So I'll start off with the good points about it and the reasons why I opted for this one over other kitchens. First of all, it looked beautiful and fitted perfectly into the owl/bird theme in her room which is what initially attracted me. Secondly, it was cheap, like really cheap considering it's not plastic and a lot of the wooden effect toy kitchens from toy places such as Early Learning Centre and Little Tikes are over £100. I paid around £40 from someone on eBay selling damaged goods and returns and you can see on the photo above, if you look carefully that it has the slightest bit of damage on the right corner of the door but this has never affected the functionality so I'd still say I got quite a bargain. My final hurrah about the kitchen has to be the added bonus of storage space within the unit which was a biiiiiiiig selling point for someone like me who hates clutter and seeks out any method of hiding messy looking toys. I'm sure I'm not the only anal person who is like this....if you throw out the majority of McDonald's, magazine, lucky bag etc toys by the end of the day, your not alone. One last tiny pro, there are wheels underneath the kitchen so it is also super easy to move if need be.
Now for the not so good points about it, the main thing being that it's not really got much to fiddle with in comparison to the other toy kitchen's out there such as IKEA's Duktig Mini-Kitchen which comes with a snazzy light up hob and realistic sink area or the Kidkraft Pink Vintage Kitchen which is just brilliant in general and has knobs that click...call me sadly nostalgic but I loved the satisfaction of a clicky button or knob as a kid! Another final thing, is that it is quite wide so if you have a petite toddler then they might struggle to reach all the interesting bits like the taps and sink.I honestly really struggled to come up with negatives to say about the kitchen although I'd say the lack of features that other kitchens have compared, may heavily sway which type you go for. If you have a little one that loves role play they will still have hours of fun with this provided you throw some accessories in such as toy kitchen utensils and dinnerware. This particular kitchen isn't available from Vertbdaudet anymore as far as I'm aware but I did spot a few on eBay whilst writing this post. If you want a similar style though, Vertbaudet tend to always have the wooden style play kitchens on their website but to my knowledge, they change the designs every year...consequently the old ones normally go into sale so keep an eye out for when their sales go live.
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| From Top Left: Pan Set from Spotty Green Frog, Duktig Dinnerware from IKEA, Wooden Toaster Set from AliExpress, Wooden Lolly Set from Great Little Trading Co. |
The accessories featured inside the kitchen are also from Vertbaudet but I'm not sure if they stock them anymore, you can get similar sets online from a broad range of retailers as I've pictured above. By the way, the Duktig range by IKEA is pretty awesome...me and the other half were pretty curious as to how the plates haven't broke yet so we tested this notion on our laminate floor, living life on the edge I hear you say...anyways the flipping plate did not break, crack, nothing, nada...they certainly are child proof. The tea set on top of her kitchen is from a mail order company called 24Studio, again I don't think they stock this anymore as it was a long time ago when I purchased everything. All is not lost though, you can get the same set online from here: Spotty Green Frog.
I really hope this has helped anyone considering purchasing a play kitchen or given you an idea of a good present idea for a toddler girl or boy.
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