I did some quick searching on Pinterest and found lots of lots of great inspiration. My favorite was this DIY gate I spotted from the blog Tyson and Julia. My favorite part is that it is seamlessly integrated with their current staircase.
So, off to Menards we went. Ryan decided to go with pine 1x4s and used the largest available dowel rods (3/4 inch) for the railings. I like the clean look this combination created. And using the dowels made it much lighter and also much less expensive. (The dowels are still very sturdy, in case you were curious.)
For added stability, Ryan mounted it to the wall on an additional 1×4 that was screwed into the studs. He used two piano hinges that made it really smooth to open and close, and it also holds up the gate nicely. No sagging at all. We decided on a simple bolt closure, which is easy for Ryan and I to maneuver one-handed but gives a sturdy lock for Henry.
I’m really pleased with how gate blends with all the woodwork in the stairway. It doesn’t scream, “I’m a plastic piece of baby junk.” Which I consider a win.
So, that’s our better baby gate. I think it’s a huge improvement over anything available at the big box stores. Don’t you?
Thanks to the awesome hosts of the Pinterest Challenge – Michelle (Decor and the Dog), Katie (Bower Power), Sherry (Young House Love) and Megan (The Remodeled Life). Go check out all the amazing projects linked up.
Have you used Pinterest to find project inspiration?
newlywoodwards
newlywoodwards
newlywoodwards
newlywoodwards
newlywoodwards
newlywoodwards
newlywoodwards
newlywoodwards
newlywoodwards
newlywoodwards
newlywoodwards
newlywoodwards
This looks great!! Our house is not baby proof either – not that we’re ready for that step quite yet, but we bought a baby gate to contain our new pup downstairs for the time being. We may have to graduate to this beautiful piece of work in the future – *pinned*
It looks fantastic! Blends right in with the woodwork. Another fine job by your amazingly talented hubby!
“Mom, this is crap. Dont you realize I have places to go, people to see?” That is what is face is saying to me. LOL
I think this gate looks WAY better than what you would ever buy at the store
My God, it is fantastic! Can you please come over to my house and build one for us? We’re using one that IS a piece of crap and we can’t find one that will work well at the bottom of our stairs. ARGH. Please?
Great job! I really like the simplicity and that it blends in with your existing woodwork. Once we finally get a dog, I’m sure we’ll be building something similar!
I’m also linking up to the Pinterest Party, feel free to check it out: http://blackandwhiteobsession.blogspot.com/2013/02/pinterest-challenge-drum-shade.html
Yes, it is beautiful. I love it. Ive said it before, you guys should go into business – your signs, the dog food station, baby gates… I’d buy them all. Just think about it, m’kay?
Baby Gate is on my cons portion of my “To Have Kids or Not” list. I think I can scratch that off after this post. (And seeing it in person.)
And you’re the best. That is all.
Very nice non plastic piece of baby junk. Your model is adorable. And I’m lovin’ the text on the photo. Way to step up your game.
LOVE this idea. Our stairs are soooo not baby gate-friendly, but we’re going to need to figure that out soon.
This is so cute! We have no stairs, or dogs, or babies, but one day I’ll do this!
This is fan-freakin-tastic. It really blends in with the house, instead of sticking out like an eye sore. Great job!!
That looks so much better than the plastic things we use to corral our kids (granted our kids have four legs and fur, but still)! Great job!!
First things first, can we discuss how amazing how staircase is? So beautiful. I love it.
And the gate looks perfect! Blends in so nicely. I wish Jeff were better at this sort of thing . . . he has NO interest in woodwork, and if I forced him to do it, I KNOW in my heart there would be duct tape and gum included in the final product. I suppose I could try and learn instead of whining about it but . . . meh. Awesome work, I LOVE it. (Also, I remember Forrest doing the exact same thing as Henry–I didn’t even know he could move at all yet, and I was getting ready in the bathroom and peeked out to see him where I’d left him in the hall, and he had army crawled backwards like 10 feet into the bedroom. But at least he didn’t choose the other direction–toward the stairs. Crazy kids!)
