The BEST Play Kitchen EVAH

What started out as this:

Became this:

And finally this!:

The "decor" it matches (and Tammie!):

So I've been looking at play kitchens for the kids for a while.  Like a year.  But I never found a kitchen that I really could love, especially since the kids "playroom" is actually one half of my living room.  So the thought of putting a giant plastic primary colored toy in there just made my little designer's heart cringe.  I mean Josh and I are two people who make their livings off of our eye for color and composition.  But, in my search all of sudden all these DIY kitchens started popping up.  Kitchens made out of side tables, kitchen's made out of old dressers, even fabric.  Which got my little crafty wheels turning, and every time I saw one I thought, I could do that.  If only I didn't live in a condo with no outdoor space to speak of, and owned more tools than a couple screwdrivers and a hammer.  If I, say, had the space and tools my dad had.  So I started sending my dad links, look at this kitchen, don't you think we could do this??  I sent him so many, he finally asked, okay, just tell me which one you like and we'll go from there.  And so the great DIY Kitchen of 2008 began.  I intended it to be a group project, you know, I get the stuff and bring it to his house for his tools and expertise, we'd build it together.  But he took the idea and ran.  Oh boy did he ran.  He started with an old TV cart on wheels.  The kitchen is absolutely amazing.  He didn't just make it, he designed it, adding trim and a backsplash, finding paint to match the blue in a print on my wall.  It has a real faucet, a removable sink, an oven, a shelf (you know for all their cookbooks).  My help really consisted of a few design elements, and one day of standing outside handing him tools and complaining about how cold it was.  The kids love it, I've already been treated to some home cooked meals of triceratops soup, chicken nuggets, and a couple cakes.  They feed us, then take the dishes back the sink and wash them.  Parker told me yesterday that we needed to go to the store to get her flowers.  I didn't really think anything of it, but we picked up some daisies, and I put a few in a little vase for her.  She went straight to her kitchen and put it next to her sink.  I almost always put my flowers up on the shelf by out kitchen sink.  So now the kitchen is officially complete.  Its so cute.  There is no way I could have done the kind of job he did and I think its so special to have this toy that was built by Papa.