 Great kitchen...well-packaged for assembly |
| Review Date: March 17, 2009 |
| Reviewer: David A. Sobel, Berkeley, CA |
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.
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Great product
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| Review Date: December 22, 2008 |
| Reviewer: A Smith, NC |
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. |
Great Play Kitchen for Little Imaginations!
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| Review Date: December 8, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Melissa, Redwood City, CA |
We purchased this kitchen for our 1 year old daughter. My husband thought she was a little young (and yes, she is under the recommended age of 3), but she absolutely loves it! She'll spend at least 1/2 hour playing with the kitchen (w/cups, pots, pans, plates, pretend food, etc) throughout the day. My husband had to admit it was a great investment! Plus, it's so darn cute. She plays with her older cousins and definitely learns make believe from them! She's expanding her imagination every day. It's great!
PLEASE NOTE FOR YOUR CHILD'S SAFETY - Beware that the metallic covering on the ladle may peel/flake off. I contacted KidKraft to make sure it was non-toxic (since my daughter may have ingested it while putting her mouth on it several times), and they assured me that it was safe. I would still not recommend keeping it within a child's reach if the metal started peeling off! |
Amazed!!
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| Review Date: December 22, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Robert, Canada |
| We bought this kitchen for our one year old daughter and it's perfect!! It is small but even as she gets bigger I'm sure she will enjoy it. We had a hard time finding someone to ship it to Canada but when we did it didn't take long to get here. It came missing a part but we called kidkraft and they airmailed the piece, for free, just before Christmas!! We were impressed to say the least because most company's hate shipping to Canada. Definitely a great purchase! |
Great Toy - A Few Assembly Problems
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| Review Date: December 29, 2008 |
| Reviewer: A. White, |
My 2.5 year old loves this Christmas present. 1st thing he runs to every morning.
That being said assembly is a bit complicated, so be prepared. I was missing one nut, but the replacement is on the way.
My biggest gripe is the use of flat screws instead of pointed starter screws. It was smooth sailing until the end where you had to attach a lot of doors with a lot of very small screws with my really big hands. Trying to start a flat end screw into a small hole was an exercise in frustration. I know why they didn't use pointed screws because they might pop thru the other side if overtightened. But I just wanted to be done at that point.
My only other complaint is that for this price the knobs, handles and feet should be metal and not plastic, That would have been very classy. |
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US $165.88
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