Stylish and Secure: DIY Baby Gate Design
My friend asked me to make her a baby gate and I knew exactly what I needed to do! This baby gate design is so simple to make but so cute! The only tools you need for this is a miter saw (or you can have your local hardware store cut the wood for you) and a pocket hole jig. I have linked the one I like but you can get manual, less expensive jig. Let’s get started on the gate.
Step 1: Baby Gate Frame
I started by assembling the frame of the gate. A rectangle using 1×4 pieces of wood. The top and bottom pieces are longer, and the side pieces are shorter. I made 2 pocket holes on each end of the 2 side pieces, and connected the side pieces to the top pieces.
Step 2: Middle Supports
Once the frame was assembled, I moved onto the middle support pieces. These are 1×2’s, and are the same length as the side pieces. I put one pocket hole in the top and bottom of each support. Then, using pocket hole screws, I secured them to the top and bottom pieces 3.5 inches apart, center to center. Meaning the middle of one 1×2, to the middle of the next should be 3.5 inches. Make sure when building anything for children or babies, that the vertical pieces are close enough together that the child’s head can not get stuck between them. KidsHealth.org says to make sure the space between them is no more than 2-3/8 inches wide.
Step 3: Finish work
Time to clean it up. To fill the pocket holes, I used THESE Pocket Hole Plugs.
0I put wood glue on the plugs then put them in the holes. I then used wood filler on the seams to smooth them out. Once that was all dry, I sanded the whole thing down. I sanded the corners to be slightly rounded and not sharp.
Step 4: Paint and Baby Gate hardware
Because it is raw wood I put primer on the gate. Primer leaves a texture, so I then sanded it down with 220 grit sandpaper. I then painted it. Once it was dry, I installed the hardware to finish it up!
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