DIY Extra Wide Custom Baby Gate

Has anyone priced out baby gates? Daaaaaaaaaang. They are PRICEY! I mean, I get it. They are there to keep your baby safe, right? And safety shouldn't have a price tag, but let's be real. It totally does. So rather than spending $100 on a gate, I went out into the woodshop.

And this may have something to do with why it's been so long since I posted anything. Shop time takes time. Especially since I forgot to photograph most steps. So yeah. Sorry 'bout that.

Will you forgive me if I give a reveal picture at the beginning of the post instead of making you wait until the end?

Step 1: Planning (as always). 

It started as a rough sketch on an index card during breakfast. Then it moved to a scaled drawing on grid paper. I usually do a full sized drawing next on the back of wrapping paper, but I got lazy this time.

If you are making one yourself, the most important dimension is the base stretcher. Measure the floor of your opening. This measurement determines most every other one. Ours was 53 1/4" The second most important measurement is the gate size. Ours was going to be 40 1/2", but then I had an argument with the router and it became 39 3/8". I increased the width of the abacus side panel by 1 1/8" to accommodate that booboo.

With these measurements, you can start figuring out the rest of them. 53 1/4" total length was reduced by the 39 3/8" gate door, 1 1/2" for the right post, 1 1/2" for the left post, 2 1/2" for the center post, and 1/2" for clearance of the gate door and the hinges. The remainder is the side panel in our case, 5 3/8".

I wanted it to be 23-24" high, just above the minimum requirement. I wanted to keep it low enough to be able to easily step over it. I also didn't want any gap to be larger than 2". This was especially important in planning the slats for the gate. In all, here was my cut list:

A: Side Posts, 2, 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 23"with 1/2" x 2 1/4" notch to accommodate floor trim
B: Center Post, 1, 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 23 with 3/4" x 1 1/2" rabbet cut into one long side
C: Stretcher, 1, 1" x 2 1/2" x 53 1/4"
D: Gate Rail (Bottom), 1, 2" x 1 1/2" x 39 3/8"
E: Gate Rail (Top), 1, 3" x 1 1/2" x 39 3/8" with top edge curved (leave 2" height on each end)
F: Gate Stiles, 2, 2" x 1 1/2" x 20" with 1/2"D x 3/4"W dado cut into one edge each
G: Gate Slats, 13, 1" x 3/4" x 17"
H: Side Panel Rails, 2, 2" x 1 1/2" x 5 3/8"
I: Spacers, 28, 1/2" x 3/4" x 2"
J: Dowels, 5, 5/16" (round) x 7 3/8"


Step 2: Milling and Cutting

I used leftover 4x4 common pine construction lumber for this project, though I with I'd had 2x4s. It would have been a lot less resawing and planing during the milling process. In all, this gate cost me $10 for the abacus beads since we already had the lumber and hinges laying around the shop. I used two 4x4s, so if you are making one, you can probably get by with four 2x4s... around $12 total for the wood plus a little more for hinges and a latch. This assumes you have the ability to resaw and plane the pieces down. Without this ability, you'll have to buy dimensioned wood and it'll cost you more.

Once everything was cut according to my list, I spent significant time at the router, rounding over all edges that my baby could bonk herself on. I used an aggressive 3/8" round over since I wanted to make the edges as safe as possible. This would have been even more important if I'd been using a hard wood rather than the pine. (Side note: pine is actually a really good choice for something like this. It's non-toxic naturally and it's a relatively soft wood. Win Win!)

The trickiest round over is for the slats. I marked 1/2" on all sides of each end. This 1/2" would be inside the dado and as such I wanted to make sure to NOT round over this section in order to keep the dado tight. Leaving these sections un rounded over also gave me a flat piece on each end to stabilize the piece as it was being routed, keeping the piece flat on the work surface which would have been impossible had I been rounding it over all the way down each side.

I lined up the line with the outside edge of the round over bit. Keeping the right short edge in contact with a stabilizing pin, I started the round over on the right side of the 1/2" line. Pushing the piece to the left, I routed until the outside edge of the bit was lined up with the 1/2" line on the right side of the piece (picture below). I removed the piece from contact with the router before I hit that line. Repeating this on all four edges gave me oval shaped slats with rectangles on each end to fit in my dados. Again, using those rectangles to keep the pieces stable allowed the shapes to happen. NOTE: be super careful when working near power tools. Wear protection and be attentive. Your fingers are softer than wood and the router would have no trouble profiling your digits. If this step confuses you, think about it like a coloring book, except with power tools: route INSIDE the lines.

