Clark's DIY Kitchen

Joe and Lindsey were our neighbors. They were great and we got along with them perfectly. They moved this past July and I cried a little. Lindsey knows I am a sucker for free stuff so she gave me an old bathroom storage cabinet and said "I'm sure you'll find something creative to do with this." It sat in the garage FOREVER. Then I saw Clark standing next to it and it resembled a mini refrigerator. At that moment a tiny light bulb went off in my head!

Clark loves playing in the kitchen, we spend a good portion on the day rummaging/rearranging cabinets and disassembling the contents of the fridge.

So, I came up with the idea to build a play kitchen so he could destroy that rather than my kitchen. I looked on craigslist for a night stand to make into the oven and sink portion since I was already gifted the fridge portion. I spent $30.00 for it. After that, the next two months have been spent looking for free, or nearly free, items to assemble the rest of the mini kitchen.  The final result is what I claim to be AMAZING.

The glass jars are horseradish and jelly jars from the real fridge, I got the faucet for free from Lowes--I'm not too proud to ask for free damaged goods--the sink is an 8x8 cake pan we already had, I found the shelf in a scrap wood pile from our old neighbors--Joe really liked to wood work, I think he was practicing his dove tail technique--

We already had all the hooks/screws/nails and some knobs. The lobster towel is an old friend from the real kitchen and the baskets were a clearance find at 1.00 each. If you're keeping score that's 32.00 so far.

The W knob was a $.29 find at Micheal's and most of the play food was from Matt's little sister's play kitchen growing up. Fisher Price lasts forever, or at least for 28 years--and counting.

oops, missed a few spots painting.

The reason I was OK with spending 30 bucks on a single nightstand was because it came with a built in oven! There was a door that already opened down, with a glass inlay and a chain to hold it up. That would have taken us forever--ok not ever--to construct.
 

What fridge is complete without magnets?  $.25 a piece at JoAnn's.

Clark's unhealthy obsession with cats forced me to incorporate a framed kitty wearing a sweater. The frame was one that I had in my junk drawer and the kitty came from Matt's birthday card--from Clark of course.

So you can see what I mean, this is Clark watching the Meow Mix commercial--the world stops when I show him a kitty.

The paint was 14 dollars, but in my defense, I did look on the Miss-Tint shelf for weeks for a dark blue. Total cost was $46.79, which is so much more than the ones I have seen all summer at garage sales, but this one was made with LOVE--well, love, along with my creative mind and Matt's tools and constructive labor.

The only thing I didn't take into account was how HUGE the sucker is. The kitchen, not the fat boxer--who incidentally has gained over 10 pounds since Clark has been eating all solid food (hummmm). Not sure where its permanent place is going to be yet.

Colie