Toy Kitchens

We got a great kitchen at a garage sale. We saw the EXACT same one at Costco about 3 weeks after my husband bought it. Costco's price----$180 We paid----$5.(AND we got food, pans, utensils ect)
I second looking online at used ones. People will probably throw the food and other stuff in for free or cheap.
Just a thought
Laura

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Have you seen the ones people make from an old tv cabinet?? So cool and totally cutom. If your crafty you can DIY. Check out pinterest for inspiration.

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We love our KidKraft wooden kitchen.
We did site to store at Walmart and when it was shipped they package it great. Each individual piece was wrapped so they wouldn't rub on each other. So there were no damaged pieces during shipping. It was easy to put together, sturdy, and its cute.
Best of all is, it has tipped twice and survived (nothing broke). The reason it tipped was my fault, I hadn't properly secured it to the wall and having a kid that wants to push everything out from her bedroom to the living room I should have known better. So when we secured it, it hasn't gone anywhere.
The only thing I don't like is the sink. My kid figured out how to pop it out of its hole and carry it around. I wish I would have though of hot gluing it or something, because it just has two plastic pieces that keep it in place.
All in all we are super satisfied and have had it for a year.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/KidKraft-Vintage-Kitchen-in-Pin...
It comes in a bunch of colors too.

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We have one similar to this:
http://www.target.com/p/Maxim-Wooden-Kitchen-Center/-/A-1...
I love that it doesn't take up too much space. My son has been happily playing with it for 3 years now.

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Friend's son has one from IKEA that is quite nice, and the utensils and stuff that you can get for it aren't expensive, either. We got ours (plastic, step 2) from Freecycle.

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We got a KidKraft one last year for Christmas. It ended up being $125. We already knew we wanted this particular kitchen because of friend of mine has one and it has lasted her years and still looks brand new. I am definitely glad we went with this one, it was worth the money.

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Ive been looking for kitchens too. My sons love them at all of their friends houses so we are trying to find a gender neutral one. Kidkraft seems to sell the best rated wooden ones. If you search "play kitchens" on amazon.com (or anywhere really) a bunch will pop up.
I especially like the kidkraft one they sell exclusively on onestepahead.com
It is the expresso one with stainless looking appliances and it comes with two little sitting stools. Its a little more than your budget, but Im waiting for when the offer the $75 off of $250+ deal. They offer it several times a year and Im sure they will a little closer to Christmas. It got good reviews.
If you like the pink, they sell a cute retro looking one too, I think that is on amazon and is way under $200 plus they might offer free shipping too.

IKEA sells cute food/pots&pans/utensils ect for good prices. I wasnt all that impressed with their kitchen for their price tho.Thats just me tho.

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Costco has lots of choices.. Here is the link.
Great prices too.

http://www.costco.com/Common/Category.aspx?ec=BC-EC26686-...

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I'm not into plastic either. My daughter's godmother got her the kitchen from IKEA. It's wooden and the stove top lights up. The price is around what you want to spend. I think IKEA also sells some of the pots and pans too. Otherwise, go to Toys'R Us or 99 cent store for the smaller stuff

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My daughter has a hand me down from my neice that her parents bought at Costco. It was a number of years ago so I'm not sure if they still carry them, but maybe worth a look. It's wooden, but pink, not sure if that bothers you. It has a fridge and then a stove/sink/oven piece. Both my kids love it! A play kitchen is one of the best toy investments ever!

You could also try craig's list. Close to Christmas people are probably putting a bunch more stuff out there! Also look at Constructive Playthings, they have a bunch of wooden toys although I'm not sure of the cost.

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Honestly; Your REAL kitchen.

Get her some special things of her own that she can use in it (like a big bowl or two, and some bamboo spoons, and special towel for drying, etc.), and instead of her learning how to PRETEND to cook and help, she can actually learn.

18mo's can

- pour dry ingredients
- stir cold ones
- rip lettuce
- shake anything that needs shaking
- move chopped veggies from the cutting board to the pot/pan
- carry things from fridge or pantry to counter
- help wash dishes
- help sweep up messes
- throw things in the garbage
- etc. etc. etc.

Helps develop fine and gross motor skills, cognitive skills, verbal skills, color and shape recognition... and you train yourself up a HELPER in the process. As they get older, they can do more and more. They slow things down a little the first year, but by the 2nd they're speeding things up enormously. And you are teaching them MANY useful skills.

Kids this age are wired to copy adults (which is why play kitchens are a big hit with kids... they WANT to be copying and helping). When we give them tasks they can actually do, they keep doing them, and it's FUN.