The kitchen, as mentioned in previous posts (like my first few...) is very, very dear to me. I work in kitchen planning, and though I don't cook, I LOVE beautiful, functional kitchens!
So for Cassie I was obsessed with creating the most perfect kitchen possible. I started with a love affair of the Kenmore kitchen, and then, after realizing that tons of Blythe and Barbie lovers have this exact set, I sought something more unique.
I paged through ebay listings galore of Barbie kitchens, before finding Vintage Sindy had a MUCH better kitchen than Barbie ever did... The pieces came with yellow doors and white countertop. What really impressed me was the cooktop cabinet and wall oven. Those were big in the seventies, but then became passe for a few decades. Now, built in is all the rage. The sink amused me the most, because it looks just like IKEA's Boholmen sink with drain board. With IKEA kitchens in mind, I realized that I could paint the cabinets (which sort of resemble our Abstrakt door style)
From there it was a long, drawn out process of acquiring pieces. I don't even want to know how much was spent on ebay in the past few months. I got the wall oven first, then a sink and cooktop cabinet. I decided on the Kitchen Littles refrigerator (it has an ice maker and great interiors). The worst (monetarily) was getting the Sindy cabinet that has four drawers and one door. The auction was in euros, and once converted to US I cringed and went "I did WHAT?!" It came with a second sink and a second cooktop cabinet.
I chose one of the sink cabinets to experiment on, since one had a broken door. Armed with Krylon Fusion for Plastic, I spray painted it white, and I couldn't have been happier with the result. Once I taped up the 'appliances' I went to town on the other pieces. The refrigerator was hit with silver spray to give it a 'stainless' look (since it was white and purple before that...)
I was obsessed with making this kitchen great, so I didn't want to simply paint the countertop...I wanted Cassie to have some custom laminate! I ordered samples from Wilsonart. They have small samples for free, but I got 8x10 sheets for a dollar. They also conveniently allow you to up the quantity of samples. I got three sheets for the kitchen. The first cabinet to get covered was the drawer unit.
From there it was just covering the other cabinets and detailing the handles. I used my husband's miniature paints that we get through Reaper. They are a steely black. The cooktop cabinet was difficult to cover with laminate, so I took my handy spare and experimented with popping the cooktop off. Let me tell you, Sindy stuff is WELL MADE. I couldn't remove the doors to paint because they are secure with METAL rods, rather than plastic, and they run all the way through the door, not just a little nub at the top or bottom. The cooktop was equally secure, so I had to use pliers to BREAK the pieces that held it on. That made covering a flat piece MUCH easier...and...I discovered I had a second cabinet at my disposal!
This changed Cassie's layout quite a bit. I went from an A-line kitchen to an L shape. I liked the way it put the fridge; when you open the refrigerator side you can see all the interiors if you look at the house straight on. It also helps hide my one paint boo-boo. I plan to detail the ice maker in black with silver buttons, and then paint the sides and top black as well. It will look like IKEA's Nutid fridge. :) The oven/microwave have not been painted yet, but Glenn cut the floor pieces, and I picked up some tile for the kitchen (yes, it will have real tile. :)
I can't wait to finish the detail work, add a window and backsplash, and then assemble the room. :) Cassie's Re-ment goodies finally have a home!
