Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake, Baker's Man

Over the past few weekends, I've been working on the child's kitchen cupboard I bought while vacationing this summer.  It's solidly built and in near perfect condition, but needed a painted finish to brighten it up.

I decided to give it a vintage 1940's look with a faux enamel countertop similar to this antique featured at Walnut & Vine :

I especially like the red accents since I'll be painting the play stove and sink red to coordinate with the cupboard.  One of the many projects on my to-do list.

I started by giving it a good cleaning with an ammonia and water solution and then filling the small holes and dings with wood filler and the large ones with plastic wood.  After a thorough sanding, I applied 2 coats of  Zinsser primer.  I wanted to paint it Martha Stewart green, but the first quart of paint I had mixed turned out to be mint green. I guess I really want a Martha Stewart green cupboard that looks like it's been stored in a barn for a couple of decades.  In the end, these are the paint colors I chose:



To decorate the upper doors in true 40's style, I found a simple stencil design in a book I own and cut the stencil out of Contact Paper I had on hand. 

 I stenciled one door and then flipped the stencil over (after cleaning it with alcohol) to stencil the opposing door.

I used acrylic craft paints for the rooster stencil.  There's no need to apply a clear coat over the top, because once the craft paint cures, the design will be permanent.

I kept the original hinges and door latches, but replaced the knobs with chunky wood knobs I painted red.  I also painted the edge of the countertop red to look like the one on the vintage cupboard pictured above.



Here's the before:

And here's the after:

 Now for the fun part.  Playing Accessorizing!

Set of colorful canisters to store Play-Doh, etc.

Egg timer and rolling pin.

Every 1940's era kitchen must have red and white crocheted pot holders!

Most of the vintage "accessories" I either pulled out of storage or picked up for a few dollars at local shops.  Believe it or not, the "Fiesta" dishes were purchased in the Walmart toy department for $5.00 a set!  And, they are durable.  I know this after dropping a few pieces on a concrete floor and they didn't break!

I may never learn to make sarmas, potica, or strudel like my Baba, but the play kitchen I'm creating for our grandchildren will look much like the kitchen in which she created her Slovenian fare.

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