Children's Kitchen Set Makeover

Do gold fixtures, subway or Moroccan tile backsplashes and freshly painted cabinets have you dreaming of remodeling your kitchen? Apply your kitchen goals to a much more affordable and attainable platform: your children’s kitchen set! Take the Ikea DUKTIG children’s kitchen set from drab to fab in no time!

There are many children’s kitchen sets screaming for a makeover, for this example we will be using the Ikea DUKTIG play kitchen that retails for $89 + shipping. This reasonably prices kitchen set grows with your child by allowing you to adjust the height of the kitchen with removable and adjustable legs in three different positions. The cooktop offers lights that one be switched on and off to give a realistic glow, just like our kitchen without the heat! It is important to encourage role play which helps children develop social skills by imitating grown-ups and inventing their own roles.

Before

After

In addition to achieving your dream kitchen, there are many developmental skills learned from role playing in young children and their new kitchen will keep them learning and playing for years to come. Children develop important complex social and higher order thinking skills with pretend play. Role-playing is an important part of early childhood development because it helps children to understand each other and the world around them. Children who have ample opportunity to role play gain useful insight and life skills that will help them for the rest of their lives. Pretend play helps children to make sense of the world around them and mimic what they see you doing.

Here are a few of my favorite makeovers:

Supplies for our Children’s Kitchen Set Makeover

If you have recently remodeled your kitchen or other rooms of your house you may find you have left over supplies that can easily be repurposed for this children’s kitchen makeover as you just need a small amount of paint, knobs, vinyl decals, etc. If not, most of these items you may find around your house or with a quick Amazon search. The sky is really the limit, so this is a fun way to let your creativities flow and make choices to reflect your child’s personality.

Rust-Oleum Universal Paint and Primer in one in Pure Gold
cardboard box
drop cloth
painters tape
220 grit sandpaper
small paint roller or paint brush (cabinet smooth foam rollers)
Benjamin Moore Aura Waterbone Interior Primer
Benjamin Moore Aura Waterbone Interior Paint
Minwax 63333444 Polycrylic Protective Finish Water Based,1 quart, Satin
drill and screws to under mount sink
panel for backsplash
clips to hold backsplash in place
lemon wall decals

Steps to “remodel” the DUKTIG Children’s Kitchen Set

1. Design your kitchen! There are many decisions to make when planning your project. Paint or use a decal? Color pallet? Use contact paper for granite, butcher block, marble countertops or stain the existing wood counter? Upgrade or paint your fixtures? Add knobs, handles or other embellishments? Don’t overlook the backside of the kitchen! Creating a lemonade or ice cream stand adds another element of play for your little one. Keep in mind if this play system will be used for younger children you most likely will need to mount it to a wall to prevent it from tipping over.

2. Layout all of the pieces of your children’s kitchen set and confirm that all expected pieces arrived with your shipment. Mock assemble your pieces to confirm which parts and surfaces you intend to paint.

3. Prime and apply two coats of spray paint and primer in one to the desired plastic fixtures. Simplify the painting process by cutting small holes in a cardboard box to accommodate the mounting hardware to keep the sink faucet, handles, hanging rack, adjustable feet upright while painting.

Our Pick: Rust-Oleum Universal Paint and Primer in one in Pure Gold.
Other Options: We love the look of the leather handles used in Hello Hello’s kitchen, or even these 6 Pack Round Wood Drawer Knob 1-1/2″, Unfinished Cabinet Pulls Handles Hardware for Drawer Wardrobe Dresser, by Silverline.

4. Sand, prime, and paint the children’s kitchen set. If you plan to use different hardware than what came with the set that will not cover the existing holes now is the time to fill those in using spackle. Begin by using 220 grit sandpaper and scuff up the surfaces of your kitchen that you plan to paint, this allows the primer to better adhere by providing a more porous surface. Use a damp cloth to remove dust. Apply painter’s tape to block off any areas you do not wish to get paint on, e.g.microwave and oven glass. Once dry apply a coat of primer and follow the instructions on the can to allow it to completely dry. Then apply two coats of paint using a small roller or brush. Sand any runs or blemishes between coats. Once finished painting, apply a sealer to prevent chipping.

Our Pick: We chose to paint all white surfaces Benjamin Moore Aura Interior Paint paint matched to Farrow&Ball’s Parma Gray, No. 27, leaving the birch wood surfaces as a contrast. This is a current paint color obsession, personally it may be too trendy to redo a whole kitchen in as it may one day date the kitchen. But seeing the play kitchen complete is giving me second thoughts!

5. Assemble your kitchen using IKEA’s instructions. We choose to under mount our children’s kitchen sink after painting it white to provide another upgrade/enhancement by centering the sink and using four small wood screws to screw it in place.

6. Measure and then cut a piece of ¼” project board to act as backsplash, apply whatever backsplash you have chosen. We used this window hardware to hold the backsplash in place but allow us to remove when wanting to play with the lemonade stand.

Our Pick: Lisbon Wall Decal, Blue if you love the look of hand-painted Moroccan tile this vinyl decal gives the look of tiles for much less!
Other Options: 10-Sheet Peel and Stick Tile for Kitchen Backsplash, 12×12 inches White Subway Tile with Grey Grout

Other Options

There are so many other options when updating this kitchen. We strongly considered adding a peel and stick marble decal or wood butcher block to the countertops but ultimately decided to leave the wood grain exposed and unpainted. We felt the counters as is may wear better than applying a peel and stick finish our daughter may peel off.

Don’t forget the back! Apply any decals and embellishments for your back to create a lemonade or ice cream stand. We choose to create a lemonade stand by applying these lemon decals from Amazon. We also used vinyl to create custom lettering and a faux awning, using a Cricut vinyl cutter to create this ourselves.

Now that your child has your dream kitchen try not to be envious and enjoy hours of role play. Do not forget to accessorize your children’s kitchen set with other Ikea kitchen items as well as items from around your home. For example, what kitchen is complete without fruit and it is a great way to learn colors, shapes, and names of fruit. This kitchen set is just the right size to keep in your kitchen so your child and you can “cook” dinner together – they will learn so much from imitating you!