Remember how we DIYed Clara a play kitchen last Christmas? It was such a hit then—and it still is. In fact, it’s one of the few toys she plays with every day. So we decided to expand it. More kitchen space = more play, right?
What could we add? The obvious missing appliance was a refrigerator. We already had an old cabinet in the basement that we’d saved from a remodel with this exact expansion in mind, so turning it into a play fridge was an easy next project.
The cabinet had come from Habitat for Humanity Restore and had sat in our basement for over a year waiting to be “fridge-ified.” It had a few cosmetic issues and needed shelving and some paneling, but nothing major.
First, I removed both doors and added three shelves inside using a single 10″ wide pine board I picked up at the home center. I fastened each shelf with screws through the sides. I chose wider spacing—about 7″ apart—because Clara’s play items are often taller and wider shelves are easier for her to use.
Next I covered the recessed portions on each side so the cabinet would read as a flat box and also to hide the screw holes from the shelves. I cut plywood panels to size and glued them in place, clamping them while the glue dried. The small amount of plywood I needed cost only a few dollars.
Before painting, we lightly sanded the cabinet doors and face—just like we do when prepping real kitchen cabinets. To make the front magnetic for holding art and notes, we applied three coats of magnetic primer to the doors. We’ve found multiple thin coats to work better than a single heavy one. The rest of the cabinet received regular primer.
For paint, we wanted the fridge to coordinate with Clara’s white play kitchen, so the outside was painted semi-gloss white. To add a playful touch, we painted the interior a soft light blue using a small leftover can of paint. The white outer surfaces only took one coat thanks to the primer, but the doors needed several coats to cover the dark magnetic primer fully. After painting, I reattached the doors with new hinges and added long cabinet pulls that match the rest of her kitchen.
We briefly considered adding a small logo to the door using scrapbook stickers to give it a more appliance-like look, but in the end we skipped gluing them on. The clean front fit better with the existing kitchen and avoided tiny pieces that Clara might peel off.
On Christmas morning the finished fridge sat next to her original play kitchen, plus a small rolling cart full of play food. We kept mostly play food we already owned, but supplemented with a few small finds: miniature ice cream cartons, wooden eggs and crates, and tiny takeout containers. Some of the play items came from craft stores and thrift finds.
The rolling cart was a thrift-store score and already had a color that worked well with the rest of the set. It’s big enough to hold several pieces of play produce and pantry items and it rolls, which adds another layer of play value.
Most of the food pieces were Melissa & Doug items we bought earlier at a discount. We also made a couple of quick DIY pieces by repurposing small cartons and decorating wooden eggs. Clara once told Santa she wanted “eggs for her kitchen,” so the little egg crate felt like a sweet, intentional touch.
Budget breakdown for the fridge and cart:
- Cabinet – already owned (maybe $15 originally)
- Wood for shelves & sides – $14
- Primer & paint – already owned
- New hinges – $5.25
- 7″ hardware handles – $12
- Stickers that we didn’t use – $5
- Thrift store cart – $5
- Wooden eggs, crates, & takeout containers – $6
- Tiny ice cream cartons – $2.50
- Other play food – already owned (about $30 originally)
- TOTAL: $50.75 (estimated ~$95 if you didn’t already have the cabinet and play food)
Under $51 for both the fridge and the cart is a reasonable cost for a custom DIY play setup. The magnetized doors were worth the effort: they let Clara hang drawings and small notes, which adds to the imaginative play. We can picture her using magnets to display little artworks and someday writing lists in her own kid handwriting.
We’ll share photos and video of Clara enjoying her new fridge soon. For context, the photos were taken in the playroom, which still shows a few leftover paint colors from a book shoot—the interior fridge color even matches one of those walls.
So, are any of you making last-minute gifts in your workshop? Do your kids love play food as much as ours does? If you’re planning a small DIY fridge, consider magnetic doors, wide adjustable shelving, and a coordinating cart to round out the play experience.
P.S. We grabbed a quick video of Clara playing with her kitchen that we’ll share alongside these photos.