A DIY Baby Gate it is shockingly simple and works like a dream, so I thought I would share my technique with you.
As return readers know, we live with my father. (We are trying to save money during my husband’s training years.) My dad has an awesome, curved staircase. I loved gliding down it like a princess when I was in dress-up dresses as a much, much younger woman. But now those big stairs have become a bit of a pain. My little gal is drawn to them like a moth to a flame, and, obviously, a standard baby gate is useless to me on those wide, open stairs. I originally put couch cushions on the steps, but then she got quite proficient at yanking them away. Dang.
Stellar peach decor, eh? THAT is why we needed to remodel and redecorate. I am SUPER excited to share the changes with you SOON! I was moaning and groaning about this to my friend and she showed me the Pin below on Pinterest:
Sadly, this Pin leads nowhere. So thank you, anonymous Pinner, for the great idea! I looked at the picture and came up with a plan.
Here’s how I made this simple and safe DIY Baby Gate.
To make this DIY baby gate I went to Home Depot and had them cut a piece of plywood for me to the appropriate height and width for our particular stairs. All stairs are different, so you will have to use a tape measure and figure out the correct dimensions for your stairs. I got an appropriate amount of batting to cover the front and sides, which for me was a bag of crib-sized quilt batting. I also bought about 3 1/2 yards of cute fabric at JoAnn Fabrics (use a coupon!) and got out my dad’s staple gun.
Cut your batting so that it will cover the front and sides of your plywood. You may have to piece it, as I did.
Now get busy with that staple gun! Staple the pieces firmly into place, folding and stapling the corners with extra care. They will be bulky, but that’s ok. That will just make them even safer for little people to be near.
Now cut your fabric. It probably won’t wrap all the way around, but you can use piecing to cover it if you care. That is what I did, as you can see below.
You can make your gate look nice by folding the edges under prior to stapling, as shown in the pictures.
Now you can simply fold the edges like a present, fold them back, and staple it all firmly into place, as shown.
Voila! All done! Now slide your DIY baby gate through the slats and you are good to go.
This DIY Baby Gate works wonderfully and keeps this cutie contained very efficiently!
To make sure you keep your child safe check out this great childproofing checklist from Real Simple.
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Fabulous idea! Thanks for sharing!
I’m super impressed. We are needing something like this for my parents house, except the stairs lead to the basement. I’m wondering if this would still work. Thanks for the inspiration!
I wished I had thought of that when my boys were little!!! Awesome!!!
Super smart idea my friend!!!
This is a fantastic idea! My husband suggested we try this for our living room stairs. It took me 10 minutes from start to finish, and the result looks amazing! Thanks again!
Yay!! I’m so glad it worked!!
Thank you SO much! This will be perfect for not letting my two cats upstairs! 🙂
Hi Sarah. Great job!
I see that there is a little space on the first step of the stairs. Is that fine so far for your child? Because I think your child can climbs up one step.
Well, my children have now grown out of baby gates, but yes, it was just fine for them, as well as all of my nieces and nephews. Never a problem.
If it were am opening to a kitchen you could make slats on either side for the board to slide into and you could make the board wall art for when its not in use!!
You are simply amazing! There are many areas in the house where I feel I should be baby proofed. Buying a baby gate for every such area is not possible. This type of homemade solution will surely come in handy.
What type of batting is that?
I can’t remember specifics, sorry. However padded you want it to be, go for that thickness.