Melissa & Doug Cook's Corner Wooden Pretend Play Toy Kitchen

Easy to assemble, with cleverly written instructions.

The glue used in MDF is usually urea formaldehyde (UF). UF is a solid chemical made from a mixture of urea and formaldehyde. Extra formaldehyde may be added to the urea to make a stronger bond. The more extra formaldehyde there is, the more formaldehyde will be trapped in the wood and later emitted as a gas. This product is made of MDF. During assembly I went to attach parts N to O(oven door) and P(cabinet door). The part N are the handles with two standoffs. You screw these to the oven door and the cabinet door. Same handles for each door. Well in doing so one of the standoffs on each handle broke off. I immediately noticed it was cheap composite MDF board. Very sad considering the price I paid for a "wood product". You can even see in the pictures on the website the difference in the doors. I have screen shots with todays time and date showing the different pictures side by side. You can tell by the hinges in the pictures which one was made of wood and which one was made of composite MDF board. It's very obvious you can tell the hinges apart in the pictures. So after the standoffs broke off I decided to get my C-clamps and wood glue and fix the situation. Hours later after drying and going to assemble one handle went on fine(despite great concern of the other standoff just coming off). Yay! I share the news with my wife saying "Yeah, it was crappy material but Dad fixed it"... to then all the sudden while trying to put on the other handle the other standoff on the handle broke off.... So here I am doing my research on quality of Melissa and Doug and couldn't help but come across the process of how MDF board is manufactured. When it comes to MDF board if you do not seal it eventually it will emit a harmful gas. Kid's bite everything. What kind of products are Melissa and Doug peddling here? I am very upset as a parent to learn this. Not only am I having to spend extra energy to fix the problem you created but now I am in fear of letting my child play with this product. So what do I do? Return the product to a store that was closing and marked it down after complete assembly? Yeah what store do you go to that would do that? I will thoroughly be researching the Melissa and Doug products in the future if my son expresses interest then make my own.

Super cute kitchen and I had high hopes. Halfway through construction I missing dowels, have screws that are too long and pushed through the wood and a plastic piece that goes with the door already broke. I'm beyond frustrated and my kiddos are heartbroken. I'm sure I could chase down replacement parts and order a new piece to replace the broken one but why should I have to when we ordered it brand new? Ugh. I love this brand but HATE this kitchen.

My first thought about it was that it was very cute and gender neutral. To my surprise it did not last long at all. It became wobbly and I felt like I was constantly trying to re tighten something on it. The bottom over door came off and that was my last straw, to the garbage it went. I also want to mention that the oven door swings out, like a cabinet door which I thought was strange. We do love other Melissa and Doug products but this was not it.

My two year old looooves this kitchen! We are the third owners of this particular kitchen and are so happy to say it has held up so well! The wood is so much better than flimsy plastic. I am so happy with how this kitchen promotes my daughter's imagination! The paint has some chips but the structural integrity of the kitchen itself is phenomenal!