Wednesday, February 1, 2012

How to Make a DIY Play Kitchen Part 2: How to Make the Refrigerator

So sorry for the delay in posting part two of the walk through on how to make your own play kitchen. Big, exciting projects got in the way. Big, exciting, I might get to be on TV kinds of projects! (But I think that's all I can share for now).

All that to say... it just gave you more time to catch up right? Everyone got their entertainment center picked out, primed and painted? Good!  Let's get cracking on the details!
(joining us late? That's ok. Get started with the first post here)

Things You'll Need:
  • If you have a glass door: Primer (and brush or roller you can prime with)
  • Painter's masking tape
  • Magnetic Paint  (I used Martha Stewart's)
  • A paint brush you can throw away
  • A small paint scraper
  • Paint in whatever color you'd like the fridge to be
  • Bar Handle and hardware (I got mine for $4.98 from Home Depot)
  • Drill
  • Package of adhesive hooks (I got mine at Dollar Tree)
  • 2 or 3 wire baskets (I got mine at Dollar Tree)
  • Cute Letter Magnets (Tutorial for how I made mine is here)

Let's Get Started!

Prep
If you're following along with me and left off after the last post, you should have an entertainment center that is primed and painted but missing all of it's hardware. Before you move on to getting the fridge up and running, if yours has a glass door like mine did, you going to need to put primer on only one side of the glass and then re-install it in the door, primer side out. Go ahead and put the hinges back in and re-install the door as well, regardless of what it's made from.

Make it Magnetic!
Every great fridge is magnetic so that's how we are going to make it!

Go ahead and tape off the area you want to make magnetic. My fridge door had a recessed area and I decided to just paint that part with the magnetic paint.

Using the brush you don't mind throwing away, paint your first coat on the door. Warning: This stuff is thick and you'll probably see your brush strokes.

Once the first coat of magnetic paint is dry, you'll want to apply a second coat. This is where that small paint scraper comes in. To help smooth out the ridges from the brush strokes, I applied the second coat with a scraper (think like you're spackling the door...but with magnetic paint instead of spackle).Peel off the masking tape while the paint is still wet.

Once the second coat of magnetic paint is dry, paint your fridge in whatever color you'd like it to end up. I chose white, but you could do a "stainless steel" look, too.

Hardware
Get out your drill and install the new handle. My new handle used two screws (instead of just the one that the center came with) so I re-used the first hole and only needed to drill one hole.

Inside
Now we need to hang the baskets we're going to use inside the door.  I got a package of 9 adhesive hooks and two wire baskets from the Dollar Tree. Make sure you follow the instructions on the package for the hooks for cure time to make the bond as strong as possible.

Extras
That's it for the main part of the fridge!  Now, of course you can accessorize. On the outside, I used the Alphabet Magnets I made when I wrote this tutorial.

On the inside, I started to put empty food packaging like Annie's Mac and Cheese or cracker boxes since I don't have any normal play food made quite yet.

Join us next time for how to install a countertop, sink and stove!

This post is part of a mini-series on how to make your own play kitchen from a re-purposed piece of furniture. The beginning of the series with photos of the finished play kitchen and links to all subsequent posts lives here.

11 comments:

  1. Carissa, was your door glass?? I got one entertainment center with glass door, the glass seems to be sturdy but I am still afraid it is no safe to use glass, or do you think there is not risk? Your kitchen is awesome. Thanks for the inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The door on mine is glass. The glass is sturdy and held in place well. My kid is also n0to prone to thrashing or banging so much so I did not worry about it.

    I would say use your own best judgement based on the thickness/fragility of the glass in your door and how your kid is. It your kid is constantly slamming or banging on things you may want to swap out the glass for a piece of wood or metal.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Carissa! LOVE your kitchen! I'm trying to make one for my girls & I need to put on that 2nd coat of magnetic paint, but Im totally nervous about it....the first coat looks awful!....like I tried to spread gray bubble gum on the door rather than paint :(....Im feelbg pretty anxious about this next step. Any suggestions? Maybe I could sand this layer with a fine 220 grit before attempting the next coat? Still hoping my ultra girly kitchen turns out as cute as yours! :)
    Thanks!
    Jamie

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jamie -

    that's ok! My first coat looked awful, too. Just make sure you're applying with with a paint scraper instead of a paint brush. I would apply the 2nd coat before sanding. Know that it will not be perfectly smooth but will look tons better once you paint it.

    Good luck!

