Kitchen Helper DIY

.

As promised here, here is our DIY kitchen helper aka "the tower". Mike was very excited to take on this project- partially because he was excited for O to have a tower and partially because he was excited to use his saw.

First we purchased and built our base, which was a step stool from Ikea. Then, Mike ran to Home Depot for some 2x2s. He came home with dowels and hand railing. Definitely a step up in the aesthetics department, and much less work because hand railing and dowels are already nice and smooth. No sanding required. :)

Just testing it out.

Helping Daddy.

Mike cut the hand rail to be the 4 main posts as well as the 3 sided top railing. The dowels served as rails between the posts so O couldn't escape through the sides of the tower. He cut the 3 sided top railing at an angle so it fit together easily. 

Handsome dude excited to use his saw. 

Angled like a boss. 

Just taking some final measurements.

After setting everything up to make sure it looked good we realized that the 4th top railing that would enclose it completely had to be ditched. Thus the 3 sided top railing. The 4th rail would have kept him from falling backwards, but it also made for a very tight fit when he was standing inside it. So away it went. We are still debating adding some sort of rope or dowel or something removable to keep him from falling, but honestly after using the tower for 2 minutes he had it mastered and I really don't think he will fall.

{Ok, except for that one time he fell. But that was my fault. I was pulling something out of his hand and he flew backwards when he let go. Mom fail.}

"Helping" daddy.

Had to get those screws in. Over and over and over again.

Once all the rails were cut and ready to go, Mike drilled little holes in everything and fitted them with little pegs. He stuck them together with the pegs and wood glue, then let it dry with some patio bricks on top since we don't have clamps. {Handy, eh?} The next day he screwed the four main posts to the base and the top 3 rails together as well. Between the pegs and the wood glue and the screws I'd say we have a sturdy tower!

All told this project took like 5 hours or more. But that was including the time spent running back and forth to the Home Depot after we realized plan A {having 4 top rails} was a no-go and needing additional supplies {since we now needed hand rail cut straight rather than angled on two ends}. And it also includes all of O's "help" which could easily account for like an hour. 

In action: he can climb up and down like a pro! It is easily his favorite place to eat snacks. 

In action: helping make banana "cookies". {Recipe here- just scroll down a bit}

I realize that I didn't take as many step by step pictures as I had intended on taking, but hopefully you get the idea. I'm super happy we went with hand rails over 2x2s because the finished product looks so much more.... finished.

I'm pleased to report that the tower has eased 99% of our kitchen troubles {especially him stepping on my toes} and was well worth the time, effort, and cash we put into it. {The 1% is the dishwasher. Damn dishwasher is still a baby magnet. I swear he can hear it open from across the house.}

-H