TUTORIAL - UPCYCLED Kids play kitchen from old tv entertainment center

https://www.facebook.com/SavvyUpcycleTreasure/posts/984686408212242
I have made 2 of these types of Upcycled kids kitchens over the past few months & my kids begged to make them one.  My kids questioned me when I told them it was for us to keep, "Really, its staying here? You're not selling it? You're not taking it to the store?"  LOL:)
The total cost was probably $50 or less for all the supplies:) The total time I have into it was about 6 hours.  
 
The first step is to find an old solid wood entertainment center - I never work with MDF/fake wood, it doesn't hold up, it's harder to paint & let's be real - it looks ugly.  I spend $8.49 on this one at Goodwill.  Free is my favorite but they are a lot harder to find then you think, I need a very specific size to haul it in the back of my truck.

I then add caster wheels to the bottom.  I am always changing - rearranging my house and this was a VERY solid, heavy piece so to make it easier to move and for when I wash the floors.  I found a bunch of small wood screws and drilled them on the bottom:

wheels added on the bottom to move easier

I then moved the hinges on one of the smaller front doors to make it open like a stove/over.  The hinges that were on it didn't fit on the bottom so luckily I had some that fit perfectly from a hutch I did (this is why people who upcycle/repurpose don't throw stuff away, we save it knowing it can most likely be used again).  So I took the old hinges off that were on the side and moved them to the bottom of the door (our kitten approves as you can see) :

you can see the wood grain is different and the hinges on the bottom of the door

see the door hinges on the bottom of the door on the left and on the side of the door on the right

 The hardest decision I always make is picking out the color combos for anything i paint.  I wanted this kitchen to be for both my girls and my boys to play with so I didn't want to paint it too general specific.  I found this set of dish towels and oven mit for $10 new off a local facebook garage sale page.  I found that the towels fit perfectly on the back of where sink/microwave/stove top where so I based my colors off of the towels. 

$10 dish towels and oven mit, my color scheme:)

I then took the "oven" door off again along with the big side door so I could paint them easier.  The glass on the big side door also had to be taken out  &  so i could cover it in a paintable wallpaper.  I start the painting process by painting the inside of the door blue and the outside cream - notice I didn't paint the entire bottom panel/square on the door because that was going to be covered the the paintable wall paper too.  

inside door painted blue

this is the "oven" door, the outside is painted cream

glass taken out on the top and bottom isn't fully painted, that is where the wallpaper will be cover

I then cut out the pieces of paintable wallpaper to cover the panels on the refrigerator and stove doors.  As with all wallpaper, you have to soak it and let it sit for a few minutes before applying.  It takes 2-3 hours for the wallpaper to fully dry. I then painted the wallpaper black and put a white wax over the black to have the pretty designs pop and to make it look more like a stainless steel silver color.   I also added matching handles to both doors to give it a more a real kitchen feel. 

wallpaper drying on the glass

wallpaper painted solid black before I brushed on the white wax

the completed look

added new handles

screws on back of handles

 I then started painting the inside of the all the doors in pink.  I had my 9 year old daughter help paint the inside of the refrigerator, she did a great job! I also painted everything else in a pretty aquq/mint color.  I added 2 coats of paint to everything  (actually I think I did 3 coats of pink)  I always use a chalk powder that i add to my latex paint that already had a primer mixed in.  With a chalk powder or a chalk-like-paint it eliminates the need to prime before you paint and it dries really quick. 
I also used a few coats of polycrylic to seal the paint, its low odar, water based, and dries super quick. 

inside the doors pink, everything else in an aqua/mint color

what i use to seal the paint

I painted the shelves that go on the inside of the refrigerator in the same blue that i used for the inside of the doors.  I painted all 3 shelves, top and bottoms.  I eventually only add 2 of the shelves in the final product but the 3rd can be added if the kids think they need the extra storage.

refrigerator shelves painted blue

Now is where i needed to grab more tools.  I found the sink in the pet section and the faucet both at Walmart.  I had to drill double holes for the faucet, it came with a plastic piece to help map out where to drill the holes.
You have to make sure you map out where the sink and faucet will be going they both line up and fit properly on the wood...but make sure the faucet isn't too far back so it gets in the way of the back paneling (my pretty dish towels).  Yes I learned that I hardway on the very 1st kitchen upcycle I did:(

deciding where the sink and faucet will go

drawing/mapping out for drilling the holes

For the faucet, we drilled the holes using a big drill bit.
For the sink, we have used a huge saws-all to cut the round hole in the past.  Everytime we used it we cut out side the lines because the blade was too big and powerful for the tight curves on the holes and the tiny space we were cutting.  The way I did it was much more time consuming but I knew it would cut the circle properly.  (Santa bought me a jig-saw so we will be using that for drilling the sink holes for future kitchen upcycles I do!)
Sink - I drilled tiny holes every 1/4", used a small hand saw to cut the circle going through the holes & sanded the sides to make the edges smooth. 

the faucet holes drilled. The sink holes where I drill every 1/4 inch

using the handsaw I cut through the drill holes & sanded the edges. 

I plopped on the sink, I didn't use any adhesive because I drill the hole just a teeny-tiny smaller then the actual dish so it would fit snuggly without the risk of popping out.  I screwed on faucet.


 I then colored the stove top "coils".  I found these corkboard circles at Ikea. they were the perfect size and prize.  I just used a permanent marker end just color in a circular motion.  I adhered the cork circles to the wood using nails.  

cork circles from Ikea & I colored the coil-like design with permanent mark

i nailed them on to the wood

 For the oven knobs, I used these sink plugs, they were also from Walmart.  I turned them upside down, flipped the rubber stopper piece upside-down because it made a better gripping surface for the the kids to spin when pretending to turn on the burners.  I again used nails to adhere them to the wood.  Make sure the nails aren't too long as the can go all the way through the wood and the kids can scrap their hands when playing underneath. 

sink stoppers turned into oven knobs

flipped the sink stoppers upside-down and adhere them to the wood with nails

The back paneling/splash was up next.  For that i used the $10 dish towels i found, I hand my husband help me to aline them so they were straight.  I used my staple gun and adhere them.  

The backsplash, dish towels and staples

I added a microwave to the kitchen. We found this microwave at a garage sale over the summer. I adhered to the top and sides to make sure it was strong and sturdy.  I couldn't screw it through the back because there wasn't a board behind it.  I also added a tension rod and hooks for all the pots and pans, the kids really really like that idea!  It can easily be removed but I think they all like the was it neatly organizes. 

screws added to the top and side. 

microwave and tension rod

 

tension rod and hooks for pots, pans & lids

 My Kids love their new kitchen!!  I love all the pretend play:)  Underneath the stove top and sink has been the hiding place of choice of the last few days whenever the kids play hide-n-seek, so that's another bonus:)

I also added this white and polka-dot knob to the door