In the end, you will have slats that look like these below. You can see the ridges left behind by the router. Do yourself a favor and sand these away now since doing that on the assembled gate would be super tough. In the background you can see the dados that they will go in to during assembly.

Step 3: Assembly

I started with positioning the slats. I did this dry first, checking the gate for square before marking the position of each slat, starting with the center slat. (This allowed me to cut the outside spacers to fit, keeping the slat spacing symmetrical) Once I was happy with the dry fit, I removed one half of the spacers, and slid the slats towards the outside. Moving them back one at a time, I glued each spacer in place before tacking the spacer with two brads. The brads are only there to keep the spacer in place while the glue dries. Once that glue is dry, the brad isn't doing anything. If you don't want to use brads, that's fine... but you'll need to have a LOT of clamps and a decent amount of patience.

Notice I only put glue on the center of the spacers. The slats need to be dry so they can move seasonally. You don't want glue from the spacers to get onto your slats.

Repeat this with the rest of the slats. Once all the slats are in, measure the end spacers and cut them down to size so they aren't protruding out of the dado. Glue and brad the end spacers.

Next attach the stiles to your gate rails/slat assembly. I used Dominos for this process because butt joints aren't particularly strong. That being said, unless your child is the Hulk, you could probably get away with attaching the rails and stiles using good ole' glue and screw method. It's your call. Part of the reason I did this project is that I've been feuding with the Domino and needed a low pressure project to figure it out. While I don't have my Domino technique perfectly down yet, I got it to work. And pine is soft enough that it was easy to sand the joints smooth (thus hiding my poor Domino technique).

Next assembly is the Abacus Side Panel. Mark the positions of your dowels for the abacus. (Find the center point between where your rails will go, then mark away from that center point to locate the 5 dowel positions. Mine were spaced just over 2 1/2" apart.) I used the doweling jig to find the center of the width and make sure I was drilling perfectly 90 degrees in using a 5/16" bit. This could also be done with the drill press, but I have trouble keeping my piece aligned when I use the press. AKA: the doweling jig is my friend, and the drill press is my weird uncle that I tolerate when I need to.

To get perfect placement, use the aligning lines on the side of the jig to match your pencil marks. The jig will handle centering the hole on the width of the piece, so all you have to do is match this one mark, tighten the jig and drill to your depth. I drilled 1" into my piece. I kept that consistent by putting a piece of masking tape on the drill bit at 2 1/2"  from the end. (1 1/2" for the jig depth plus my 1" finished hole)

There aren't a lot of pictures from here on, because the side panel was a tough glue up with a lot of pieces that needed to be positioned quickly before the glue set. But you'll get the idea. Align your pieces where they need to go. Ease the edges of your dowels so they will slide in easily (or at least easier) during assembly.

Place your dowels dry. With 1" depth, trust me, they aren't going anywhere. Once my dowels were set firmly in one post, I glued in my Dominos to my center post (I rested the rabbet hanging over the edge of the table to keep the piece level on the table and give me the full other post to whack with the mallet.) Getting the other post attached required the use of that mallet. Very carefully, yet working quickly, I aligned all the dowels and my dominos, tapping it with the mallet to keep things moving together. Finally, I got it together. I lifted it up in victory!

... and then noticed that I had mis-oriented my post so the post was upside down. UGH! So as quickly as I could before my glue set, I whacked it apart using the mallet, chased down the abacus beads that had gone flying (including one that eluded me under the miter stand) and repeated my alignment and mallet assembly. 

And this is why you have no pictures of any of this assembly. It was chaos. And more than a little muttering insults at myself.

Once it was assembled correctly, I finished bringing the joints together using parallel clamps. I've got to tell you, if you aren't particularly muscular, using clamps to pull your pieces together is the way to go.

Step 4: Sanding, Finishing, Final Assembly

Sanding is so boring, but so necessary. Remember you don't want any splinters that could catch on little hands. Thankfully, pine is soft and sanding isn't as arduous as it could otherwise be.

