Seattle is home to a thriving DIY culture. As part of an occasional series of posts, we feature hand-made items created by staff at The Seattle Public Library and the library books, CDs, and DVDs that showed them how to do it themselves. We hope you’ll draw inspiration from their creations and check some of the many great how-to resources the Library has to offer!
When we moved to Seattle several years ago, my husband asked my daughter (then six years old) if she’d like a tree house in the backyard. Of course she said yes. When the tree was still bare three years later, I decided this project needed some jump-starting if it was going to get completed before her high school graduation. So I did what comes naturally to a librarian — I looked for books. I checked the library catalog under the subject “Tree houses” and reserved several books. When the books arrived a few days later, I brought them home and placed them strategically on the kitchen table.
My daughter was soon flipping through the books, attracted to stunning photographs of the most elaborate, complicated designs (three stories with turrets, anyone?). After being brought back down to earth, she was still enthralled with the idea of even a simple house of her own. The next Saturday she and her dad went out and bought lots of wood planks and screws (and borrowed some tools from a friend). Progress was slow over the next couple weeks due to endless rain (it was now late fall, the beginning of the rainy season). But pretty soon a basic wood frame took shape.
My husband used sections from a handful of books for inspiration and 
practical guidance, but the one he turned to the most for how-to instructions was Build Your Kids a Treehouse: The Complete Guide. Those of you who may be thinking that it’s not fair for kids to have all the tree house fun, don’t worry – many of the books about tree houses feature deluxe tree living for grown-ups!
Our tree house still lacks a roof (that will have to wait until summer), but it’s now a popular place for my daughter and her friends (they think they’re escaping the grown-ups but don’t realize we have a clear view from the kitchen window…).
~ Paige, University Branch
Leave a Comment