My husband just put it together yesterday, so I can't provide an opinion on how it will hold up, but so far I'm very happy with my choice. I got this kitchen for my 16 month old daughter after comparing lots and lots of other play kitchens. Seriously, I probably looked at every wood play kitchen on the market. A bit obsessive, I know, but it's a big purchase and a toy I hope to be enjoyed for many years, so I wanted to pick the one that was just right for us. I'm really glad I took my time because I eventually discovered this kitchen, which came out quite recently I believe (I don't even see it on kidkraft's website), and it meets all the criteria I was looking for in a kitchen.
Things I wanted in a play kitchen that this kitchen has:
- made out of wood, not plastic
- has a refrigerator with 2 doors instead of just 1 (seems more realistic to me)
- has counter space for play prepping food/so it doesn't feel so squished
- has a washing machine (I know reviews about other kitchens sometimes think it's weird to have a washer in the kitchen, but I like that it's adds variety and I don't have to buy a separate washer machine play set)
- neutral color scheme
DESIGN:
- My daughter still gets a kick out of peekaboo, so the two "windows" are a pretty nice addition.
- Although this is a lights and sound kitchen, I didn't buy it particularly for those features. The ice machine's screen lights up and makes sound like, well, an ice machine, which my daughter likes. The lights on the burner are also cute, but it also sounds like an ice machine, which I think is a little weird.
- I like that the fridge (top door) has a shelf inside and the oven has a "rack"/shelf because it seems more realistic and provides more storage options.
- I was worried that the kitchen would take up a lot of space, but was pleasantly surprised at how compact it is. It's kind of an L-shape, but rather than the two sides meeting at a point, they meet at an angle. This has been great because we didn't plan to put it in a corner anyway, and we can either put one side against the wall or have the center piece where the faucet is against the wall and still access both windows (because, well, see peekaboo comment above).
- I'm also really happy about the height because my petite daughter (about 30" tall) can reach just about everything, although she has to stand on tiptoes for the microwave.
CON:
- I really only have 1 right now about the design, and that's that I wish the washer had an actual dial instead of just one painted on. It seems like a cheap cost cutting measure.
- I'm not sure why, but one burner and the ice machine didn't work right out of the box. After continually pressing the buttons though, my daughter managed to bring them to life.
ASSEMBLY:
In all fairness, I didn't lift one finger to help assemble this kitchen (someone had to keep my daughter out of the box!). But I think I can accurately say that assembly was pretty easy. Time consuming, yes, there were 90+ steps, but it was probably easier than assembling an ikea bookshelf (sometimes it's really hard to get the doors right on those things!). I think it took my husband about 3 solid hours to put it together, but it seemed pretty straightforward and I didn't hear any complaining from him (I heard a lot of complaining with the aforementioned ikea bookshelves).
So overall, I can honestly say I'm really happy with this kitchen, and I can already tell it will provide a lot of entertainment for my daughter.