I chose to dry brush on paint using just leftover trim paint. Dry brushing allowed me to keep the grain of the wood visible (thus making it clear that it's real wood) without leaving it unfinished. I also like the softness and slight rustic feeling of the whitewashed appearance once it's dry. For anyone wondering, once paint is dry it is also non-toxic. Apparently from what I've read all finishes sold within the US are required to be non-toxic once dry. 

Finally, assemble the unit by screwing the posts to the stretcher from the underside of the stretcher up through the bottom of the posts --- make sure to align the inside of the notch with the edge of the stretcher if you have floor molding like we do. 

Attach the gate to the side post using heavy duty hinges. Attach your gate closing hardware... which we still need to re-buy. Ugh. Let me know if you find something awesome because my hunt isn't going well. We have a temporary latch that is keeping it closed, but doesn't help align it vertically. I'd like the gate to get some support from the latch to relieve some of the pressure from the hinges.

In the meantime, get ready for the cuteness!

It's just high enough for E to peek over it. She's still in the cruising phase and she likes to use it to walk along. Note how the rabbet in the center post catches the gate.

She has discovered the abacus beads and loves them! I had thought about painting them, but ran out of ambition. While E isn't particularly mobile, she has a little friend that comes over and has already fallen down our stairs three times. Getting the gate up to contain our friend was important. Hopefully I'll have made a decision, purchased, and installed new hardware before friend L comes over again.

Once more: the (mostly) finished gate.

I like the way in turned out. What do you think? Was it worth the money I saved? $10 for a wide baby gate? It's not adjustable, but I'm pretty sure we can sell it to any one of the neighbors when we move. We live in military housing so everyone has pretty much the same house around here. What do you think? What should I sell it for once we move?

Our Farmhouse Table: Complete!

Today I bring you glad tidings. My toes will be stubbed no more. The Farmhouse Table is complete! Let's do a little recap. This is our dining room before:

Notice the highchair legs in relation to the sliding backdoor. Now, imagine a bleary-eyed mother of an infant stumbling coffee-less towards that exit to let the dog out. Shazam. BooBoo on the toe. I will say I liked our old high chair. It allowed our daughter to eat at the table with us as part of the family. I also liked the price. It was $2 at a garage sale. Granted, the lap belt was missing, and the zipper was operated with a paper clip. Yeah - it was definitely time to upgrade the highchair.

So why not upgrade the table too? :-) Are you ready for this? Are you really really ready? HERE IT IS IN ALL IT'S GLORY:

Do you see the best part of this picture? No highchair legs! Clear access to the backyard! YIPPEE! I was pleasantly surprised that putting a bigger table (38" x 72") in the space actually made the dining room look bigger! Our old table was 48" round and once you added the chairs, it took up the whole space. Not to mention when we had more than 3 guests, somebody had to sit at the kitchen counter "stadium seats". Bad hostessing, that!

The side chairs were part of our old dining set. Once I'm allowed back in the workshop, I'll consider building new ones. Or I'll just keep craigslisting until I find ones I like. At that point, the old table and chair set will be sold.

The cane back captain's chair and it's mate on the other side were a craiglist find. I paid $65 for the pair, cleaned them, painted them, and reupholstered them with some leftover Restoration Hardware fabric I had laying around. (I buy curtain panels at the RH Outlet --- cheapest way to get on average 3 yards of high quality fabric for $10)

One of my goals with this table's finishing was to match our existing furniture. The china cabinet in the background there was our first antique! We bought it at the Tacoma Antique Mall when we first got to WA. It's in a bit of a rough shape now that it's survived two moves and 9 months in storage, but I just call that more character. I am thinking a little rehab is in order there. I should probably replace the glass with plexiglass soon before E gets mobile.

Now for some detail shots:

Notice the leg brackets. This was one of the areas that changed from the original designs. When I got out in the shop, I decided using just a single layer of 2x6 made the brackets too small looking. So I dug into our leftover wood supply and doubled the size of each bracket, making them a chunky 2 1/2" thick.

The beading detail I stole from New Yankee Workshop was repeated in the leg beam, stretcher, and apron. I think it gives the table a subtle bit of fanciness without losing it's rustic aesthetic.

All in all, I'm really proud of this one! It's not perfect, but it was a very fun and educational build. And because it is made of just construction grade pine, it cost $90 to build. That's it. Meaning if I messed up a piece during the construction it was a $6 mistake (cost of one board). I can't tell you how much that knowledge freed me to do this mostly on my own. Had it been made of a solid walnut, there would have been a lot of steps that I wouldn't have tackled on my own. I think my husband is probably even happier about the pine than I am for this reason alone. 

