Susan Teare, Joanne Palmisano
To make a toy kitchen, you will need:an old entertainment center; base paint, white paint and brush; painter's tape; a sander with medium grit sandpaper; wood screws (various sizes); finished nails; hinges metal hooks; a spring curtain rod; kitchen cloth or cloth; a used faucet; a metal bowl with a lip for the sink; 10 to 12 feet of black rope; a picture frame for the window; silver spray paint; stove knobs; luan or plywood for refrigerator door, stove door and back; cabinet hardware; a drill and bits; a tape measure puzzle; scissors; and a hot glue gun.
These types of entertainment centers were very popular in the 80's. We found this one at a charity thrift store. There's probably one just like it at your local thrift store.
If the shelving unit has an open back, create a solid back with plywood. Measure the opening and then cut the wood to size. Apply a coat of primer to the plywood and allow it to dry before fastening it to the unit.
You may be able to find an entertainment center with a tall cabinet that can be converted into a refrigerator. If not, determine the size and location of the refrigerator and freezer. For our cabinet, we had to remove one of the lower cabinets to accommodate the large appliances.
We made our refrigerator and freezer doors out of a piece of luan. Each door was cut to size. The two inside corners (non-hinged side) were cut into a curve to give the appliances a vintage 1950s look. The luan was sanded and primed. Hinges and magnetic door catches were added, then the doors were hung in place.
We also use luan to create an oven door. After the wood was cut to size, a primer was applied. To make a window in the oven door, painter's tape was used to mark a rectangle in the center of the oven door. The inside of the rectangle was painted silver. When the tape was removed, black paint was used to make a border around the silver rectangle and horizontal lines across the rectangle.
Measure the "countertop" to determine what size to make the stove and where to put the sink.
Use the metal mixing bowl as a guide to mark where the sink will sit. Use a drill to start the hole just inside the line, then use a jigsaw to cut out the entire hole.
Make sure the hole is the right size for the bowl to sit on its rim.
To make the stove, a piece of plywood was cut and then spray painted.
Sand the entire piece to prepare it for painting. Cover the oven window so it doesn't get painted. Let dry and then apply a second coat. When dry, attach the plywood piece to the stove with wood screws.
On the refrigerator side of our kitchen, we applied four light coats (allowing us to dry between each coat) of chalk paint to create a message board.
A scenic landscape in a pretty blue frame hangs over the sink to make a kitchen window.
A dish towel was cut in half and taped around a spring-loaded curtain rod. The rod was hung high on the back, over the "window".
The black string is glued on a coil to mimic the look of an electric stove burner.
In order to fit a pot in the sink, our second hand faucet was mounted on a block of wood.
Either glue the stove knobs in place or screw them in from the bottom so they can turn.
Susan Teare, Joanne Palmisano
Add hooks to hang cups, towels, and kitchen utensils.
