Children's ikea

I love Ikea for so many reasons but since becoming a parent I love and appreciate them even more. Each year I anxiously wait for the new catalogue to come out, usually checking it out online before I even receive my copy in the mail. I affectionately refer to it as my "bible" and within a day or two I've got it and any new products memorized! anyone that knows me that I recognize most product by name. I never used to pay much attention to the children's section though, besides for admiring their styling.

A couple months ago when our wee one starting getting mobile and into EVERYTHING we decided it was time to up the level of our baby proofing. We were going to need a baby gate for the upstairs. Many places we looked to offered pressure gates... which were definitely not an option for the top of the stairs or plastic, ick! never mind that we were planning on putting it about a meter away from the stairs in the hallway which although not especially wide was still wider than most gates can accommodate. Finally I stumbled onto the Ikea Patrull line of safety items. We got the wooden Patrull Fast safety gate, problem solved on all counts. Gate is wooden and drills into the wall (comes with a dummy proof wall stencil so you know EXACTLY where to drill), it's adjustable and the whole gate swings open, we affixed it so that when it's not in use it can be up against the wall in the hall.

It's really hard to babyproof your kitchen so besides for locking the cabinets under the sink with all the poisonous stuff and keeping knives/sharp objects out of reach, we pretty much figured that we wouldn't be letting our little one hang out in the kitchen very often. While flipping through the latest kitchen catologue I spied yet another ingenious Patrull product, the stainless steel stove top guard. This fits beautifully in our kitchen and the stainless steel is really nice, most importantly it protects our little one and makes our kitchen a more child friendly place.

Ikea Patrull stovetop guard.

While I was supposed to be shopping babyproofing I couldn't help but notice some awesome toys. In my defense I had to walk halfway through the toy zone to get the gate...

I just love this little Fabler mouse, sort of reminds me of Angelina Ballerina.

The Duktig line is great! this pots and pans set is just what we needed for our play kitchen!

The Mula walking/rattling push toy is a wooden version of the classic popcorn push toy, with a much less irritating sound.... now if they only had it in stock...

My toddler is obsessed with Old MacDonald and animals in general. The soft Ikea minnen toy farm set would be perfect for totting around and setting up impromptu barn yard dances!

On the way to the checkout I couldn't help myself and had to swing by the "As is" section (old habits are hard to break!) and I found the most awesome find... can't spill the beans yet but another Ikea hack is on it's way! stay tuned...

DIY Play kitchen - Part 1

I love Ohdeedoh and I check in daily to see what's new. If you're a reader you already know that Play kitchens are HUGE there, especially the homespun kind. Many readers have sent in gorgeous photos of play kitchens they've put together for their kiddos with results that surpass by far IMHO any run of the mill plastic big box kitchens you could purchase! I've been so inspired and have had my eyes on the lookout for any old chest/cupboard/bookshelf/scrap wood that held potential to become a custom built kitchen for my daughter. I enlisted my mom's help on this one and she was kind enough to donate an old vanity table and a stainless steel mixing bowl to the cause. Our play kitchen is still a work in progress. We're ever so patiently waiting for our handyman A.K.A DH to help get things on the road...

If you've been thinking about the idea yourself and could use a nudge in the right direction, check out Ohdeedoh's roundup of awesome DIY play kitchens.

This is our before picture, after the sink installation.

But there has been some progress; We've got the sink installed, a sink skirt and the oven knobs in place. We have a faucet in waiting, another donation from my mom, and I plan to make an apron, some dish towels, oven mitts and maybe a potholder or two to coordinate with the sink skirt. The plan is to replace the bottom two shelves on either side with a plywood door to make an oven and a fridge. I still haven't figured out what I'm going to make burners out of and it would be nice to add a shelf or two over the sink area...I'm keeping my eyes peeled...

A work in progress...

I've got tons of sewing to do, between the kitchen accessories and the felt play food to stock the kitchen with the next few months are going to be busy. I'm excited though for when everything is complete then we can invite ourselves to DD "house" for dinner, I could use a night off!
Stay tuned!