Another perk of the pine? It is allowed to get beat up. It's not a precious wood, so my precious little girl can smack it with her spoon as she learns to feed herself. She can scratch at the finish (it's just shellac) and I won't worry. She can hang off of it and I know it's solid enough to hold her weight. In all, I think she likes it:

Our Farmhouse Table: The Plan

I am getting ever closer on completing out table, but I'm not sharing pictures of today's progress. Why, you ask? Let me ask you this: are you entertained by watching paint dry? No? Me either. Now before you panic, I'm not painting the table. Although that was in the original plans, my husband convinced me not to. Anyway - back to what I was saying: today I applied the final layer of stain to the tabletop as well as five coats of thinned shellac to the base. Good part about shellac: it dries in just 15 minutes between coats. Bad part about shellac: it takes a LOT of coats to build up a decent finish. Especially when you thin it with denatured alcohol in order to get a nice smooth hand rubbed finish.

So, instead of regaling you with pictures of layer one of shellac, then layer two, etcetera, etcetera... I decided I'd take you back to the beginning and share my planning process.

In case you forgot (or didn't read the Farmhouse Table Inspiration post), I'll remind you that the reason I decided to make this table: I'm clumsy. And I stubbed my toe one too many times on my baby's highchair. Thus, the only logical solution (using the word "logical" very loosely) was to buy a "Chicco 360 Hook On Highchair".

Normally, my husband would talk me out of something like this before the brain-train could even leave the station. He'd tell me that we could move the highchair out of my walking area. He'd buy a pool noodle, place it over the legs, and call it "Shabby Chic". He'd remind me that I have lots of other projects going on that I haven't finished yet... not to mention the steno notebook full of things I want him to build for me. He'd say we don't have time to build a table that we don't technically need.

But he was away on business, so my brain-train was already on it's way to Lowes as I sat at the breakfast table sipping my mocha and icing my toe. Knowing he was stuck on a plane for 6 hours, I texted him this:

He didn't reply. So, naturally, I assumed he approved. The fact he might be, you know, on a plane...? Nah. We'll just say he approves. In his absence, I decided the table would be 72" long, 30" tall, and 42" wide. It would have seven 6" boards joined together to make the top. I knew breadboard ends were important for stability and to help even out any warps and cups in the boards. So, I planned breadboards even though they are beyond my woodworking abilities. But that's why I married this wonderful man who was at 35,000 feet and couldn't tell me no at the time.

I planned the leg beams to be made of three 2x6s that I would plane down to give me a final thickness of 4". Using three boards would allow me to cut the middle board into two pieces and use a spacer during the glue up to create my through mortise. (It's not as precise as one a skilled woodworker would make with a chisel, but I'm not a skilled woodworker. I'm a novice who has watched too much New Yankee Wookshop.) The beam would then be cut down to 3" deep. Using 2x6s for these pieces gave me plenty of extra wood to work with when squaring these bad boys up. When you are a novice, it's a good idea to give yourself plenty of play, especially when the price difference is literally $2 a board.

Having a general concept in mind, I got to work on the more detailed plan. Now comes Kate's tip of the day. If you are a woodworker, pay attention. This is genius. Are you ready?

Wrapping paper.

Stay with me for a minute. In their attempts to make wrapping paper more accessible to the OCD among us who wrap gifts perfectly, the companies have begun putting a 1" grid on the back of their paper. AWESOME SAUCE! Perfect for a full scale drawing of your piece! By the time Paul got off the plane he had another text message from me:

Using this full scale drawing I was able to play with a few different bracket options. Did I want them to be based on equilateral right triangles? Isosceles? What about a beefy corbel instead? I drew all my options on spare wrapping paper, cut them out and held them up to my full scale drawing until I found one I liked and drew it permanently on the plan.

Also, doing the full scale drawing, I found that my plan to widen the feet by 1/2" on either side of the leg beam made the leg assemblies to look like ATAT's (Star Wars reference warning). Not really the look I was going for. Scratch that idea!

By the time I picked up Paul at the airport, I think he knew there was no talking me out of this one. I had pulled out the wrapping paper. In our house, that means it was happening. Thankfully, Paul is an incredible man who supports my hair-brained ideas. Even the ones that require him to spend a Sunday afternoon at Lowes, climbing on top of stacks of 2x4s to find the straightest and truest boards for me. Forget flowers, ladies --- this is love.

