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Review: Guidecraft Hideaway Country Kitchen


Last fall, we had the opportunity to review the Guidecraft All in One Play Kitchen and we loved it!  Of course it crossed our minds that not everyone would have enough room to house that kitchen and I think the same thing occurred to Guidecraft.  Their new Hideaway Country Kitchen is a room saver in more ways than one.

This new kitchen, which also comes in a pastel "Playtime" version, is a compact 30" wide and 15-1/4" deep.  What makes this kitchen unique is that it can be folded up flat by an adult and stored away in a closet or behind a piece of furniture.

The first thought that entered my mind when I found out that this kitchen folds is how safe is it?  After all, this is a heavy piece of furniture essentially.  It turns out that there is a bolt that keeps the kitchen locked in place so that no child will be able to accidentally start the fold-up process.  He or she would have to have access to the L-wrench and enough strength to turn the bolt.

This kitchen has many realistic features.  The clock has moving hands, the burners look like they have a stainless steel rim, the knobs for the stove and oven click as they are turned, and the oven door has a window.  The only complaint I have is that the two hooks are a little low.  We have a wide variety of cooking utensils and little oven mitts and none of them were small enough to hang on these hooks.

The sink also has turning knobs that are marked hot and cold and the faucet can turn, as well.  The dishwasher even has knobs that do not turn 360 degrees, but only as far as the two settings.

If you are planning on leaving this kitchen up all the time, then I highly recommend using the oven and dishwasher space for storage.  You could easily fit two bins or baskets inside to hold all the play food and cookware.  Then your child could pull these containers out when the kitchen is in use and then replace them when he or she is done.

The Hideaway Country Kitchen is a perfectly sized toy kitchen for preschoolers.  As you can see, it is an ideal height for our 4 year old son.  Our 7 year old son, however, is a bit tall for this kitchen, but that does not stop him from creating one delicious pretend creation after another.

You should expect to devote at least one hour to assembling this kitchen and be prepared to have one or two helping hands.  Like with most items that include hinges, it takes two people to keep the pieces at right angles while the hinges are being screwed into place.

To learn more about the Hideaway Country Kitchen and to view all the wonderful new Guidecraft products for 2011, visit Guidecraft.com, Guidecraft on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Thank you to Guidecraft for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.