inspired by several posts about play kitchens here
based mainly on this post with help from this site
I wish I could say that this project was easy or fast, but alas, it was extremely challenging and took me almost three months to complete. I have a little woodworking experience, but felt like an absolute beginner on this project.In hindsight, I would not use the IKEA Vika Furusund as the base. It seemed like such a great idea, but as with many IKEA items, the quality is hit or miss. I had to exchange not one, but two of these because they were too warped to assemble. I should taken this as a warning sign to not use this item, but I was too stubborn to veer from the plan. The third unit was usable, though also somewhat warped, making it awkward to fit the shelves into this existing frame. I should have just built a frame from pine boards.
The other part that drove me crazy was installing the hinges for the oven and refrigerator doors. I ended up recruiting my husband to help me and even with two brains and four hands, it was extremely frustrating.
There were highlights to this project, such as the day N noticed me working on it out in the garage and realized it was going to be her kitchen. She was so excited! She went with me to the paint store and chose the colors. I enjoyed doing the painting and now we both like playing with it. But I think I've gotten the 'build it myself' bug out of my system, for now at least.