Overall, the plan worked out very well thus far! We've made some modifications along the way based on ideas from watching YouTube during the evenings. For example, the New Yankee Wookshop gave me the idea to put a bead on the leg beams and the stretcher to give it a nice detail and lighten the overall feel of the beams:

Muy bonita, no?

Coming soon will be the reveal of the finished table (assuming decent nap times this weekend). It's time I got this table out of the shop... I can't wait to see it in our dining room!

Oh yeah, and I stubbed my toe again this morning.

Our Farmhouse Table: Inspiration

Do you ever decide to make something that's a really useful and good thing to have, but the reason you decided to make it was, at best, questionable? The farmhouse table is exactly that. The reason I decided we needed one? You'll have to wait and look at copious pictures before I share my true reasoning.

It could be that we needed more table space. Our family now has a little one. And it's not that the little one takes up that much space at the table, but when you have a baby, and you are a military family living on the opposite end of the country from family? Having a baby means company. Company means the four person pedestal table we bought off Overstock four years ago just doesn't cut it anymore.

But that's not the reason.

It could be that we have always really REALLY wanted a farmhouse. In the country. With acres and acres of land that we could grow our own crops, raise sheep, and fish our own pond. We read a book about it once and it sounds great. (Note: if you don't speak sarcasm, you might not have grasped that last sentence was sarcastic. We read two books. And bought one. And reference it every week. (Note: that was more sarcasm, but somewhat true)). Oh, and I'm on Zillow (and Trulia, and every other real estate site)  all the time looking at houses that we could buy if ever we were to be able to settle down. My current obsession is this one:

It's a complete mess. I mean, in need of epic restoration. But in my way of thinking, someone else already did the messy part of taking it apart. Now I want to put it back together. I like broken things, because I can obviously fix them. Or so I think. In reality, I grew up hearing "Your dad will fix it" as my mom placed the broken item of the day at his spot at the table. So I grew up believing two things: 1) my mom can break anything and 2) my dad can fix anything therefore anything can be fixed. So naturally, someday when we buy a house, it will probably be a broken house. Hopefully a farmhouse.

But that's not why I wanted to build a farmhouse table. Although I believe in our dream.

So, maybe it's because I grew up with a trestle table, and I miss being able to put my feet up on the stretcher. I have very fond memories kicking my brothers' feet off the stretcher as five kids vied for the most foot room as well as the prime spot to invite the dog to sit next to you. Because if the dog was at your feet, it was sooooo much easier to feed her your zucchini. Ah nostalgia. So, yes, my new table has a fantastic stretcher that will fit in that nice big mortise there.

But no. That's not the reason.

The reason is simple. My child's current highchair has these metal legs that I am apparently blind to. I've stubbed my toe one too many times while bleary eyed in the morning while my espresso brews. And this little angel doesn't need to see mommy dancing around on one foot yelling and crying like a European soccer player (OH BURN!). Though, she does seem to think that's funny.

Yes, we could buy a new highchair. And I searched for one I liked. Really I did! I knew I didn't want one with stubbed toe hazards. Which means it couldn't... have legs? Ummmm. New mommy moment. Do they make those yet? Are the Jetsen's real? Can I get a hover-highchair? Turns out you can! Kinda.

They make highchairs that, get this, hang off the table. No feet to hurt my feet! I was one step away from the "buy now" on amazon when I read a review that said "...can't use a pedestal table". Then my brain worked again. Oh yeah - baby hanging off table with just one leg = pivot point = falling baby = bad.

Hmmm... What to do, what to do...

I've got it! Build a table!

So, yes - I clicked "buy now" and this puppy arrived:

Now all I have to do is finish building the table. Can someone tell me why exactly things take time to build? Because I really prefer instant gratification. Thankfully, I have a husband who understands handwork (who does the hard parts that I'm not a good enough woodworker to accomplish) and a baby who enjoys sitting under the umbrella and watching daddy work.

Did I marry well or what? My honey loves me enough to take a Saturday and cut 14 tenons. FOURTEEN tenons. To fit in the breadboard mortises he cut. I do love this man.

Soon. Very soon... you will see the finished table. And the worry of stubbed toes will be no more. And what a glorious day that will be.