Finally this very long project is complete. To recap: this little kitchen unit is built entirely from recycled (as in, salvaged from the dumpster) corrugated cardboard covered in contact paper. No glue, no nails, nothing but clever joining cuts make the kitchen entirely disassemblable so it can be packed flat for moving/storage. The structure is all my own design. (Can you tell I'm pretty proud of this?)
Updated to add: Please visit my squeaky-clean, brand-spankin'-new, state-o-the-art Etsy shop to buy a set of plans to build a toy kitchen of your very own! There is also a new link to it in the sidebar.
The sink (a baking pan sunk into a hole cut out for it), complete with fully turning hot and cold water taps.
Lara demonstrates the oven door, which is held in the upright position with a velcro tab.
It's hard to explain completely how the pieces fit together (let's just say that all those hours of playing Tetris apparently didn't go to waste!), but you can get a sense of it from this picture of the disassembled cardboard before the contact paper was applied. The notched pieces slide onto and then hook through the slotted grooves:
58 comments:
Okay, you should be MAJOR proud of that -- I am super impressed! Are you sure you're not one of Santa's elves? ;)
Brilliant! Well engineered!
Oh my gosh, this is awesome! Is there a chance you could post step by step instructions?
This is amazing.
You should market this! I think giving the plans to new parents as a gift would be great. When I had my daughter, we were disposing of cardboard containers on a weekly basis. This would have been a much better use of materials.
Thanks so much everyone! I'm actually working on how-to plans as we speak. I'll post an update when they become available on Etsy.
Thanks again!
Anna
that is really beautiful. i had the same reaction to the momol design, and this is just so much lovelier.
AWESOME!!! YOu did a great job!! You should be proud!!
This is amazing! Any boy or girl would love to play with this. You should be very proud of your work.
That's great! I just posted about this on Geekdad, but you should check out Ponoko.com. You can upload designs and other people can purchase the actual diecut materials (MDF, plywood, acrylic, etc.) Not the same as recycled cardboard, I understand, but it's still an awfully cool idea and you could make a few extra $.
You definitely SHOULD market this! I've been searching for a play kitchen and this is just amazing!
i could spend days trying to figure this out to copy it, or I could just wait til you sell the pattern. I will be waiting, because you did such an amazing job, you deserve to sell it!
This is awesome! You did a really great job!
I am super-duper impressed! and I have the urge to make one for my daughter. :-) I'll have to check out your plans.
Umm... wow. That is truly a feat of imagination.
Oh my gosh - that is genius! I hope you get a lot of buyers on etsy. :-)
I am really impressed! The dream of all girls, it is perfect congratulations!
WOW! that is super awesome! i wonder if it could be made from some light weight plywood (my 3 kids would destroy cardboard in about 3 minutes!)... but at any rate - i LOVE it!!
Thats amazing! And such a great idea because those kitchens can be expensive!
Found you via Craft:... love your kitchen! WOW! Very Akamai.
I hope my santa-husband can build one for our little chef! What a great, inexpensive christmas gift!
found you via the mother load.
That is the coolest thing I've seen today!
it's realy great ))
this is awesome! you should be very proud! now you just need some knitted veggies: http://www.magknits.com/Sept05/patterns/garden.htm
I mentioned you in the DIY Moms section on DIYscene.com
Great project :-)
WOW! I found you via www.momadvice.com and I AM SO IMPRESSED! What a cook kitchen and a great project!!
fantastic. made a bog standard 1 box, drop door mini oven (elements drawn on with a marker pen and a hole cut in the door with acetate backing and painted with left over white house paint)with my kids when they were little, they loved making it as much as 'cooking' their afternoon tea in it. Bet they would have enjoyed helping make something a bit more extravagant like this one - or at least assembling it 100 times.
Incredible what we can do with nothing !
I am also cardboard addict
Hi!!
¡¡Great idea!! Thanks :D
¡¡¡And Happy New Year!!!
Kissies
Wow! You are super creative!! Linked to your awesome idea on my site!
