Ikea Play Kitchen Hack

Santa brought my kids an IKEA DUKTIG kitchen for Christmas and I gave it a little makeover with less than $15 worth of supplies. I love that the IKEA play kitchen is simple, modern, has a light up stove, and built in storage. I also love the price! It used to be $99, but I just saw that IKEA lowered the price to $79. On to the IKEA play kitchen hacks…

Ikea Play Kitchen Hacks I Completed

• Spray painted a 4 wood pieces and 4 legs white.
• Spray painted all of the handles, faucet, utensil bar and hooks gold.
• Covered the counter top in marble (I used this exact roll from Amazon.)

Supplies Needed for Play Kitchen Upgrade

• If you don’t have an IKEA near you, you can buy the play kitchen on Amazon for $165 and free shipping.
• White spray paint (I used this spray paint.)
• Metallic gold spray paint (I used this spray paint.)
• Marble contact paper (I used this exact roll from Amazon!)
• Drop cloth
• Scissors

How to hack you IKEA play kitchen

Step 1 – Organize your pieces

Before you assemble the kitchen, lay out all of the pieces to figure out what goes where and make a plan.

Step 2 – Spray paint the kitchen

Set aside all of the silver pieces including the sink, faucet, handles, and legs. I decided to spray paint only 4 wood pieces white. I wish I could say this was pre planned and thoroughly thought out, but to be honest the spray painting happened on Christmas Eve during nap time, and rushing was an understatement. Don’t forget to spray paint the 4 legs white also. In total, I spray painted 4 wood pieces and 4 legs white with 2 coats of spray paint each.

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Step 3 – Spray paint the accessories

Give the silver pieces a coat of gold spray paint. Don’t forget the 5 hooks! In total you should have 11 separate pieces to spray paint gold: 5 hooks, 3 handles, 1 faucet, 1 sink, and 1 bar.

Step 4 – Faux marble the countertop

Next up, my very favorite IKEA play kitchen hack, the fancy marble countertop! Roll out the adhesive faux marble on a table and place the kitchen counter top on top of the marble you just rolled out. It is super helpful to have an extra set of hands for this part. Give yourself about 2 inches on each side of the counter top. Also, be sure you are putting the marble on the right side of the counter top. The IKEA sticker should be facing up, like in the picture below.

Step 5 – Wrap the corners

Start wrapping and pressing the adhesive marble around the countertop. Don’t be scared of the corners. I simply cut a 3 small slits in each corner and folded it around as best I could. It’s not perfect. And guess what? My kids have never noticed! After you finish wrapping one side of the IKEA counter top, flip it over and use a credit card to remove the air bubbles and smooth the top.

Step 6 – Periodically flip and smooth

As you finish wrapping all 4 sides and corners, periodically flip the countertop over and smooth the top with a credit card.

Step 7 – Cut sink and stove holes

Once the four corners are complete, it’s time to cut out the sink and stove holes. It feels scary, but go ahead and stick your scissors right in the middle of the sink hole, and cut out a big rounded square, mimicking the shape of the sink. Leave about 2 inches all the way around. Cut a few small slits in each corner of the sink hole to allow the adhesive marble to wrap around the countertop. This part does not matter as much since you won’t see any of it once you stick the sink back in its spot.

Step 8 – Do the same thing with the stove hole.

Step 9 – Assemble the IKEA play kitchen

Once your done with the gorgeous marble counter top and all of your pieces are dry, it’s time to assemble that sucker! The play kitchen lives in our living room and I love that all of the food and accessories we have fit inside the kitchen. Nana made her most of her play food, and bought a few super cute things from etsy!

Our favorite play kitchen accessories

• 10 peice cookware from IKEA
• Felt pizza
• Fresh farm eggs These are probably her very favorite thing in the kitchen.
• Strawberries, blueberries, and bananas This is a close second. My mom made the strawberries, but this is where Mila’s banana slices are from.
• Nana made donuts, pancakes, adorable bendy bacon, and an assortment of cookies.
• Tea set (Ours is very similar to this one.)
• Mila also loves empty boxes of real food. Corn bread and Near East quinoa boxes fit perfect on the top shelves.

How well does the spray paint hold up?

Great question! My kids have used it almost every day since December 2017 and the gold spray paint is chipping. The picture below is of the worst looking handle. The kids don’t mind, and overall the play kitchen still looks great!

For tons more Ikea play kitchen hack ideas, check out my Pinterest Board. If you like color, this coral play kitchen is adorable or this penny tile and leather handled play kitchen is pretty hip too!

Happy IKEA play kitchen hacking, y’all!