Oliver's Toy Kitchen Set Plan

As I mentioned previously, we inherited a kitchen set made by my great grandfather that my mother, my aunts, my sister, my cousins and I played with. I want to fix it up in time for Oliver’s birthday. Right now it’s definitely showing its 60+ years of age after living in a damp basement for at least a decade.

Overall, it’s in great shape, which definitely speaks to the quality and skill of my great grandfather’s work. The only thing truly damaged is the linoleum on the counter, everything else is just cosmetic or needs minor repairs.

So here’s my overall plan for the kitchen set (excuse the bad photoshop job!):

First and most importantly - paint. I’ll be sanding down the whole thing and adding a fresh coat of bright white enamel paint, inside and out.

I actually tried to see if I could salvage the linoleum counter (more on that tomorrow), but in the process I destroyed it beyond repair. I’ll be replacing the original linoleum with sheets of mini tiles (at the suggestion of my grandfather) which I think it will look really good.

Since I have to replace the counter anyway, I decided this was also the right opportunity to modernize the cabinet a little bit and add a sink and a faux faucet. This is the biggest change I’ll be making to the cabinet since it requires cutting a hole.

The cabinet door on the right side below the sink will get a fun new knob in a bright color.

On the other side, I want to rehang the cabinet door as an oven door but putting hinges at the bottom instead of the sides (so it opens top down). The original knobs would make perfect dials with a little paint (they need cosmetic help anyways) and I’ll add a drawer pull as an oven handle. I also plan to add a metallic paint square as a faux oven window to finish the effect.

On the counter above the oven, I want to add two faux stove burners that won't be attached. I'll paint them to look like burners for cooking, but I want him to be able to move them around so he can also use half the counter for other things.

Inside I just plan on making a few minor repairs and repainting everything with a fresh coat of white paint. I’m also toying with the idea of painting the backsplash of the upper cabinet a fun color, but I think that will depend on what looks good with the tiles we choose for the counter.