IKEA MINI KITCHEN MAKEOVER

Hi friends! I’m so glad you’re here! This is a project I’m super excited about and it’s one I have been wanting to work on since my daughter was born.  I had dreams of us playing kitchen together and now they’re finally coming true!

Interested in knowing who’s writing this post? Here’s a little bit about me and what we believe. And if you’re into it, come say hi on Instagram! 

So we have been in the market for a good play kitchen for some time now and this ikea mini kitchen stole our hearts.  Last week, in a providential kind of way, Grace was gifted one as a hand-me-down and I was thrilled!  The kitchen was in great shape and super cute and just had a few scratches. I wanted to spruce it up a little and really make it our own so we spray painted a few parts, added a simple backsplash, a over-the-sink light and an oven light! It turned out much cooler than I had imagined!

Here’s the before picture

• First thing we did was take the kitchen apart including the hardware and the removable legs
• We taped off the oven window, microwave and the inside of the stove to prevent any paint from getting on it
• We spray painted the bottom half of the kitchen with rust-oleum satin granite
• The countertop, sink and outside of the stove was sprayed with rust-oleum semi-gloss white
• The hardware and right side of the upper cabinet was sprayed with rust-oleum flat black. (we opted for spray paint because it’s a bit cheaper and it took less time to dry

• We screwed this LED countertop lamp to the bottom part of the top shelf so Grace could have great visibility while she slaved away in the kitchen

pss…still reading? Great! Check out Grace’s last DIY project and if you’re up for a good laugh check this motherhood in real life post!

• The kitchen has an open back, which makes it really easy to assemble.  We thought it would be really neat to add a backsplash. Initially, we thought of doing a peel-and-stick tile splash but we couldn’t find one that did not require grout work.  Ale found this panel that was cut to fit the back and we nailed it to the back frame.
• We opened a small hole at the top of the backsplash to run the light cord through the back.

• We added a small battery powered LED light so she could “turn on” the oven
• We finished it off by writing out the menu (with white chalk) on the right side of the upper cabinet and added a few succulents to decorate her kitchen

That night, we reassembled the kitchen and lit it up in her room.  We called her in to see it and she loved it! She jumped on us and squeezed our necks!! It was priceless!!

The paint was still a little wet, so we told her that she was not allowed to play with it until morning.  I promise you that I have never seen this little girl put herself to sleep faster than she did that night. It was a wonderful surprise for all of us.

These days, you’ll find her in her kitchen… making chocolate cookies and fish soup for all of us to enjoy.  Call me crazy, but I might use this kitchen as an inspiration when it’s time for us to spruce up our own kitchen.

*Update- we totally used this kitchen as inspiration for our own kitchen renovation. Check it out here!