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Custom Baby Gate

This post was first published Jan, 2014. 
I have since revised it and added a cut list and graphic to help aid in building the gate! 
I hope you find it helpful! 
Thanks!

Wood Baby Gate for stairs
aka...
"let's try to keep Little Man from plummeting down the stairs"
It has already happened once.
Which is once to many.
The standard plastic gates from our last house were not wide enough for the stairs at this house, so I came up with this playpen-duvet bag-baby gate system...

...clearly I am on track for winning Parent of the Year award. 
After the baby climbed over and around my barricade and took the bumpy way down the stairs I decided it was time to bribe my husband with a cigar and send him off to build a baby gate.
Here's what we started with...

We have the world's tallest flight of stairs, thanks to the fabulous 9 ft ceilings downstairs.
That also means its a pretty long fall...as you can imagine.


We were most concerned about making the top level of the house safe since my office, the kid's rooms and the play area is upstairs and we spend a lot of time upstairs during the day. We decided to install a hinged gate at the top of the stairs.

Justin drew up a plan (even spaced the slats to code!)

baby gate design

He installed the wood bracket for the gate to hang on. We decided to leave it unfinished for now, because we have some other plans for this little half wall.


I drew up a "cut list" of sorts so you can see how the gate went together. 

Keep in mind a few things when you build your gate:

1. Adjust the measurements based on your space. Our stairs are on the wider side, so you may have to make the gate smaller for a normal sized stairway.

2. We built our gate so it would sit above the trim in the hallway. This leaves a gap between the stairs and the gate. If you would like your gate to skim the ground adjust the measurements accordingly.

3. We built the gate using his Kreg Jig and some basic lumber. I recommend this kit if you are new to using a Kreg Tool : Kreg K4 Master System (it is an affiliate link, which means if you buy anything using my link, I'll get a kickback, but it won't cost you a penny more!)



We haven't filled the pocket holes yet, but you can buy plugs if you would like both sides to be finished, I would use these : Kreg Pocket Hole Plugs (they come in lots of wood types, so just match to the wood you used!)
I was just a tad desperate to get it up....you can imagine!

wood baby gate
baby gate

Besides, the "finished" side is what you can see coming up the stairs and when it is open against the wall.

One of my big requests was not having to put the gate up and down...super annoying.
So the hinges and latch are a perfect solution. 

custom wood baby gate

The new gate is being used as I write this and I cannot express how relieved I am! The kids get to be kids and I am not freaking out every 30 seconds!

Yay!

do it yourself baby gate

Not to mention, I think it's pretty too. 

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