A Katie-Friendly House

As all regular Suburban Zen readers know, JP and I pride ourselves in having a house that incorporates both brains and beauty: it looks great most of the time because it's built with a kid-friendly foundation that can take the beating our family dishes out. One important element to making our house work for our family, is accommodating Katie, the youngest, smallest and most independent of the Furber family members. Katie likes to do most things herself, and loves to help in the kitchen, so we have a set of simple tools to make that easy for her:

A Kik-Step Rolling Stepstool in our pantry that she can roll out when she wants to help in the kitchen

Little stepstools that we stash in the bathroom, under the coffee table, and other places so there's always one available for her to reach what she needs

A big breadbox that sits on a low shelf in the pantry filled with snacks

And a drawer full of plastic plates and glasses so Katie can help herself when she's hungry

And up until recently, we had a Stokke Trip Trap chair for her at the end of our kitchen table that served as both a booster chair and a step ladder, depending on the desired function at the moment.

About six months ago, Katie announced she was too big for that chair and no longer needed it, so now it sits in our garage. As Katie gets bigger, I'm sure each of the other helpers we have for her will be retired to the garage. But for now, they're happy reminders that while Andie is just a few years away from going off to college, our little Katie will be here to keep us company for a nice long time.