For quite some time Small's favourite toys have been her tea set and cooking toys and every time we were in a toyshop she would make a B-line for the toy kitchen...
... but they are not budget friendly and I hate the thought of having a large piece of furniture which would have a lifespan of around 2 years.
So we picked up a few bits and pieces from IKEA (their own toy kitchen was a favourite) and we made our very own unique, bespoke and highly adaptable toy kitchen for her.
We based the unit on some small old IVAR shelf pieces from IKEA which had been used in the shed for several years.
1. The shelves had been used to keep tins of paint and suchlike, so were quite scabby. A quick lick of undercoat and satinwood paint spruced them up enough.
2. The utility rail on the back is a IRJA curtain pole
The pole is metal and very strong, I used a hack-saw to cut the pole 2cm longer than the shelf, and used an 8mm drill bit to drill a 1cm deep hole in the very top inside edge of side sections and slotted the pole in (remember to sand down the area afterwards for the safety of wee hands)
3. Using a small bowl as a template I drew 4 circles on the left hand side of one of the shelves for the 'hob' area and painted these with black gloss paint.
4. On the right side we cut a hole with a jigsaw for the sink (a serving bowl, another IKEA purchase) placing the shelf upside down on some cardboard and we secured the bowl from the underside with silicone sealant and left it to dry for 24 hours.
5. Using a sharpie pen I marked a half-line onto some cheap white cabinet knobs and drilled 4 small holes down the left hand side for these newly made 'controls'
6. A final lick of paint and it was time dress it with hooks, a miniature tray and a few storage baskets.
It is now in daily usage, covered with pink teapots, felt biscuits and my old teeny toy tupperware.
Result = Happy Child
:)
Notes:
- The rail is exactly the same diameter as the BYGEL kitchen rail, meaning it will accommodate any of the hooks, shelves and containers that fit on that rail.
- The shelves are fully adjustable so can be raised and lowered to suit the height of the child. (around hip height)
- Only the top shelf has been adapted, the rest of the unit remains as a set of shelves and can be reused when the child/ren outgrows the toy.
- We used what we already had around, so the unit only cost us around £5, many of the ideas can be used with other base units or things you have lying around.
Nitty Gritty:
- I have linked in the post above to all the individual parts you would need to copy this design exactly.
- The shelfs are painted with Crown Satin (for wood) in Pure Brilliant White
- The 'hob' is painted with Wickes trade gloss
- The baskets and tray are also from IKEA, from old stock, but they probably have similar still in stock
- The mini-size brush and mop set are from ELC
This i such a good ides, and much nicer than those awful plastic things you get at toys r us. And you can always convert it back into shelves when she is done with it.
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