Ikea Duktig Kitchen Make-over: Part 2.

Tiny’s kitchen is finished! Sort of. I’m still looking for some more accessories like bowls and a tea towel but the worst is over. And I mean that literally. I thought this was going to be easy but there were a lot of tears and much swearing at Pinterest.

Hubby and I divided the tasks between us. He did the building, measuring and drilling. I did the buying, the accessorising, and the spray painting. I also put in the batteries. We make a great team.

The Spray Painting.

I decided to start with this and then put the whole thing together. I spray painted the feet, the tap and sink, the handles and the surround for the hob. I didn’t spray paint the hanging rail as I thought the paint would chip really easily with the hanging hooks.
Honestly, the spray painting was a bit of a nightmare. First of all we don’t have a garage so I had to wait for a dry, windless day before I could even start this. I would recommend being super organised and doing a kitchen makeover in the summer rather than in November if you don’t have somewhere sheltered you can do it in.

I bought a white primer from Amazon and gave everything two coats. I really hoped that this would help even out the surfaces and make the copper spray paint adhere better. It didn’t – but this was probably because I was doing it outside and had to keep moving everything if there was a threat of rain. If you don’t have to move pieces and can leave them for 24 hours the spray paint might be more hardwearing.

After the primer I spray painted everything Copper with a spray paint I bought in Lidl. I absolutely love this colour. It looked great and the lights reflects off it beautifully. This took 3 or 4 coats to get the type of coverage I wanted which was a nightmare. I also found it chipped quite easily but again this is probably because I had to keep moving it and couldn’t leave it to dry for long enough outside.

I stuck the handles and tap in homemade playdough to make spray painting easier which worked quite well.

The worst bit to spray paint was the hob. I had decided to pop the hob out of its frame which seemed like a genius idea at the time…until I had to pop it back in. This totally scratched all around the frame and I had to masking tape the edges and spray paint it again. It’s still not perfect. There was much cussing and exasperation.

I had to keep reminding myself that I’m decorating a child’s kitchen for a toddler and not creating a Pinterest project or a work of art but every imperfection is still driving me crazy.

Eventually I moved everything into the dining room like a ninja and put the dehumidifier on to fully dry it.

The Construction.

I mostly drank tea and watched whilst Hubby put the kitchen together. It was typical Ikea. All very straightforward and easy. I did add three lights which I purchased on Amazon– two above the counter and one in the microwave. I’m contemplating buying some more for the oven but I still haven’t made up my mind. They take three AAA batteries each so I’m hoping they last for ages!

I hadn’t realised that the kitchen didn’t come with a splashback so hubby and I got a bit of a surprise when we got to this part of the construction…

The Modern Little People Decals.

I was really excited about the decals I was gifted. Because dinosaurs! They were also central to our rainbow dinosaur theme. I decided not to paint anything other than the metallic bits because I thought the decals brought enough colour by themselves. I’m so glad that I made this decision as the spray painting was such a nightmare. If you don’t have the time for spray painting I think the kitchen would still look amazing without any paint at all as the decals really make it stand out, and they can be easily accessorised.

It was easy to get the smaller decals on the shelves but we did find the larger decals trickier. We’re both perfectionists so we had to make sure there were no bubbles or creases and this took several attempts.

The kitchen doesn’t come with a splashback so if you want one you have to get even more creative. Our dino splashback is currently attached to a piece of cardboard but we’re working on something more permanent. We really like the idea of being able to turn the kitchen around and use it as a shop front so hubby is planning to put some plywood/stronger cardboard on hinges to create an awning that can be propped up.
The Finished Product!

I’m really happy with how it looks. I think Tiny is going to be so excited when she sees it sitting in the living room on Christmas morning. It’s not quite finished…we’re going to Ikea in a couple of weeks to get a few more bits and pieces and I need to crochet a dishcloth and find a matching tea towel. I’d really like a fake plant too!

I love the lighting above the counter.

Our next project is a makeover on an Ikea Latt table and chairs!

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