Product Description

KidKraft Red Retro KitchenBon appétit! Young chefs can cook up some fun with this adorable Vintage Kitchen! There are knobs that click and turn and doors that open and close, just like a real kitchen. You can even see through the oven and microwave doors to watch the pretend food while it cooks! Other fun features include a cordless phone, a cloth apron and fun retro colors that are sure to remind parents of their own childhoods.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #484 in Toys & Games
• Color: Red
• Brand: KidKraft
• Model: 53156
• Released on: 2009-01-24
• Dimensions: 35.70" h x 11.70" w x 33.00" l, 51.00 pounds

Features

• Ladle, pot and apron- Doors open and close
• Oven knobs click and turn
• Cordless phone
• Removable sink for easy cleaning
• Sturdy Construction

From the Manufacturer
Young chefs will love cooking up feasts for the whole family with this adorable wooden kitchen.

Customer Reviews

Great kitchen...well-packaged for assembly
First, I'll talk about assembly of the kitchen. Then, I'll talk about the kitchen itself.

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ASSEMBLY
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You'll see several other reviewers talk about the difficult assembly of this product. Make no mistakes, putting this together is a non-trivial task, but I have to applaud KidKraft for the thought they put into the packaging to make the assembly as pain-free as possible. If you've never done this sort of furniture construction before, then building this is outside of your league, but anyone familiar with Ikea-type furniture should not have significant problems.

To wit:

* All parts are labelled with a letter in the instructions, and each part has a sticker affixed to it with the same letter. Makes identification of each part MUCH easier.

* All screws/bolts/washers/etc are packaged in a "compartmentalized" plastic clamshell container. This makes it much easier to keep your 5mm screws from mixing with your 7mm screws. Anyone familiar with d.i.y furniture construction (from Ikea, et al), will know the aggravation that comes with having these tiny parts come in one big plastic bag.

* Assembly directions have big, clear illustrations (no text) with zoomed-in detail drawings when appropriate.

* Great customer service. A big insert repeatedly says to "Call us!" if you have any problems whatsoever with assembly. Turns out one of the pieces in my kit was chipped. I went online to kidkraft's website, and within 5 minutes had ordered a replacement part totally free of charge. (NOTE: I ordered it 2 days ago and shipping is stated at 7-10 days. We'll see if they are able to follow through as promised.)

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ASSEMBLY SUGGESTIONS
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Most of the assembly can be handled by one person, although there were a couple of parts (hanging the doors, etc) where a 2nd pair of hands is useful. Total assembly time by myself (with occasional help) was about 3-4 hours. I found the following tools to be real time-savers:

* A powered screwdriver. You need a phillips head screwdriver. Using a cordless driver obviously saves time.

* Your own hex allen wrench. They provide a little one, but the simple one I own (for my bicycle) is easier to handle.

* Small-sized phillips screwdriver (aka jeweller's or electronics screwdriver). There are several screws that are quite small. Having a smaller screwdriver will make your life easier.

* Box cutter or other cutting tool. There is a lot of tape in the packaging. (Styrofoam taped to pieces, etc).

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THE KITCHEN
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Ok, so once you've built it, how does it measure up? I gotta say, this thing looks even better in person than it does in the product photos. The detailing is really cute, and there are a bunch of extra touches: a "cordless" phone; the oven/stove knobs click when you turn them; the turntable in the microwave really turns; the oven and microwave doors are both see-through, so your kid can see whats in them; water dispenser on fridge; and so on and so forth. Also, the kitchen feels sturdy and well-made, so I'm hopeful that it will stand up to the abuse from a little dude.

However, the best endorsement is from my 2-year-old son: He absolutely loves it and will play with it for hours and hours.

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SUMMARY
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This is a GREAT play kitchen for kids and I'm thrilled with the purchase. This is our first KidKraft purchase, but I am so happy with it that (barring unforeseen issues), KidKraft has earned itself a loyal repeat customer.

Worth the assembly challenge!
OK, I did my homework and read a ton of reviews before purchasing so I was forewarned.

[Most of] Assembly took 2.5 hours. It was smooth going, no cursing, everything looked great until we came to the very last two pieces. Some of the holes that were supposed to be pre drilled did not appear to be and they were in a very tight, hard to estimate spot. After sleeping on it my husband looked more closely with a flashlight and found some dimples in the paint that turned out to be the holes that we needed for the rest of assembly. We thought it was telling that there was a notice in the box saying "Please let us help!" with a help # and a website for ordering every possible missing piece for free! They have obviously had enough problems with missing pieces.

Having gotten through the expected assembly challenge I have to say...
This is the cutest play kitchen I have every seen!! It's even nicer in person than the picture. It also seems like it's made to last. I'll update my opinion on durability after it's been played with for a while.

One thing is certain, I'd rather be looking at this lovely toy taking up space in my house for a few years than a tacky plastic or pastel one. Let's face it, any play kitchen takes up quite a bit of visual space.

My 2 year old daughter loves the clicking knobs, microwave turntable, and turning facet handles. It fits a lot of pots and dishes and there's plenty of room for food in the fridge.

Shop around for a good price, I got it from Costco online for about $[...] (with free shipping) just after Christmas.

Great product
We got this kitchen for our daughter for Christmas and just assembled it yesterday. One non-essential part arrived broken, but included in the box was information on receiving replacement parts from Kidkraft. It was extremely quick and easy to go online and order the replacement part, no questions, no charge. Hopefully we'll receive the part as easily.

Assembly: I am most grateful to have read online someone's kind suggestion to label ALL the assembly screws and bolts before beginning to correspond with the directions to use bolt A, B, etc. Because we followed that suggestion, assembly was pretty easy but still took a few hours. Had we not labeled those parts BEFORE beginning, there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY we would have done it correctly. Many of the assembly parts look extremely similar and would have been a nightmare if we had not labeled first. Thank you so much to the people who made that suggestion. Also, I recommend two people for assembly. Finally, we found that the screws were flat, not "starter" screws. By taking the screwdriver and first routing a little hole where you need to put the screw, that made the job significantly easier for the many tiny screws that attach the doors to the hinges.

The assembled kitchen is so cute and seems sturdy. My niece received the same one last year and absolutely loves it, playing with it daily. Overall we are happy with the quality of this product.