Howdy!
About a month or so ago, we swapped a couple rooms on the first floor of our house (former playroom became office, former wasted space room became playroom). The new playroom was off the front entry, and had a large opening that we needed to barricade.
French doors would have been a great solution EXCEPT they are pricey, and I didn’t really want to close the room off entirely. And to buy a gate for that width?? Forget it! So expensive, and I really didn’t even like the smaller ones we already had.
Enter my genius hubby. I used to tease him about not being very handy, but I have to say…he’s really coming around. He fabricated this DIY GATE (Baby or Pet…take your choice!) and it has worked out perfectly!
Best part? It took a matter of minutes to build. It’s also inexpensive to build. And it looks nice. Triple score!
Click ‘Next’ button below to find out how we made it…
(In a hurry?) You Can Also Download The .PDF Guide For Free Here)
Here is what you will need to complete this project:
– 1×4 pineboards (number of these will be based on size of the gate you are making!)
– deck screws
– hinges
– latch of choice
– stain or paint (I used General Finishes Gel Stain in Java)
We decided that we wanted our gates to be 36 inches tall, and measured the door opening to get the widths. We have now built 3 custom gates for three spaces in our house…
Getting Started:
– We used our miter saw to cut the pine boards to size.
– Then we laid everything out and determined the spacing for our slats. (TIP- we used a board length in between because it made for simple measuring…just use a spare to space them out!)
– I pre-drilled holes for the screws, then used the deck screws to connect.
– We added hinges and stepped back to admire:
Finishing Up
I opted to stain the gates for a more cohesive look with the rest of our house.
I had General Finishes Gel Stain left over from staining the pantry door, so that’s what I used.
We built the initial gate and loved it so much that we have now replaced all those old white plastic gates in our home.
Even though I don’t love the idea of having gated rooms, the style of these gates make them much more tolerable!
(Hinges)
I’ve taken a couple of close up pictures of the way I attached the hinges.
Hope this helps!
Please let me know if you have other questions!