My daughter received the KidKraft Pink Retro Kitchen Set for Christmas right before her 2nd birthday. Her grandmother had asked me what she could get her and I said to get her a kitchen. She then asked if there was any particular kitchen and if I had seen the one at Costco. "The Pink One?", I asked. I actually had started seeing this kitchen around Halloween time and had almost bought it for her myself. "Yes, the pink one - of course!". I did a happy dance and told her that I approved of it. She went out and purchased it the next day, because with Costco if you snooze, you lose! Before seeing this pink kitchen at Costco I had fallen in love with the pink retro kitchen from Pottery Barn Kids. I had not fallen in love with the pricetag of $750 for the sink, icebox and oven however... so it was only a dream. I don't remember the exact price that she paid but I want to say it was around $170 for the 2 piece kitchen. Suddenly, my pink kitchen dream became a reality!

About the Kidkraft Pink Retro Kitchen Set
The KidKraft Pink Retro Kitchen sells for $250 and is available from a few online retailers, or as we purchased it seasonally at Costco for much less. As a parent you are probably well equated with the term "some assembly required". If you aren't, after you put this kitchen together you will be. The kitchen comes in a gi-normous box with the fridge being put-it-together-all-by-yourself while the stove/sink unit comes mostly assembled. This kitchen is made of real wood and heavy - the box weighs in around 85 pounds! My poor step-mother-in-law had quite a time getting this home from and had to call in reinforcements (Grandpa & his SUV) because the box was as big as she is and couldn't fit in her 4 door sedan.

Assembled you have a 2-piece glossy pink kitchen consisting of:

Refrigerator: 14.5" L x 14" W x 32" H

Stove/Sink Unit: 32.2" L x 13.1" W x 27" H


Our Experience
Assembly
My husband put this kitchen together for us while I supervised and occasionally handed him parts. All the while my daughter was bouncing around proclaiming "my kitchen!" making my husband want to get it together faster. Ironically about 5 minutes before he finished (and it only took about half an hour start to finish) she fell asleep! The stove/sink unit comes mostly put together already but the refrigerator is completely disassembled.It all goes together with a screwdriver (your own) and an allen wrench (provided). The fridge being boxy goes together quickly but my husband was baffled by the fact that its a bottom freezer model so that added a few minutes to the assembly time, I'm sure. Putting together the stove/sink unit consists largely of mounting the backsplash and the faucet. The sink (plastic but made to look metal) drops in. The faucet is metal but all the knobs and handles are made of a durable faux metal plastic. They are the only parts of this kitchen that aren't made of wood.

The Kid Test
My 2 year old daughter loves this kitchen and it gets played with daily. We set the kitchen up right in her room (after removing the changing table). As for the styling of the kitchen, my daughter doesn't understand the "retro style" but she does get 100% that its pink, which she loves. While talking about her kitchen in her little 2-year-old-ese toddler talk she always throws in there "My PINK kitchen" after requesting "Play with me!". And how can you refuse that? I can't!

The entire kitchen is made of durable wood and its not going to be knocked over or break any time soon. This is a kitchen that is built to last! I love that its all wood and not overly plasticky. I would have loved for it to include real stainless steel like the Pottery Barn Kids set - but the plastic is way more practical. I've settled for getting her some real stainless pots, pans & utensils.

The size of it is just perfect for my daughter to stand at and pretend to cook or play in the pretend sink. She is still shorter than the refrigerator (which makes it look so real), and loves to open the fridge and pick something out to 'eat'.

All the knobs click and turn, and there is even a fake timer that "buzzes". My daughter loves these, though if I had to pick a part of this kitchen set that might someday fail, this would be it. I'm speculating that over time or with particularly rough play these clicking plastic knobs may break off or stop clicking at some point.

The stove has 2 burners and small grill portion, as well as the oven (with a drawer beneath). The sink lifts out and there's also a cabinet under the sink for more storage. The fridge has 2 storage shelves and the freezer is a single compartment.

The Mom Test
I'm doing the NO BATTERIES dance! This kitchen is completely kid-powered and it doesn't come with any ahem realistic/obnoxious cooking sounds. Nor does it talk to you. I love that! Everything about it is completely kid-powered and 100% up to your child's imagination. My son had one of those talking kitchens and when the batteries went I never replaced them because I just saw it as so un-necessary.

This kitchen passes the clean-up test with flying colors. First of all, because its a glossy finish it is very easy to wipe down if it gets dusty or a spill on it. But, best of all - you can pack TONS of play food and dishes into this kitchen. We store all of our play food on the shelves in the fridge and in the freezer, and all our pretend dishes and pots and pans go under the sink, and in the drawer under the oven. My daughter's wooden play pizza set gets put away in the oven. Though the kitchen looks small from the outside it stores virtually everything inside of it, which makes clean-up a breeze.

The size of this kitchen for us has worked great. Because its 2 pieces I was able to set the fridge up on an angle in a corner and put the stove/sink nearby on one of the sidewalls. You could set the 2 pieces up next to each other or completely apart. The KidKraft Pink Retro Kitchen is smaller in size than the pieces from Pottery Barn Kids. Whereas PBK sells the stove and sink separately - KidKraft has the 2 in a combined unit. PBK's set is also taller (32" for the stove as opposed to 27", and 36" for the fridge as opposed to 32"). This makes the KidKraft set have more appeal and ease of use for younger children, but also means it may be outgrown quicker. I only wish that KidKraft also made matching washer/dryer and dishwasher pieces the way that PBK does but at KidKraft prices. I know someone with a PBK retro kitchen and my daughter's KidKraft which cost less than 1/3 of the price of their's is just as nice (and in some ways, nicer).

Price Comparison

KidKraft Retro Kitchen including Stove/Sink & Refrigerator:
Retail price: $249
Costco price: $170 (approx)

Pottery Barn Kids Pink Retro Kitchen
Sink, Icebox & Oven (set of 3): $747
Washer & Dryer: $249
Dishwasher: $249


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): gift
Type of Toy: Playscene
Age Range of Child: 12 to 36 Months