would look perfect, then I would come back a little while later and the bubbles were back! Finally, I noticed that the counter had a slight texture. Duh! I needed to sand it. That did the trick and, as they say, Third time’s the charm!  So my motto for this project is “When in doubt, sand it out!” Haha!

I used this contact paper and absolutely love it. I ended up ordering 3 different colors because I wasn’t sure which color would look best and they are only about $6 a roll. I’m glad I did though because the dark one I was leaning toward has a peachy undertone. The other two colors can be found here and here.

For this part you will need:

• Contact paper
• Scissors (they will get sticky)
• Box cutter/razor blade (make sure it’s sharp!)
• Heat gun

You will cut out the general shape leaving about 2 inches of overlap.

Backsplash

The backsplash board on the white kitchen is originally gray subway tile. Which is….okay, but it could be better!  You have soooo many choices for stick on backsplash. I didn’t want to get too expensive though, so I went with this marbled hexagon pattern. It turned out beautifully! One of the big questions I had when ordering was how much would I need? I ordered the tile at the same time as the kitchen, so I couldn’t measure. Well, turns out, a pack of four 10in x 10in tiles is perfect! You’re welcome. You actually only need 3, so the fourth one is just a back up!

Major Changes

I made two major changes to this kitchen that I want to mention. I made the washer into a plain cabinet and I made the microwave smaller, which added a little shelf space.

My son already has a vintage little tikes washer and dryer that I scored at a Salvation Army for $20 bucks, so he didn’t need that part of the kitchen. It’s set up kinda weird to be a washer anyway. So I painted it and covered the hole. I was going to have my husband cut me a small piece of paneling to go over the hole, but I found an old wooden puzzle that was the perfect fit, so I just wood glued that baby on and called it good! I will eventually also add a shelf since it’s just a big open space.

As I was looking at the microwave space, I realized that there’s a lot of wasted space there. So I decided to use the piece that has the buttons on it as the side of the microwave, it fits perfectly. I just painted over the buttons with the same spray paint I used on the microwave door. The hubby helped me secure it in place with a couple of extra screws (extras come with the hardware!) and voila!

Final Verdict

I LOVE the way this makeover turned out! I also love the fact that KidKraft supports diy projects on their products.

There are still a few things I want to do it, but for now I’m just going to let it be! Let me know in the comments if you have questions or even tips if you’ve done one yourself!