Entertainment Center Made Kitchen (Play Kitchen)

Play Kitchen from Entertainment Center

Here is the entertainment center before and after. As you can see in the pic my dd had already started putting things in there from me telling her to clean her room. Do the rest of you have the problem of kids putting things anywhere so it appears their room is clean?? lol

I saw a post on a play kitchen like this on Pinterest and knew I had to make one for my dd. I also decided to try out several products as well as making my own chalk paint for this. 

The laminate had some damage on the top. 

So I removed that first.
Look for my post on the desk for
an easy way to do this.

I then painted it with the paint I had bought for other projects for this room without adding anything to make it chalk paint. The paint was an all in one primer and paint so I had thought it would be ok. Yet, this is what happened after painting it with the all in one primer/paint. 

So I purchased the primer that I had heard so much about on Pinterest primed it. Amazon has it for $13.99 with free shipping if you purchase $25 or you can get free 2 day shipping if you are a Prime Member (which I am) on some items.

I decided to try the chalk paint this time, that I have been reading and hearing so much about, instead of going straight paint. I found several different recipes for chalk paint using several different things to make it with. Cindy with Cottage Instincts has a VERY GOOD post talking about all of the different chalk paints at ::My Honest Opinions on Chalk Paint and Wax::  including the ones you buy as well as make. She also has a pic comparing each on a plywood board. Now she uses the second step to most tutorials on chalk paint by using wax. 

If you have read any of my other post and/or about me you will notice one thing is a constant, I am cheap. Not to the point of leaving out/off something that is needed, I will also pay more for a better product. Yet, if I can do the same thing with the same outcome for less I will. If you have priced Annie Sloan's or any other chalk paint it is very expensive. The wax is as well.

Instead of using wax I use Min Was Polyacrylic. Polyacrylic seals your piece.
I use several coats for items that are used a great deal like this as well as pieces
I make to sell (BeYouBeYounique.com is under construction now!) Polyacrylic
doesn't yellow, bubble, smell, it isn't temperamental like polyurethane, and it is for
 acrylic paint so you don't have the clean up and it dries fast! I am able to put a
second coat on it in 30 minutes! I have used one half-pint on this, the buffet/china
cabinet, desk, armoire, side table, coffee table, dresser, and headboard and I still
have about a quarter of it left.

    **REMEMBER** If you are using an oil based paint you have to use Polyurethane!!

I made my chalk paint with unsanded grout. It is inexpensive, you can buy it in small amounts, and it is easy to work with. I mixed 2 tablespoons to a cup of paint. Most people say to add water, yet I like it thick. With it thick I am able to only do one coat. See below for the non sanded grout I used. Amazon has it for less than a dollar!

I liked painting with the chalk paint so much I have painted 3 other projects with it. I used a sponge brush on part of it and another part with my purdy brush and for the first time in my life could not tell a difference. It also only took me one coat to do the entire entertainment center! I did see brush marks when it was wet, yet as it drys you start seeing them disappear. By the time it was dry you could not see any with either brush. This made me a believer in using chalk paint. And making my own at that! Painting this I only used 4 tsp's of unsanded grout out of a pound, it goes a long way!!  

(see pictures of painting with the sponge brush vs. a purdy brush below)

Painted with a Purdy brush

Painted with chalk paint using a cheap sponge brush

I also gave magnetic paint a try on this. I painted the 'refrigerator' door with magnetic paint. I read everything I could find on this about the best way to use it and how to make it work. I found if I kept it mixed really well and put on 3 coats it works pretty well. Some magnets still will not stick to it but most will. Now how it magnetizes the paint is by having small pieces of metal in the paint, this leaves what you paint it on very bumpy. I used Rust-Oleum.

The magnetic paint leaving a bumpy finish made me glad that the silver metalic paint that I inherited from the last people that lived her had gotten to the point I usually throw it away. It had some 'good' paint left in it but also had several clumps. I used a paint stirrer to put the "clumps" on  and spread them evenly into the paint. I then sanded lightly, being careful not to remove the metal pieces.

If you are not lucky enough  to have 'clumpy' paint you can use wall putty/spackle mixed 1:1 with water to thin it out. Spread it evenly over the area you want to smooth making sure to get it very thin just enough to bring the surface area up to the height of the metal. After it dries go over the area lightly with a wet cloth to get coating off of the metal pieces, then allow to dry again before applying paint. 

  




I also used the magnetic paint on the side of the kitchen but did not smooth it out since I didn't feel that part would look bad from it. After the magnetic paint I added black chalk paint on top of that so she can draw on it as well as stick her 'orders' on this side.





I removed the hardware from the bottom right drawer and put in news paper and tape to protect the glass from getting paint on it, I only do this when I am not sure how difficult the paint will be to scrape off, because I was using the same silver metallic paint. Trying not to get the clumps this time . I then frosted the inside of her door with Rust-Oleum frosted glass spray paint I had from another project, I wanted a square area about 2 inches in not painted so I taped that part of the window off first. I then found a stencil I liked, taped it onto the window in several places so it wouldn't move around while I was working, and scraped off the spray paint from the open areas with an exacto knife. I did not like the hardware that was on the door or that it was placed on the right, I wanted it on the top like an oven and for it to match. I had a different pull in black and spray painted it chrome. I then had to make holes for the new pull to fit. I used painters tape to mark where the holes are on the hardware then moved the tape to the door and drilled the holes out with my dremel. Not thinking about this before painting, I had to go back and fill the old hardware hole with putty and paint over that.
 

  

To make the countertop I did a faux granite finish. This is very easy to do, just find 2 or 3 colors you like, thinning them some so they will not dry as quickly giving you time to work the paint and blend it in some areas. 

I looked everywhere to find the best things to use for the sink, faucet, and burners. I ended up using a stainless steal bowl, a real faucet that I found at the thrift, and furniture movers painted flat black for the burners.  I found where I wanted to place each of them, put the bowl on it's spot upside down drawing a line as close as I could. I then used a jigsaw to cut it out just inside of my line after making a hole with a drill to start cutting. I did the same thing for the faucet pieces that go under the sink instead of removing them. And used E6000 to glue the burners down.

After making curtains out of left over fabric, beaded trim, and fabric glue and adding stick on cabinet liner to the refrigerator shelves and the lay on type on the 'pantry' shelves here she is finished. 

All of the named products on this post with pictures, the pictures are links to that product page on Amazon to make it easier. I bought all if the things mentioned on this site from them saving A LOT of money!!!

Remember, Be You, Be Younique!!!