Wow! This is really awesome! :) I'm inspired to build one of my own! :)
Brilliant! The next time we move, I'm going to save all the boxes, and then get the directions from your store :)
The furthest distance in the world
Is not between life and death
But when I stand in front of you
Yet you don't know that
I'm blessed indeed!
there is no better than here
love is difficult
three days to see
put time where love is
whispering love
meeting at midnight
love can last forever
love notes
oh, my baby
words and expressions
If you can keep your head when all about you
I just stumbled upon your blog from the video that was submitted mentioning your slow year. I love the idea. In fact, I am in the process of moving and have fused all of our plastic bags to use to cushion some of my bottles and plan on reusing them to make a few little things that once we get settled.
Because of the move, we have all these really nice boxes that I was wondering what to do with and now I have this! My three year old would LOVE a little kitchen. Thank you so much. :)
Whoops! Didn't realize I had left the blog to a new one. *blush*
Still am doing this idea of a cardboard kitchen. Thanks!! :)
It sure is cool but it looks hard to make.
Good Job! :)
That is awesome! I've been looking for a used kitchen for next Christmas. Being that we're moving in a few months, I'll have all the supplies (boxes!) I need to MAKE it! Heading over to Etsy right now to buy your instructions. Thank you so much for taking the time to figure this out!!!
Amazing. Found this through the Crafty Crow. I'll be buying those blueprints! Love the simplicity and clean lines. A far cry from the bubbly plastic versions out there.
So...just what kind of cardboard is that, anyway? The end result is truly creative!
How insanely creative!!! You did SUCH a good job!!
This is the most gorgeous, modern, hip, affordable, AND green toy kitchen online, anywhere. If only you were willing to sell these. My husband's a designer, and even he felt overwhelmed looking at the beautiful photos of the finished piece.
Wah.. it's a brilliant plan. It will help a lot of people. Thanks for this.
this is really cool & Affordable
I am so glad when I saw a toy kitchen. It shows something to me it seems a educational thing for me. I like this kind of blog, I am so very happy for this. thank you for sharing.
Hi, I made your kitchen. you can see it here on my blog.
http://cecilypaterson.squarespace.com/making/?SSScrollPosition=859
Thanks for the good instructions.
The only comment I have is that when I printed them out, the squares in the square paper didn't print, so I had to go back and look at them on the screen. No big deal, but you might want to know.
Good luck with selling it. It's worth while!
Cecily
This is very awesome, I've mentioned it in my blog as I'm thinking of making one for my daughter's third birthday!
Awesome!!!
So brilliant and gorgeous.
Are you by any chance still selling the instructions to this? Hopped by your etsy store but couldn't find it.
Let me know? =)
Hi Megan,
Thanks for your interest! The kitchen instructions are back in my Etsy store - fortytworoads.etsy.com.
Cheers,
Anna
I'm very impressed by the design. It's so sweet too. Cardboard is so versatile.
Hi Anna :) I just bought your kitchen instructions on Etsy! I am so excited to start, but I can not find where to download the PDF....help!!
Thanks
Olivia Jean
Hello!
I've just connected to etsy's website to buy the DIY Kitchen but it is sold out!!! Is there any chance of buying those plans again! My niece wil love so much! Maybe as much as I will building it!!!
Thanks
Hi Manuel -
Thanks so much for your interest! The kitchens are in stock at fortytworoads.etsy.com!
I love this idea! Thanks for sharing! Just wanted to let you know I linked to you on my blog:
http://delicious-ambiguity-nennyk.blogspot.com/2010/02/other-diy-kitchens-worth-looking-at.html
Lol it's awesome and actually more impressive than the kitchen in my flat!
Jason from Dog Beds
You totally need to take that sucker down and then make a video of you rebuilding it so we can do it too. That is awesome. Or hell, create instructions and sell them for $3. I'd buy it.
Blogs are so informative it's awesome, great information on any topic. Keep sharing it boss!
My Kitchen 101
Issuu
Substack
Kitchen Patreon
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Kitchyak
Kitchlicker
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