Upcycled Kid’s Kitchen - The Restored Dogwood

When my kids were little, we had an awesome toddler play kitchen. It was big, plastic, had tons of storage, and was gender neutral. That last part was important to me because I found it difficult to find a play kitchen that wasn’t screaming “girl.”

One day, in the middle of chaotic summer 2020, I opened up Facebook Marketplace and saw a post from someone in McLean, VA with a vintage kids’ play kitchen, and vintage doll furniture, the right size for American Girl dolls. I had just finished my first rehab, the vintage desk, and the idea of starting a sustainable furniture business was percolating in my brain. When I saw all the pieces I thought, “how cool would it be to fix up these pieces, only use eco-friendly products, source from small businesses, and sell to someone who wants used toys?” On a whim I contacted the seller, loaded the kids in the car (an adventure, kids!), and set the GPS to McLean to pick up everything.

The Kitchen’s Story

Unfortunately, this is the only before picture I have of the kitchen! I had already taken off the doors and hardware when I snapped this. I documented a lot in IG stories, but don’t have the static photos! 🙁

I’m going to talk about the kitchen and the doll furniture separately because they were two separate projects. When I met the seller to pick up the furniture I could tell she wasn’t sure how to feel about selling them; she had a lot of memories. She told me everything was made by her grandfather who was a furniture maker in Grand Rapids, MI. He made two sets of everything, one for her and one for her sister. Later I discovered an inspection sticker under the cabinet with the name Phoenix Furniture Company, 1916. I assumed he used some leftover wood to build the cabinet and just left the inspection sticker on the plank. The cabinet was obviously hand made with mismatched wood and nails sticking out. And it was in really rough shape, but since the desk had been so easy, this would be easy too, right? RIGHT?!

The Fix

The cabinet and doll furniture sat in my empty dining room (dining table = homeschool desk) for months because I could only find the time to think about the business, not actually do much work beyond taking hinges off, filling in holes/knicks/dings, researching drawer liners and thinking about a name for this gig. It wasn’t until after virtual school started in September, I was in a groove with managing school and my own “real” work, that I managed to start carving out time to prep and paint. We also had a trip to the beach before school started, so that took up some time. 😉

The Process

When I started painting I was only thinking about documenting on Instagram, which I do frequently in my stories (gah, I love stories!) Therefore, I don’t have any progress pictures! I can say this: painting things white is a terrible idea.

Ok.

It’s not TERRIBLE, but it’s VERY difficult and if you don’t know the importance of prep work (ahem, me) then that sets the stage for some hard lessons. To say “I learned a lot” would be a HUGE understatement. I had a vision for a gender neutral, farmhousey mini kitchen, but accomplishing that vision was so.much.work.

The most exciting part of the process was discovering a shop on Etsy that sells eco-friendly, peel-and-stick wallpaper. Thistle and Fox is now my go-to for all paper, and if I had time to sew, I would buy my fabric from her as well. Australian designed, US printed, the fact that I can support a small business, and stay true to my sustainable mission is amazing.

Materials Used

Paint Color: Dove Gray, Jolie Paints, purchased from Stylish Patina
Sealed: Jolie Finishing Wax, Clear
Wallpaper: Peel-and-stick woven paper from Thistle and Fox
Hinges/Pulls: Spray paint, Rustoleum

Saying Goodbye to a Friend

After fixing, painting, top coating (disaster), repainting, waxing, spray painting, measuring, sticking, staging, and photographing…it was time to list for sale. In less than 24 hours on Facebook, it was pending and sold! WOOHOO! I was thrilled, my husband was stoked, my kids were excited.

I definitely had it priced to move, but I was happy to see it go to a home with two kids, boy and girl, who I knew would enjoy it. I shared the background story so the new owner would know she had a little bit of history. After so many weeks working on that cabinet, little by little, it was tough to let go, but it was time to work on the doll furniture, and this time I had a deadline: Christmas.