A little do it yourself fun

Around Christmastime, the kids started asking for a kitchen to play with.  We had one when we lived in Philly but the legs broke and honestly, I was sick of that bright red, blue, and yellow thing.  I was happy to leave it behind when we packed up our stuff for California.  I started looking around for something that would be a bit more pleasant to look at and also fit in with our decor.  We have an open floor plan, which means that the kids toys are in the same room as our living space.  I looked everywhere for something that I found remotely appealing.  I found a few cute wooden ones on various sites, but most were meant for only a two year old.  Elizabeth is only growing taller and Mason is getting taller by the second so a small toddler height kitchen would not do.  I begged Tommy to craft them one with this elaborate guide that I found from Home Depot, but it just was too much work and since I spent so much time trying to find the perfect kitchen, we were really running out of time to get this done before Christmas came.  I kept wishing I could find some sort of hutch or dresser that I could transform into a kitchen for them.  Thats when I found it.  The perfect height.  The perfect style and with plenty of storage for their "food."

Unfortunately I do not have a before picture, but you can imagine from this what it looked like.  It seems like it was meant to be used for bathroom storage but it makes a great play kitchen.  We did not have to do much to it either.  We had this metal bowl for ages and never use so it became the perfect sink.  We cut a hole and slipped it in.  The "faucet" is a pump soap dispenser and is a great size for little hands.  Since it was Christmas time, trees were being sold everywhere.  Tommy had the idea of asking if we could have two of the cut pieces of the bottom of a pine tree to use as the "burners."  The turn switches are dresser knobs.  When we were finished I was nervous it wasn't enough.  We should have crafted a stove or switched the baskets out for more of a microwave or oven feel! Well within the first 5 minutes of playing with it, Mason said "Ellie put all the cold stuff in the fridge over here (the white cabinet door), and this drawer is the oven, and under this is the microwave (referring to both baskets)."  Never underestimate your child's imagination.  Sometimes less really is more! Im just happy that the kids love it and we don't mind looking at it every day :)
Hope this inspires you to see more out of that old dresser, chair, or cabinet.  You never know what it can become with a little love!
xxoo
K