    Carissa

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey Carissa! Ok, so somehow I survived the ridiculousness of the magnetic paint...that stuff is tricky! I'm now in the final stages of our girly girl kitchen & I was hoping you could give me some advice. I know you used VOC free paint & thanks to your blog, I did as well. It was my first experience with it & I LOVE it! No nasty fumes to contend with & no typical paint issues/side effects! :). However, now that I've put in all this time wood-filling, sanding & painting I'm getting worried about how it'll hold up come play time. Is there any way to seal & protect the painted surfaces? Do you recommend doing it? Any advice you can give would be more than welcome! Thanks again! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. So exciting Jamie! Glad you tried out the VOC free paint. My play kitchen as well as the walls in my house are all painted in VOC free paint and I've found it quite durable. Just like with regular paint, if you're planning to wipe the surface down regularly a high gloss or semi gloss paint will wipe down better. I did not put any kind of sealer on and it's held up great for the last 5 months or so. In fact the kitchen utensils I gave him with the kitchen are showing more wear and tear than the kitchen itself which has had it fair share of toddler beatings

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks so much for your encouragement and all the tips in this incredible tutorial! I finally finished up our play kitchen, just in time for my youngest daughters 1st birthday party Saturday, where it got it's big reveal! Although there are still a few minor finishing touches I need to add, and a couple things I need to tweak, I'm totally happy with how it turned out and the girls are enjoying playing in their new kitchen! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is a really cute project. I would try to do this for my kid too when I got time. Our often bonding is painting our garage doors in Perth with anything that she wants.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am so happy to have found your instructions! Thank you! I'm not a typical DIY gal, so I'm wondering if you can help me with a potentially lame question? I like the stainless steel look for a fridge, but is it a special paint, or do I have to look for a sheet of stainless steel and have it cut to fit. Thanks for your help in advance. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am so happy to have found your instructions! Thank you! I'm not a typical DIY gal, so I'm wondering if you can help me with a potentially lame question? I like the stainless steel look for a fridge, but is it a special paint, or do I have to look for a sheet of stainless steel and have it cut to fit. Thanks for your help in advance. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I think you could do either based on the construction of the door. Magnetize it with either paint or sheet metal and then paint the whole thing with steel colored paint (the magnetic paint is kind of ugly by itself....it really needs a topcoat of some kind)

    ReplyDelete

Comments make me happy! Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

How to Make a DIY Play Kitchen Part 2: How to Make the Refrigerator

So sorry for the delay in posting part two of the walk through on how to make your own play kitchen. Big, exciting projects got in the way. Big, exciting, I might get to be on TV kinds of projects! (But I think that's all I can share for now).

All that to say... it just gave you more time to catch up right? Everyone got their entertainment center picked out, primed and painted? Good!  Let's get cracking on the details!
(joining us late? That's ok. Get started with the first post here)

Things You'll Need:
  • If you have a glass door: Primer (and brush or roller you can prime with)
  • Painter's masking tape
  • Magnetic Paint  (I used Martha Stewart's)
  • A paint brush you can throw away
  • A small paint scraper
  • Paint in whatever color you'd like the fridge to be
  • Bar Handle and hardware (I got mine for $4.98 from Home Depot)
  • Drill
  • Package of adhesive hooks (I got mine at Dollar Tree)
  • 2 or 3 wire baskets (I got mine at Dollar Tree)
  • Cute Letter Magnets (Tutorial for how I made mine is here)

Let's Get Started!

Prep
If you're following along with me and left off after the last post, you should have an entertainment center that is primed and painted but missing all of it's hardware. Before you move on to getting the fridge up and running, if yours has a glass door like mine did, you going to need to put primer on only one side of the glass and then re-install it in the door, primer side out. Go ahead and put the hinges back in and re-install the door as well, regardless of what it's made from.

Make it Magnetic!
Every great fridge is magnetic so that's how we are going to make it!

Go ahead and tape off the area you want to make magnetic. My fridge door had a recessed area and I decided to just paint that part with the magnetic paint.

Using the brush you don't mind throwing away, paint your first coat on the door. Warning: This stuff is thick and you'll probably see your brush strokes.

Once the first coat of magnetic paint is dry, you'll want to apply a second coat. This is where that small paint scraper comes in. To help smooth out the ridges from the brush strokes, I applied the second coat with a scraper (think like you're spackling the door...but with magnetic paint instead of spackle).Peel off the masking tape while the paint is still wet.

Once the second coat of magnetic paint is dry, paint your fridge in whatever color you'd like it to end up. I chose white, but you could do a "stainless steel" look, too.

