Sunday, August 16, 2009

Chickenwire and Babyproofing ...

What do the two have in common? No, we haven't put our children in a chicken wire cage (tempting, but no!). Mr. T made doors for all of our shelves to keep the little fingers from emptying them of the contents.



I posted about these inexpensive Ikea shelves a while ago and how they went from a blah-Birch finish to white with the green paper inside. The door was the final step.


We didn't put any hardware on to open the doors for the time being. We also used one of the little guys below to make it harder to open the door. We used one on our pantry and it worked great when the Wild One was really little since she didn't have enough strength to pull the door open. You can also see here that the wood is just simple pine cut to size. Its held together on the back of the door with l-brackets and a screw in the side for support. The chicken wire was attached with a staple gun. We were worried that it might not be too sturdy, but its not wobbly at all.


Here was our temporary solution on one of the other shelves. Safety gates a neighbor had given us. Isn't that atrocious? Yes. But it worked until I thought of the chicken-wire doors.


Speaking of the basement, I'm determined to have all the shelving and photo organization done this week. I keep saying I'm going to do it but I think I have everything I need to finish now. And about the fireplace mantle my dad is refinishing for the basement fireplace ... I visited the 'Rents this past weekend and got to see the progress. Its taking him a lot more time because there was a TON of paint on it and he's having to use multiple applications of paint remover, but seeing it uncovered of all that paint - it looks gorgeous!

More transformations at Between Naps on the Porch and Twice Remembered.

16 comments:

  1. How creative. All we did was plug the electrical holes, and clip the cupboards...that's it.
    Love your plan and it looks great.
    Good mama!
    Happy MM
    Love Claudie
    xo

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  2. Creative idea. It's amazing what those little ones can get into. Looks great!

    Tina

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  3. That is a great idea and it looks great.
    Rhonda

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  4. What a creative idea!!! Great job!

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  5. I love chicken wire. One of my "to do" projects includes getting an old frame, adding chicken wire and hanging it in the kitchen to use for invites...I love having them displayed, but they kind of drive me crazy on the fridge.

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  6. I've used chicken wire on several projects. Great idea to keep tiny fingers away!

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  7. Great idea, that should work just fine. Sandi

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  8. The wire doors are so pretty and they really do keep little ones out without stopping the view inside. Very chic looking. Great idea. Hugs, Marty

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  9. I love the chicken wire doors.

    Carolyn

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  10. Love the Ikea shelf transformation! Love the chicken wire, too!

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  11. What a creative and attractive solution! Love it!
    Roeshel

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  12. I love it! Us Mom's can get pretty creative when it comes to childproofing and decorating, can't we :)

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  13. I love the look of the chicken wire. Great solution.

    I hope you will come for a visit.
    Cheri
    Its So Very Cheri

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  14. What a brilliant idea! It looks really great and stylish, too! Very nice!

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  15. I love how you used the chicken wire. Looks great.

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  16. The chicken wire looks great, love that idea!

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Comments? I love comments!