Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Ladybug's 2nd birthday present: TV unit to kitchen conversion!

Soooo how better to launch myself back into the blogging world than to tell you about our very cute TV unit to kids play kitchen conversion! 

...Yes, yes, I know, you can buy these things at the shop without all the effort BUT where is the fun in that? 

We decided to do an upcycle for several reasons: 
-To recycle some furniture which lets face it, will never be used again (hello flat screen TV's)
-To not support supermarket giants and mass production of plastic toys
-To create something unique and from the heart for my daughters birthday
-To save money (in total we spent $60 on bits and pieces) and to create something of more neutral colours which will blend in well with our lounge room (considering it will probably sit here for the next few years!) 
-To utilise some of this creativity inside me which I love using 

So, to kick things off I put out a plea on Facebook for an unused TV unit and we ended up with this


 Perfect! It was exactly what I was after and the colour meant that we didn't need to sand/polish/paint anything :-) it was even on wheels which made moving it around much easier! 

Next I gathered all the items I needed and organised for my daughter to be looked after one Sunday so  Mr Ladybug and I could do the project all in one go without her seeing (thanks Uncle Ben!) 

Mr Ladybug removed the glass door on the left and began sizing the laminate chipboard for the fridge 


I painted the wooden coasters and knobs for the cooktop 


After that I painted the oven 


And my husband started on the sink 


Mr Ladybug attached the hinges and the door handles


Meanwhile I covered the backing in wrapping paper and then clear contact. Sorry no pics here as it was very fiddly to try to make sure there were no bubbles or creases, but I'm sure you get the idea. Just like contacting books, only bigger! 

We then nailed the backing to the kitchen and were ready for the finishing touches! As finishing decorations I created a little window with curtains by putting a scenery photo in a wooden frame and then adding some curtains (a cut up blue $2 shirt, bunched together with ribbons) which I secured to the backing with some Velcro strips, stuck some animal wall decal stickers on the front and right hand side and used foam alphabet stickers on the fridge to make it look more 'fridgey' I decided on 'Yum', 'Bah bah', 'Oishii' and 'Delisciouso' which all mean yum in assorted languages (English, Farsi, Japanese and Spanish) 

Want to see the finished product?




Ladybug loves it! :-)


What I bought extra: 
- 1 piece of MDF board for backing
- 1 piece of white laminate chipboard for the fridge door 
- 2 door handles for oven and fridge
- 4 wooden coasters for cooktops 
- 4 wooden knobs for cooktop 
- 2 magnetic clips for door closure on oven and fridge 
- 4 new hinges for fridge and oven doors
- Wrapping paper for backing 
- Photo frame for the window
- Cheap t shirt for curtains (fabric would be cheap too but I wasn't near any fabric stores!) 
- Wall decal stickers to decorate 

What I already had at home or was given to us: 
- Unused TV unit! (thank you Mr & Mrs W) 
- Silver spray paint for the oven 
- Black paint for the oven and cooktop
- Silver salad bowl for the sink
- Silver tap (thank you Mr H) 
- Pretty photo for the scenery (thanks Mum & Dad) 
- Wooden placemat used for cooktop 
- Clear contact to protect the backing 
- Ribbon to tie the curtains 
- Foam letters to decorate the fridge 


18 comments:

  1. That is the most amazing creation! I would love to make something like that for my son but we just can't seem to find the time!

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  2. This is incredible! My husband is a handy man and needs to do this!

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  3. This is fantastic. I love all that storage space. It's got more space than my own kitchen- ha ha!
    My favourite though are the foam letters on the fridge.

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  4. What a fantastic play kitchen!! I bet your little one is having fun with this, I particularly love the little sink :-)

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  5. Wow amazing, it's so realistic... That'd be any little girls dream come true & I can't wait until Miss Cherub is older so I can do something like this

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  6. What a transformation! It soooo much better than anything you could buy from the shops and it will last too.

    I was totally nodding my head when I read this too. 'To not support supermarket giants and mass production of plastic toys!' Very true!

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  7. This is so cool! You are very clever :)

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  8. oooh that is so cool! I love the little chickens on the front!

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  9. What a wonderful transformation. Your little girl is going to create so many happy memories playing in this kitchen that you and your husband created for her. Elise @ Creative Play Central

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  10. This is fabulous! What a wonderful kitchen and a great use of something that wouldn't be used otherwise!! My dad has been buying tv units like this off eBay for usually less than $1 to recycle the timber!! I might have to commission him to do something like this!

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  11. What an adorable kitchen! Plenty of storage space too and you are definitely right about it being far more special than a factory made version from one of the market giants.

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  12. Oh that is absolutely gorgeous! Can you make one for our house? xx Danya

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  13. What a fantastic upcycle project...you both did such a good job! Loved all your steps...think I might try one for our verandah play area, thanks for all your lovely inspiration!

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  14. wow, wow, wow! What a sensational kitchen.

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  15. Wow what an awesome project, and so useful too!

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