- Renée Doby-Becht decided to make her 3-year-old daughter Ariah a playroom that incorporated Target and Starbucks.
- The room features a Target checkout counter, a Starbucks coffee stand with snacks, seating for Ariah’s friends, and a framed “employee of the month” poster featuring Ariah’s photo.
- Doby-Becht posted photos of the playroom on Facebook, and her post had over 10,000 likes and shares at the time of writing.
- “I thought this would be a perfect gift for her,” Doby-Becht told Insider of her daughter’s playroom.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Renée Doby-Becht knew her daughter Ariah loved two things: Target and imaginative play.
The mom and daughter, who are based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, like to play make-believe games together.
Renée Doby-Becht knew her daughter Ariah loved two things: Target and imaginative play.
“One thing I love about Ariah is that she loves to pretend play,” Doby-Becht said of her 3-year-old. “We always played store and restaurant.”
Doby-Becht explained that her daughter’s favorite store is Target, so around Christmas 2019, she decided to create the ultimate playroom for Ariah.
With the help of her sister and a friend, Doby-Becht transformed Ariah’s playroom into a shopping center as a Christmas gift.
The Target portion of the room contains a checkout counter with items for purchase underneath, a Target poster hanging above, and an “employee of the month” sign featuring Ariah’s photo.
In a Facebook post about the project, Doby-Becht explained that she used a Melissa and Doug shopping center she already had as the base for the Target checkout counter.
"Ariah already had all of the play food and groceries from her play kitchen upstairs," Doby-Becht added. This helped Doby-Becht save money throughout the project.
Similarly, Doby-Becht used a cube storage unit she already owned to make a Starbucks counter for Ariah.
"At Starbucks, she has a stand filled with coffee, Frappuccinos, muffins, cookies, crescents and of course, cake pops," Doby-Becht said of the stand.
Her friend Robert Mueller added the wood and flooring to the cube unit to make it look like an authentic Starbucks stand.
"I got the flooring half off, so I only spent $10," Doby-Becht added.
Doby-Becht's sister Brigette Doby is a graphic designer, and she added a lot of the authentic details to the room.
"My sister did all of the price tags, menus, sale signs, and used a Cricut maker for all of the logos," Doby-Becht told Insider.
Overall, the room wasn't expensive to make.
"I had the posters printed at Walgreens for 50% off," she said of other details in the room. "The frames I used were from Hobby Lobby and were also on sale."
Doby-Becht also added an additional coffee counter to the room.
The stand features a sign with a recipe for peppermint hot cocoa, as well as a faux Keurig machine.
The playroom features seating for Ariah and her friends.
A pretend kitchen and shelf full of fake groceries completes the room.
Doby-Becht said the room took a few months to complete.
Transforming the room into a mini Target was a lengthy project, so it wasn't a surprise gift for Ariah.
"It took longer than expected and it's hard to get anything done with a 3-year-old," Doby-Becht said. "I just told her, 'We are making your playroom a Target store!'"
"She was really excited about it," Doby-Becht said of her daughter's reaction to the room.
Doby-Becht's elementary school teacher also made Ariah a Starbucks apron that she can wear while she plays.
Doby-Becht shared photos of the playroom on Facebook, and they quickly went viral.
Her post had over 10,000 likes and 10,000 shares at the time of writing.
Doby-Becht told Insider that she was surprised by the reaction to the room.
"I knew people would like it, but not to this extent," she said.
Doby-Becht advised other parents to lean on their communities if they want to create a project like this.
"Get help from friends and family," she said. Doby-Becht also explained that parents can cut costs by waiting to purchase items on sale and checking Facebook Marketplace.
"I thought this would be a perfect gift for her," Doby-Becht told Insider of her daughter's playroom.
- Read more:
- Kylie Jenner gave a mini tour of daughter Stormi's playroom and it has everything from a 'storm' light to luxury bags
- A mom took her love for Target to the next level by throwing her son's birthday party in the store
- 36 photos of elaborate playhouses that have electricity, princess-worthy towers, and price tags of up to $400,000
- We toured a $7 million NYC apartment that has a slide and zip line, and it's a kid's paradise