I have recently come to know the concept of a “learning tower”. This is a slightly more stable stepladder for toddlers to reach the counter top in the kitchen or the sink, long before they have the height to do so. With my son always requiring a lot of attention and wanting to be involved, I thought that would be just right for him. When I started looking up the prices of these, I was quite surprised: Apparently something so simple can turn out very expensive. I guess it always depends what the target group is willing to pay. A second though led me to Ikea and, after discovering there is nothing suitable available, to Ikea hackers. One of the most common DIY learning towers you find out there is constructed by bolting the Ikea Bekväm ladder and Oddvar stool together. At the time of this writing this comes up to some 36 Euros material cost (plus screws) and ends in a construction which is likely not very stable, not looking nicely. After searching for a little while longer, I stumbled on this post which is still based on the Ikea ladder, but adds a custom frame on top. This already looks much better. However, when already going custom, I thought I might just go all the way and built a fully custom learning tower. That kept me busy for the day. I think the final result looks great and for one day work at less than 19 Euros (plus screws) material cost, this is a real bargain.