These Ikea toy kitchen hacks will make your actual kitchen jealous...

The Ikea toy kitchen holds a world of DIY possibilities to keep you entertained for an afternoon AND the kids for the rest of lockdown

Ikea toy kitchen
(Image credit: Ikea)

You've all seen the Instagrams, you've all seen what an Ikea toy kitchen can be transformed into. Most of the masterpieces we have seen look more glamorous than our actual kitchens. And hey, since we now have so much time on our hands and the kids are off school, now seems a better time than ever to start your own Ikea toy kitchen hack and get the whole family involved.

Below we have come up with six Ikea toy kitchen hacks that you could easily copy plus a few tips on how to get the looks. For more Ikea hacks, visit our dedicated page. If you are after more ways to keep entertained during this strange time, head to our no place like home hub page. 

1. Paint your Ikea toy kitchen 

The easiest way to update an Ikea toy kitchen is to paint it. Easy Peasy. If you have it flat-packed already this is made even easier as you can just paint each piece, if you already have a Duktig built, just mask off any areas you don't want to paint and get creative. 

For tips on how to paint furniture head to our guide. 

2. Add a splash back with wallpaper

Once it's had a fresh coat of paint, time to look at the details. You can really easily add pattern and interest to your toy kitchen by adding a 'splash back'. When we say splash back we really mean just cover the back in some cute spare wallpaper you have hanging around the house. Just treat it like a really small wall and check out our guide to how to wallpaper for a step-by-step.  

3. Update the worktop

This is where contact paper comes in. Amazon sells some really gorgeous marble effect self adhesive vinyl film that really easy to cover the toy kitchen worktop in. Another option is again to use wallpaper or ever wrapping paper, just add a coat of PVA to make sure it's slightly more waterproof and wipeable. 

4. Spray paint the 'hardware' 

ᴘɪᴍᴘɪɴɢ ᴅᴜᴋᴛɪɢ ᴋᴇᴜᴋᴇɴ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Morgen is het zo ver, Noalyn haar eerste verjaardag. Daarvoor moest ik natuurlijk een super leuk cadeautje vinden. Een speel keukentje van Ikea leek ideaal aangezien ze in de keuken altijd mee helpt met mij ( lees de kasten leegt en overal wil aankomen, voelen en in haar mond steken 🤓) & haar aller eerste plantje ‘graslelie’🌿 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ standaard vind ik de keuken maar een beetje saai. Dus besloot ik om die zoals veel mama’s te pimpen! Ik koos voor dezelfde beige tint van onze keuken & wit te combineren met mooie warme hout tinten en de afwerking in een oud goud kleurtje te spuiten. Het leek super gemakkelijk als ik eraan wou beginnen maar heeft toch wel wat extra tijd gevraagd. Thanks to my hubby @michael.vlaeminck hebben we deze op een klein weekje in elkaar kunnen steken, al is het nog niet helemaal af! De knoppen voor haar kookvuur moeten er nog op gemonteerd worden maar ik kon niet wachten om het te installeren 🤩 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Stiekem wil ik zelf in deze cozy hoek spelen. @lisamarieeeeeee_ wanneer gaan we restaurantje spelen? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #duktig #duktighack #ikeakeukentjepimpen #mamablog #cameramama #houtenspeelgoed #speelgoed #speelhoek #kinderkamerinspiratie #kinderkamerstyling #kinderspeelgoed ᴍᴀᴍᴀ // ᴇʟʟᴇɴ // ᴡɪғᴇ

A photo posted by @ellenpopelier on Feb 21, 2020 at 2:48am PST

Quickly update the hardware – the sink, handles and hanging rail – by spray painting them. Just remove them and take them outside, lay down an old sheet and pop them on top and get spraying. We love the look of gold handles, but black looks very cool too – basically just use it to make your dream kitchen in miniature.  

5. Or replace it all together

You can go really extra and buy new handles for your Ikea toy kitchen. Ikea sell some very cute ones you could order with your toy kitchen. We especially like Osternas leather handles, but if these aren't going to be super practical for constantly sticky hands go for the nice and simple Bagganas handles

6. Get an all in one sticker pack to update an Ikea toy kitchen quickly 

Etsy stickers for ikea toy kitchens

(Image credit: Etsy)

We have just made this discovery and it must be the easiest Ikea toy kitchen hack ever! Buy a sticker kit that perfectly fits on every surface of your kitchen! Yep, Etsysell some really cute ones and all you need is some patience to completely transform your toy. These stickers are really thick, high quality and don't bubble so straightforward to apply. 

Hebe Hatton

Hebe joined the Real Homes team in early 2018 as Staff Writer before moving to the Livingetc team in 2021 where she took on a role as Digital Editor. She loves boho and 70's style and is a big fan of Instagram as a source of interiors inspiration. When she isn't writing about interiors, she is renovating her own spaces – be it wallpapering a hallway, painting kitchen cupboards or converting a van.

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