Hardware
Get out your drill and install the new handle. My new handle used two screws (instead of just the one that the center came with) so I re-used the first hole and only needed to drill one hole.

Inside
Now we need to hang the baskets we're going to use inside the door.  I got a package of 9 adhesive hooks and two wire baskets from the Dollar Tree. Make sure you follow the instructions on the package for the hooks for cure time to make the bond as strong as possible.

Extras
That's it for the main part of the fridge!  Now, of course you can accessorize. On the outside, I used the Alphabet Magnets I made when I wrote this tutorial.

On the inside, I started to put empty food packaging like Annie's Mac and Cheese or cracker boxes since I don't have any normal play food made quite yet.

Join us next time for how to install a countertop, sink and stove!

This post is part of a mini-series on how to make your own play kitchen from a re-purposed piece of furniture. The beginning of the series with photos of the finished play kitchen and links to all subsequent posts lives here.

11 comments:

  1. Carissa, was your door glass?? I got one entertainment center with glass door, the glass seems to be sturdy but I am still afraid it is no safe to use glass, or do you think there is not risk? Your kitchen is awesome. Thanks for the inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The door on mine is glass. The glass is sturdy and held in place well. My kid is also n0to prone to thrashing or banging so much so I did not worry about it.

    I would say use your own best judgement based on the thickness/fragility of the glass in your door and how your kid is. It your kid is constantly slamming or banging on things you may want to swap out the glass for a piece of wood or metal.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Carissa! LOVE your kitchen! I'm trying to make one for my girls & I need to put on that 2nd coat of magnetic paint, but Im totally nervous about it....the first coat looks awful!....like I tried to spread gray bubble gum on the door rather than paint :(....Im feelbg pretty anxious about this next step. Any suggestions? Maybe I could sand this layer with a fine 220 grit before attempting the next coat? Still hoping my ultra girly kitchen turns out as cute as yours! :)
    Thanks!
    Jamie

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jamie -

    that's ok! My first coat looked awful, too. Just make sure you're applying with with a paint scraper instead of a paint brush. I would apply the 2nd coat before sanding. Know that it will not be perfectly smooth but will look tons better once you paint it.

    Good luck!

    Carissa

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey Carissa! Ok, so somehow I survived the ridiculousness of the magnetic paint...that stuff is tricky! I'm now in the final stages of our girly girl kitchen & I was hoping you could give me some advice. I know you used VOC free paint & thanks to your blog, I did as well. It was my first experience with it & I LOVE it! No nasty fumes to contend with & no typical paint issues/side effects! :). However, now that I've put in all this time wood-filling, sanding & painting I'm getting worried about how it'll hold up come play time. Is there any way to seal & protect the painted surfaces? Do you recommend doing it? Any advice you can give would be more than welcome! Thanks again! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. So exciting Jamie! Glad you tried out the VOC free paint. My play kitchen as well as the walls in my house are all painted in VOC free paint and I've found it quite durable. Just like with regular paint, if you're planning to wipe the surface down regularly a high gloss or semi gloss paint will wipe down better. I did not put any kind of sealer on and it's held up great for the last 5 months or so. In fact the kitchen utensils I gave him with the kitchen are showing more wear and tear than the kitchen itself which has had it fair share of toddler beatings

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks so much for your encouragement and all the tips in this incredible tutorial! I finally finished up our play kitchen, just in time for my youngest daughters 1st birthday party Saturday, where it got it's big reveal! Although there are still a few minor finishing touches I need to add, and a couple things I need to tweak, I'm totally happy with how it turned out and the girls are enjoying playing in their new kitchen! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is a really cute project. I would try to do this for my kid too when I got time. Our often bonding is painting our garage doors in Perth with anything that she wants.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am so happy to have found your instructions! Thank you! I'm not a typical DIY gal, so I'm wondering if you can help me with a potentially lame question? I like the stainless steel look for a fridge, but is it a special paint, or do I have to look for a sheet of stainless steel and have it cut to fit. Thanks for your help in advance. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am so happy to have found your instructions! Thank you! I'm not a typical DIY gal, so I'm wondering if you can help me with a potentially lame question? I like the stainless steel look for a fridge, but is it a special paint, or do I have to look for a sheet of stainless steel and have it cut to fit. Thanks for your help in advance. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I think you could do either based on the construction of the door. Magnetize it with either paint or sheet metal and then paint the whole thing with steel colored paint (the magnetic paint is kind of ugly by itself....it really needs a topcoat of some kind)

    ReplyDelete

Comments make me happy! Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts.

 
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