Custom Baby Gate HOW TO

Custom Baby Gate How To.

Welcome TLC Party People.  :)

This is strictly a guide to how we constructed our custom baby gate.  If you would like to see more photos of the finished product, they can be viewed in THIS POST.    :)

Materials:

 24 inch x 48 inch x 1 inch woodworkers panel  (found in the trim/moldings aisle) at Lowe's. 

Also seen, the baby to be gated.  :)

One 4 inch x 1 inch x 4 ft board

One 3 inch x 1 inch x 8 ft board

One 1.5 inch x 1 inch x 8 ft board

We also used several small pieces of bender board left over from the Board and Batten project found HERE.

Brandon placed the 3 inch wide board on top of the 4 inch wide board to create the stacked look that the hinges are attached to.   Below you can see a dry run we did, with the hinges and the main door panel, done to make sure everything was aligning correctly.   We also used this chance to trace the outline of the steps, which would need to be cut so that the gate could pass freely over.

Below is a close up shot of the boards used to hold the hinges.  You can see how the stacked the 3 inch and 4 inch boards are arranged, as previously described.  We needed the 2 inch thickness, and could have just used two 4 inch pieces, but we felt this looked better.  We were left with recessed screw holes, which I then filled with wood filler.

I tend to overfill and sand off any excess later.  

I took this photo to show you how Brandon measured the center of each trim piece as a guide before nailing on, but I'm posting it because it just looks so funny.  I know it is just the perspective and because he is such a tall guy, but his legs look so little here!  ha!  He looks like he's in a fun house mirror.  :)

The leftover 3 inch board that was not used as part of the hinge contraption was nailed to the top of the gate.  We used the 1.5 inch trim piece for the bottom of the gate, and the side. 

We spaced out the bender board to an eye pleasing look, and then measured and cut to fit.

Since the bender boards are 1/4 inch thick, and we used them on the front and on the back of the gate, our 1.5 inch piece on the bottom fit flush with the edges of the bender boards.  We used the liquid nails to attach the bender board pieces.

Here it is primed and ready for paint.

3 coats later (ugh! ha!), it was time to attach the caster.  We attached it to the edge farthest from the hinges in order to help with the weight load. 

The receiving end of the gate latch was attached first.

After attaching the gate to the wall with the hinges, we attached the gate pin, ensuring it fit correctly into the gate latch.

Done!

The gate took about 5 hours to build and assemble, and we couldn't be happier with the finished product.

And, just for convenience, here is the LINK to the post with more finished photos.

Thanks for reading!

:) Courtney

Custom Made Baby Gate

Here are some photos of our baby gate the hubby and I constructed this weekend!

Okay, well.. we both designed, he constructed most of it, and I did the painting.

Here it is!

Please, someone, tell this little guy that he is 7 months old and is NOT supposed to be scaling mountain size stairs!  LOL.

I thought we'd have a few more months before we'd have to figure out a solution to baby gate off these weird shaped stairs, but the time came sooner than any of us were prepared for.

We debated a supergate around, or building a similar style gate around the base of the stairs, but after Liam decided the computer cords in the front room made a nice teether, we decided to go ahead and gate off the whole front room.   :)  Sorry little guy.

View from the front room Before

After

View from the kitchen/family room Before

And, a few detail shots.

Ahh, just love that little caster on the bottom.  :)

I ultimately want to find a nice little glass knob to put on it, but it works just fine for now,

....although it isn't making Liam too happy.  ha!

Aww.  Poor baby.  Better safe than sorry though!

Here are semi-detailed directions on how we built it LINK HERE.  Hope everyone had a great weekend!

:)  Courtney

Linking to:  Just a girl.

Between Naps on the Porch

Savvy Southern Style

The first of many Playroom Projects

So a few months ago, I posted this post about re-doing our playroom and why I wanted to update the space.

Since that post, I've given the room a lot of thought, and evolved several ideas. 

