When I think of baby-proofing, I immediately think of plastic outlet covers and bisque doorknob covers. Not the prettiest things ever, and certainly not ones that fit into my third-trimester nesting plans which looked more like “make all the things look clean and stylish”.
Looking at baby gates and adhesive foam bumpers for furniture was honestly a downer because, while I wanted to keep my baby safe, I also didn’t want to give up a cute house full of my favorite farmhouse decor. After doing some serious Pinteresting, though, I discovered you can have your cake and eat it, too!
Here are 5 ways to baby-proof your home in style so you can have both form and function!
1. DIY Baby Gates
I love a good barn door, and it’s been a not-so-secret dream of mine to have at least one in my home one day. When I stumbled across this barn door baby gate by Remodelaholic, my Fixer-Upper loving self did a backflip! The best part about these - aside from the fact that they’re simple to make (we’re talking under an hour to construct the whole thing), is that they can be customized to fit your style! If you’re not feeling confident in building your own, you can order them already made or even use the bottom half of a dutch door!
2. Outlet Covers
As soon as my daughter was big enough to get around on her own, we put plastic safety plugs into our wall outlets to keep her from sticking her fingers (or anything else) into them, and it worked… for about a month, until she figured out that she could pull them out. I didn’t love the look of those plastic inserts, and once they were deemed completely ineffective for my little one, I started to look for something she couldn’t remove as easily.
These covers from were the perfect solution! They’re sleek and clean, and can’t be removed by tiny fingers! Did I mention they’re really inexpensive? You can find them here.
3. Bright Bumpers
I think corners were my worst fear when my daughter was still perfecting her walking skills. It seemed like everywhere she fell was near a piece of furniture or shelf with pointed edges! Bumpers were so helpful for us, but they were such an eyesore! I have a thing for white distressed furniture and natural woods, and neither is conducive to the plain black foam bumpers I found in stores.
Then I stumbled on these! How pretty are these colors!?! These are just as inexpensive as the black and gray ones I found in store, but let you keep your color scheme. Using the white covers on my white tables allowed me to keep the farmhouse look I was going for, and keep my little one safe!
4. Handmade Doorknob Covers
It seems like all the baby-proofing items out there are either bisque or black and made out of hard plastic. Door knob covers have been one of those things that have really helped us since my daughter learned to open doors, especially the doors to our bathrooms. Did I mention my daughter is a climber? Yup! And her favorite thing to climb on? The bathroom counter, of course. So we had to have a way to deter that.
The easiest thing is to use door knob covers, and Rhianna at This Lovely Life has such a cute solution to the not-so-pretty plastic ones! If you’re like me and feel like your knitting skills leave something to be desired, you can buy some online that are already made! They’re easy on the budget, and color-scheme/style friendly!
5. DIY Hearth Cover
One of my biggest concerns in our home was the fireplace. We have a gorgeous floor to ceiling bedford stone fireplace with a concrete hearth. It’s one of the reasons we loved the house so much. Of course, when we first moved in, kids weren’t even on our radar! I knew something had to be done about the hearth but just couldn’t bring myself to stick on an adhesive bumper. Not to mention that I didn’t feel like that would provide much safety if our daughter were to fall anywhere on it other than the corner.
As every habitual DIY-er does, I turned to Pinterest and came across this tutorial! It was brilliant, and just what I needed to ensure our little girl didn’t have a hard surface to land on should she fall. Of course, there was the added appeal of being able to choose the fabric and pattern I covered the hearth in. Anne In Residence walks you through a full tutorial to build a hearth and then cover it. We already had the concrete hearth, but her tutorial inspired me to make a no-sew padded cover for ours.
Here’s how I made it: I purchased this foam, this fabric adhesive, and 3 yards of material from my local fabric store.
- I cut my fabric to size and laid it upside down on a table with the foam on top.
- Using the fabric adhesive, I folded the material over the foam like I was wrapping a gift.
- Once the foam was completely wrapped, I turned it right-side up and laid it on our hearth.
It was a perfect fit, and has kept my daughter safe through many falls!!! It also took about 10 minutes from start to finish and was completely customizable.
Keeping our little ones safe is one of our most important jobs as parents, and no one said we can’t do it with a little style! Do you have stylish baby-proofing ideas not on this list? I’d love to hear about your favorites!
Xoxo
Jessica
Jessica writes for The Junq Drawer, a lifestyle blog founded by two mamas who share all the lovely things, from home decor and DIYs to parenting and faith. Wife to an incredible husband, mama to a beautiful little girl and undeserving child of a grace-giving God, her passions are decorating, building, vintage shopping, coffee drinking, photography and music. If it’s creative, she’s probably tried it! Living in the beautiful state of Kentucky, gives her an abundance of creativity, and she loves sharing her latest projects and musings. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.
