First, I want to preface this post with the fact that kids are gross.
But seriously… G R O S S.
Ok, got that out of the way. We’ve had this kids play kitchen in our playroom since Ella was two or three I think. And it’s seen better days… There were scratches, pen marks, crayon markings, food, dust, grime, and the microwave door was falling off. It didn’t look bad from far away, but if you got close you’d think kids are gross too. And it’s my fault for not cleaning it up on the regular, and allowing my kids things like pens, crayons, and tea parties. What was I thinking?!
KIDS PLAY KITCHEN REDO
But I’ve had this removable wall paper forever. I was going to use it in Ella’s room as an accent wall, but was one roll short so I instead used it on her KURA bed that needed a little sass. It’s from Opalhouse and is no longer available, but here’s a few other Opalhouse options if you think you might want to tackle a bed, a wall, or even a kitchen like I did.
I also had some other contact paper options from other unfinished projects and since I had all these things just lying around, I figured it was time to tackle that darn play kitchen. I’ve had an idea for this kitchen in my head for some time now. Most people on Pinterest seemed to paint the kitchens, but that seemed labor intensive — like having to take the entire thing apart and rebuild. That was not happening.
DIY
So while Olive napped this weekend, I did it.
First, you’ll want to clean the entire kitchen. Again, Gross.
Take off all the hardware from the play kitchen and anything that was going to be in the way. The only thing I couldn’t remove was the sink and that proved to be a nuisance later.
USE WHAT YOU HAVE
Then I honestly just winged it. There’s always a more scientific way to do most of my projects, but when you are working with “I hope the baby doesn’t wake up in the middle of this,” you do whatever you think will be quickest. Hold up the wall paper to the doors, mark with your fingers where to cut, and ALWAYS used the sharp edges of the paper to line up along the door.
It turned out to be pretty easy. Make sure to line up how you like, and then go around the door with an xacto knife to trim it down. Poke holes where the screws would need to come through to reattach all the hardware, and I even tried to cut around the white screws so the paper would lay flat. Some of those areas are quite imperfect.
I ended up doing the fridge, freezer, and cabinet portions. I didn’t want it to be too overdone.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
The butcher block looking paper, I had laying around, and used it for the counter. This area isn’t done amazingly, but again, working with my timeline and wanted to get it done. The end of the counter is rounded and getting a straight smooth edge at the end was not in the cards. But I think it turned out pretty good and honestly you can only tell if you get up close. The sink area also proved to be a little complicated. I tried to find a wrench to remove this, but I couldn’t find the right size and again, timeline, so I just cut as best I could around it. Again, it’s perfectly imperfect.
Please note… This thing still needs Magic Erasered for all the marks on the parts that weren’t covered…
I ran out of nap time, but am so happy with how it turned out, I couldn’t wait to share!
EASY KITCHEN UPDATE
Overall, I love that it blends with Ella’s room and brings a little funk to the kitchen itself and the playroom.
We decided to make over the little IKEA table we have too. This thing has seen WAY better days…
But it was an easy shape and almost the exact width of the roll so very little trimming was needed.
I used the exacto knife on it’s edge and ran it across the edges of the table and that worked out just fine!
It gives the table an entirely differently look…
And it’s totally wipe-able!
All you need is contact paper or removable wall paper, lysol wipes, xacto knife, and about 2 hours.
I did it while watching a Stranger Things episode so honestly it could have taken less time!
This is a project you can totally tackle!
And you’ll be glad you did.
The plain old KidKraft Kitchen is now an added piece of art in the playroom!
Leave a Reply