So awesome!! Nice work Ryan. Can he please come to my house and build me one too?? Also can he bring your entire staircase with him because it is awesome. And you and Henry should come along too and play with B!
Wow! Great job! We never had a baby gate for Ramona, but we don’t have stairs. I always struggle with the one they have at her school. Makes me look like an idiot twice a week! I’ll have to keep this in my back pocket in case I buy a house with stairs!
I love the gate and I think it looks fantastic with your house, but my favorite part of this whole thing has to be Henry’s face. He looks so bored with the whole thing. So perfect!
Kim, I love love it! Such good thinking and it looks good
I also love the landing picture on your staircase.
Have you shared that before on the blog? If not I want to see more pics of this cute space!
That little Henry! He is just too cute! This is a great idea… Our new place has a set of stairs we will need to worry about – so I’m tucking this one away.
SOO much better than the plastic ones from the store!
Sarah
Love it so much! It looks awesome and totally seamless with your stairs.
xo
s
Your baby gate looks great! Love that it ties in so seamlessly! That Henry is too cute!
And Sherry commented on your project! You’re hitting the big time now too! haha
LOVE this! So wish I had seen this last week! We just installed a baby gate at the top of our stairs. It was expensive and does not go with our floors or trim. Boo.
Maybe I’ll paint it…
OMG!! Love, love, love!! Of course you would make a stylish, architecturally (is that a real word?!) cool baby gate!! Awesome job and that picture of Henry? WHAT. A. DOLL.
I love this! I can’t wait to make my own baby gate hopefully in the near future! I also adore the paneling in your stairway! Beautiful!
http://bergerqueen.com
Love this! We spent a large amount of money buying a gate that could be mounted at an angle because our stiarcase is weird. Who would have thought we could actually build one? The Woodwards of course! I obviously need to step up my pinning.
This is awesome, Kim! I wish we would have thought of this. Instead, we bought an extra-wide montrosity for our upstairs that we even had to jerry-rig to fit under our baniser. UGH. I may have to embelish it now that you’ve inspired me!
I love this, and you know I love your stairs, so I’m glad you put up a pretty baby gate. And as always, I’m endlessly impressed with Ryan’s handiwork.
I would tackle this myself, but my kids wait to crawl until they can pretty much dress themselves and go to kindergarten. So the plastic will do for the one month we need it.
Good day! Would you mind if I share your
blog with my twitter group? There’s a lot of folks that I think would really appreciate your content. Please let me know. Thank you
Visit my site – strong search engine optimization fiverr gigs
I also love how it blends perfectly with the stairs and isn’t all cheapy baby gate! good job!!
Love this idea Kim! I totally would have never thought of this. You did a fantastic job!! Henry is a cutie pie
.
That’s great. We didn’t really have to do any baby proofing with our girl. I just told her no and she listened, but that’s her personality. My new guy is only 5 months old but I can already tell he’ll be Mr. Trouble so now I’m going to have to start thinking about things like this!
Love this idea, so much better than a basic baby gate. By the way I love the staircase woodwork, it looks awesome
This is awesome! Looks like you did a fabulous job! Now I’m off to look through your archives.
It’s definitely better than any store bought ones I’ve seen. Well done!! (Your little guy is so gorgeous too)
Howdy! Do you know if they make any plugins to
safeguard against hackers? I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard
on. Any suggestions?
Here is my site Withdrawal Symptoms From Methadone
you should have shown step by step pictures. how do we know you really did what you said
This gate looks so nice! Well done!
That is so inspired! We haven’t put up a gate yet, we need to so bad. I would love to make something like this, I never even thought about making our own!
What an awesome idea! I never even considered making a baby gate. We have funky sized stairs too, this would be great!