Since storage and function is a priority for me, I'll start this playroom makeover with a highly functional project- Organizing my children's books.

This is what it looks like now..

This was the previous storage method...

Yet, imagine all of those books scattered on the floor, and that is what it generally looked like..

Why?

My boys would pull out books to look at, and then would have trouble putting them back onto the bookshelf correctly.  Or, they would have a book in mind that they wanted to read, but they would pull off several books before they found the specific one they wanted.   Then, of course, they couldn't get the books back onto the shelf because the other books were falling over.

I knew over a year ago that this book storage was just not working for us.  I noticed at the library that the children's section displays several books with the cover forward, so that the little ones can see the pictures since the words on the spine mean very little to them. 

I knew that this was the solution we needed.

However, what would I use to hold the books?

I have IKEA photo ledges in my family room..

and my immediate thought was to use them.  However, I measured the space and I knew I wanted at least 10 shelves.   The 45 inch version is $14.99... so for 10 shelves, not even measuring 4 ft, I'd be paying over $150.

Hmmm.

I noticed that another blog, The Stories of A to Z, used rain gutters.  http://www.thestoriesofa2z.com/2009/09/rain-gutter-bookshelves.html

Super creative, but I wasn't sure that this would work in my space.  I wanted something more streamlined, and the gutters in my local store were kinda sharp.  Since I'm not all that great at supervising my children while they're playing in their dedicated space, I wasn't so sure sharp metal edges were a good idea.

My next thought was to just build something like the IKEA shelves, myself.  I priced the wood, and it would was going to save me about $50 to DIY them, plus I could make them longer if I wanted - I was aiming for 5 feet.

I did plan to adapt the design to make them more durable, I planned on using a flat board as the base, with a quarter round trim piece to hold the books on the ledge.  I thought the trim would give just enough bump to keep the books from sliding off, while being low profile enough to not catch the books when the boys were trying to remove them.

I decided this was my plan of action until I actually arrived at my local store to purchase my supplies.  When browsing on the trim aisle, I came across this molding (which I'm assuming is used for baseboards). 

A 10 foot strip was $6.90.   What I liked about this particular trim, was that the board came with several grooves which work perfectly to catch the books and keep them from falling.  Plus, each 10 foot length would give me TWO five feet ledges, making them 3.45 each (not including other supplies, tax, etc.). 

I put 5 of the 10 foot lengths on my lovely blue rollie cart and strolled on over to the hardware section.  I found the perfect sized L brackets in a pack of four for approximately $3.. it was a little less, but my receipt blew away in the Lowe's parking lot, so I really have no idea the exact amount.  3 per shelf x 10 shelves = 30. 

I put 8 packs in my cart and also bought some heavy duty glue/adhesive.

Following the directions, I coated each bracket with the Goop and let sit for 2 min.  Meanwhile I mended this guy.

The first casualty of the 2011 Mini-Teeball season.  :(   LOL.

After 2 minutes the adhesive was ready to attach the the trim pieces which I'd earlier cut to size.

I pressed the brackets firmly into place, placing one approximately 4 inches in from each end, and one in the center of each ledge.

Per the instructions, I then let them cure for 24 hours.   Okay, maybe 16 hours.  ha.

Then came installation.

I started at the bottom, knowing that I wanted the larger, heavier books near the floor to avoid any head injuries in case they were to fall.

I then placed the tallest of the books on the shelf, to make sure there was enough room before attaching the next up.

Just like I'd hoped, the grooves held the books perfectly.

Since the shelves have two deep grooves, I'm even able to double up the books if needed.

I used a long level when hanging the shelves, and even though the L brackets show when the shelves are empty, they cover up perfectly when full.

The final total was around $67.  This included five strips of the 10 ft. moulding, 8 packages of 4 L brackets, adhesive, and a small chip brush to touch up the white paint.

I am beyond happy with the results. 

Our books are OFF the floor, inviting my kiddos to sit and read a bit.

-Courtney

Linking to:whatever-goes-wednesday