Any suggestions for a play kitchen?

[kdeno]

I would love a wooden one but I am afraid they are probably out of my budget. Any recommendations from the hive?

 

Thanks :-)

 

Kari

[abbeyej]

My kids had one from Target about 8 years ago. It was mdf with wood accents. Not as nice as the beautiful Pottery Barn or Waldorf-style wooden ones, but cheap (mine was on clearance and *really* cheap, but even full price, they're pretty affordable), and it actually did look very nice. We had ours for about three years before we gave it away when we moved (and I regretted giving it away so much! My kids *still* play kitchen all the time!)... It didn't hold up quite as well as one of the more expensive kitchens, but it did serve us well considering the price.

 

Each year Target seems to have a new version of the (partially) wooden kitchen, and I often see them on sale for about $50 (maybe with a list price of $70-80).

[fshinkevich]

Right now Melissa and Doug's wooden kitchen is on sale for 99.99 w/ free shipping which is equivalent to plastic kitchen prices:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Classic-Deluxe-Kitchen/dp/B000GYUYC4/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1229313254&sr=8-3

 

Reading reviews it seems like its a nce kitchen but with a LOT of assembly required. I am going to purchase this one for my DD's bday next month:

 

http://www.amazon.com/KidKraft-53181-Large-Kitchen/dp/B0017JBR6O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1229313340&sr=8-1

 

(at one point it was on sale for 119$ so I hope the price drops again!, I knew I should have grabbed it when I saw that!)

[CalicoKat]

Kmart and JC Penney both carry the same wooden "My First Kenmore" play kitchen stuff. They run about $99. But you probably can catch a sale or use a coupon. I picked up the stove on Black Friday for $79.

[Momto5]

I don't know if you'd be interested but have you considered purchasing a wood marketplace instead of a kitchen? We have had both and the market has been played with more. I think the reason is that the market can be a kitchen, a grocery store, a book store, a library, a restaurant counter etc. The kitchen was only a kitchen.

 

There are 2 styles of markets. One style can be found here: http://www.constplay.com/family/default.htm

 

Another style has 3 sides and the child/children step behind the counter. Blueberry Forest makes 2 of this kind of market but I know I have seen them for as little as $140 elsewhere.

 

If you purchase a marketplace, you can purchase a stovetop that sits on top of the market counter to make it look more like a kitchen. (The other idea is to cut circles out of cardboard and stick them to the counter with sticky gum (this is our inexpensive preferred method) )

 

Good luck.

[KIN]

I bought the Melissa and Doug kitchen for my dd for Christmas this year. It is so cute put together!! The $99.00 price from Amazon is lower than I've ever seen it!

[fshinkevich]

I bought the Melissa and Doug kitchen for my dd for Christmas this year. It is so cute put together!! The $99.00 price from Amazon is lower than I've ever seen it!

 

 

Kathy, did you have any of the problems I read about on Amazon? Like a 4 hour assembly time, and things not lining up properly so new holes needing to be drilled?

 

I was going to get that kitchen but after reading reviews I was going to go with the Kidkraft. You are right about the price though, so I'm thinking maybe I will just take my chances.

[bettyandbob]

I would look at a children's consignment shop for this. The consignment shop in my town sells some really nice stuff.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

:iagree:

 

We got our little girl the Target kitchen 1 1/2 years ago (for her second birthday). It was $59.99 (full price). It's still holding up well (nothing has broken), and she plays with it regularly. The family gave her lots of wooden food and melamine accessories to go with it. She loves it!

[abbeyej]

BTW, here's what I did for dd in our new house, so she could have a kitchen in very little space... There's a little built-in shelf (built back *into* the wall) in her room. So I used free AOL CDs to be the burners on the stove. For a sink, I attached a cute bowl to the shelf. I've seen others actually cut a circular hole in a shelf and set a rimmed bowl down into it to make a cute sink, but I just set ours there (and tacked it down with poster putty or something). Then for the faucet, I used a very simply overdoor hook (like this one) turned upside down. Any simple drawer pulls can be handles for the faucet.

 

Then next to the shelf, I installed a couple of bars from the Ikea Bygel series and hung some of the small baskets (for various cooking supplies, wooden food, etc) on them. I also used the hooks for hanging toy spoons and spatulas that had holes for hanging as well as pot holders and an apron.

 

It turned out really cute, takes up virtually no space in their room, cost very little, and has been very well loved.