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Before & After: An IKEA Play Kitchen Makeover to Match the Home’s Gorgeous Blue Kitchen

Cullen Ormond
Cullen OrmondHome Associate Editor
Cullen Ormond is a writer based in New York City. When she’s not writing, you can find her curled up with a book (always open for recommendations, too!) or pushing her rescue pug, Peanut, in a stroller. In her dream apartment, there’ll be a conversation pit and lots of framed,…read more
published Oct 25, 2023
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white and wood kids play set with built in microwave and black stove top

When Beach and Michael Silver moved into their light-filled, one-bedroom apartment, it wasn’t just their physical home that had all the perks. Their location, which is in Park Slope in Brooklyn, was ideal for many reasons, like being near transportation and being situated on a landmark block.

“The stoops of Park Slope are basically one big revolving toy and book swap,” says Beach, which is how she came to own the IKEA DUKTIG play kitchen that Beach found on the sidewalk. “We found the play kitchen discarded on the street (gotta love Park Slope). I saw it several days in a row on the walk to daycare, and finally, on trash collection day, I caved and rescued it,” she says. (The DUKTIG play kitchen is one of our favorite wooden play kitchens, we should add!)

When Beach first brought the play kitchen home, she was worried that they didn’t have the “visual space” for it, but she looked around her space for inspiration. And what better room to turn to than the kitchen? At the time, the couple’s kitchen was undergoing a renovation, so Beach used their adult version as a blueprint to help the toy blend into the surrounding space. 

Credit: Erin Derby
Credit: Erin Derby

How to Update an IKEA Play Kitchen To Mirror the Adult Version

Beach admits that remodeling the IKEA play kitchen to match their regular kitchen was “relatively straightforward.” If this idea inspires you, here’s how she did it: 

  1. Remove any parts you don’t want (for example, Beach “ditched the bulky upper half”). 
  2. Sand, prime, and paint the cabinets. In Beach’s case, she used leftover Benjamin Moore’s “Blue Danube” from their kitchen renovation.
  3. Swap out the hardware. The couple used Restoration Hardware knobs and pulls in the home’s kitchen, but Beach found a similar option from Wayfair for the play set. 
  4. Make unique adjustments. Beach spray painted the faucet gold, replaced the sink basin with a metal pan that was spray painted white, and replaced the shattered range with a wooden alternative. 
  5. Apply peel-and-stick wallpaper to the cabinet interiors for “a pop of color.”

With a bit of ingenuity, Beach transformed a once-abandoned toy into a sentimental, gorgeous, and useful play set for her daughter, Cece. Now, when the parents cook a delicious meal, their kid can follow along in her kitchen. But the updated play kitchen isn’t the only sentimental renovation that’s taken place in the Silvers’ home. To see more of their space, visit the full house tour on Apartment Therapy. 

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