We've featured some amazing play kitchens and we love them all. But a gasp may have escaped our throat when we saw Pilar's exquisite diy kitchen that looks like it belongs within the pages of House Beautiful (or on the Kitchn, of course!).
Although this stunning play kitchen cost a bit more than some, it's sized perfectly for Pilar's daughter Remy (remember her colorful room?) and is a design feature in its own right in their home. We asked Pilar more about how this play kitchen came together:
The main structure is a hack of an unfinished plasma tv cabinet. I based the dimensions off of a PBKids kitchen, allowing for a little more height due to the fact that my child is a giant. Seriously, people ask if she’s 3. She’s not even 2!
For two years I have contemplated what I could do with the beautiful scrap of Carrara marble sitting in my garage. Well, I finally found a way to reuse it! I had hoped this would be more DIY, but my partner isn’t too keen on me handling major power tools. I knew that a pro would have to cut the marble for me and luckily our incredible handyman had the right saw to do the trick. He also helped with all the wood cutting and building up the top of the kitchen.
A friend cut the tile and I created the backsplash with a simple adhesive, no grout needed. The backsplash is made from SUPER inexpensive marble subway tile from home depot, applied with acrylic adhesive. A friend cut them and I applied them in an hour. The oven door was made from the shelf that comes with the tv cabinet. I had a hole cut and I added stainless steel contact paper and modern steel handles. There's a spring hinge inside to prevent it from falling or opening too quickly.
Resources
Purchased items:
• Unfinished plasma tv cabinet, ($299 - purchased)
• Steel handles from local hardware store, ($30)
• 3 packs marble subway tile from Home Depot, ($18)
• Faucet from eBay, ($20)
• Stainless steel contact paper from Amazon, ($20)
• Oven knobs from local hardware store, ($22)
• Burner grates from local hardware store, ($34)
• (Cake pan) sink from Surfas, ($20)
• Stick n click lights from Bed Bath & Beyond, ($8 with coupon!)
• Paint for Oven - Benjamin Moore Black, ($6)
•Assorted screws, hinges, anchors, and adhesive from Home Depot
Reused items:
• Marble for countertops - previous owners left it in garage after remodel
• Wood for backsplash, shelf, hood, and cabinet door panels - extra wood from a shelf project
• Cabinet paint (Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron) - leftover from master bathroom
• Cooling/oven rack- from momma’s kitchen
Wow! Thanks Pilar!
(Images: Pilar Valtierra Photography)






Ercol Bar Stool
That is just gorgeous! I wish I were handy enough to make one of these for my daughter!
Wow. Okay, this is thee coolest play kitchen I have ever seen! I would almost swap my real kitchen for this one! And I can relate to the giant-child; my daughter isn't even 11 and she's already 5'6"! MY height!
wow, that is unbelievably impressive!! What great ingenuity!
10x nicer (and maybe even bigger) than my kitchen - sigh
What a lovely paint color for cabinets.
Yeah, that's much nicer than my real kitchen.
http://thesweetest3.com/
I am so impressed, I wish I saw this before we got the Ikea one as this is so much nicer.
Well done!
Have you used the Stick n click lights from Bed Bath & Beyond inside the oven? I have been considering something similar, maybe with a motion sensor so it came on when he put stuff in the oven.
There should NOT be a play kitchen that looks this much better than my real kitchen. So jealous!
I actually did gasp. Fantastic!
Gorgeous!
Oh jeez. But where's the kitchen island? This kid's getting gypped. Whatever! I'm jealous too!
Amazing play kitchen--but, really, the total cost (even with the reused items) was close to $500!!! I am surprised that I am the only one here who is shocked by the price tag. I don't think I'm overly frugal when it comes to my child's toys and will pay extra for high quality European toys, but I would have rather spent most of the $500 towards a 529 plan.
Its so unbelievably gorgeous i can't sqwak too much about the price tag, I believe i see a pink kiddo ghost chair off to the side in the first photo so this is obliviously affordable for this family. All of these ideas could be done for less with more DIY, but either way. However, if they can store it this thing will last, and it wouldn't be unreasonable to re-sell it for even more than it cost to make.
I'll say it again, nicer than mine, lucky kiddo!
I love that there is actually a picture of the child playing with the kitchen--most of the other (wonderful) play kitchens don't have any pictures of the kiddos!
While the price tag is high, it's just too cute! And better that $500 spent on something wonderful that will build her imagination and motor skills than on sugary crap...
:)