Baby gates are perhaps the final frontier when it comes to products for children that are functional and beautiful. We've all grown so accustomed to the bland, bordering-on-institutional look of them that it kind of feels like how things should be. Safety comes first and we seem to collectively accept that it's okay if safety products are also ugly.
The baby gates on the market are, for the most part, uninspiring from a design perspective although there have been improvements and added features since the standard accordion-style ones my parents probably used when I was little (if they used them at all).
Depending on the type and layout of your home (and your parenting style), you may not use baby gates at all. But if you do and have been frustrated by your choices at the store, I've collected some of my favorite, stylish examples of baby gates. Many of them are custom built or DIY projects that address unusual layouts or spacing in a home or improve the aesthetics (and often, both).
They are a breath of fresh air and may inspire you for your own home. With any luck, the industry will begin to take note that there is a desire and a market for better looking baby gates, especially among families with multiple children for whom they are a fixture of the house for several years.
What do you think? Do you want more stylish options or is function enough?
MORE BABY GATES ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
• Going Rogue: Pet Gates as Baby Gates
• Using Baby Gates To Divide A Room
• Good Questions: Babyproofing a Rail-less Staircase
• Reusing Cribs and Baby Gates as Garden Trellises
(Images: 1. Industrial Design Sandbox 2. Because We Can 3. Benjamin Benschneider/The Seattle Times 4. Blue Ant Studio 5. Frazier Builders 6. Catrin Moss 7. Vernacular Studio 8. The Sunset Lane 9. Kelly Rae Roberts 10. Merriment Design)
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I LOVE that baby gate design by Samuel Martin! Prior to having kids, I found the same problem with pet gates. I had to make my own because they were all so ugly. Now we use them for the kiddos.
http://ibidemworks.blogspot.com/2010/08/project-poplar-pet-gates.html
In my family, baby gates serve as dog containment devices. I'd love to have something more attractive than the almost 10 year old cosco gate in the living room.
Who's to say it's only a short time? If one is just starting their family, and ends up having 3, 4, 5 kids...that gate's going to get a lot of use.
I personally enjoy seeing the different ideas on this site...I may not agree with all of them, but then again, who will? That's the beauty of diversity.
The first gate is unreal! I would love to have that!
A pallet-wood baby gate? Please, no.
As someone who uses baby gates for dogs, I see a huge difference between pass-through gates and barriers -- in both style and functionality. It's far more difficult to do an attractive working gate. That photo from Lake Washington, for instance, shows a very pretty barrier that would be unwieldy to pass through. The Dutch doors, on the other hand, are perfect in form, function and aesthetic. But children and dogs prefer to be able to see through the barrier, so slats come into play. But the horizontal slats of Ibidem's dog barriers? My dogs would climb them, and chew the wood. It's a more difficult design problem than you might think. Of all the designs featured here, I think the Loft gate is the most successful.
All my baby gates are hand-me-downs from family members, and they have been used exclusively as dog gates their entire lives. I would love to see a greater variety of gates made with pet owners in mind that are functional, durable, and easy on the eyes. That is something I would definitely invest in.
My dad made a beautiful gate for the stairs at their house from left over cherry that is easy to bolt on and off for when we visit. So much nicer than what I could find commercially.
A lot of these do not look like they'd conform to safety standards since they have built in "ladders" making them climb-able. The custom ones at Lake Washington look nice, but unless they actually have a hidden "gate" mechanism, they'd be pretty annoying to live with. The half-door ones seem the most functional, assuming that being able to see through the barrier isn't important for you.
So, seems like the product to make that would sell is one with a door that opens, that is see through (but with vertical slats, not climbable horizontal ones), with a nice modern design. I think the solid half-door works well for that staircase, as that one needs not be see-thru to a space on the other side. But I don't think the fabric one would be undefeatable by older, stronger toddlers.
And, a funny thought: the toddler I knew most recently knew very well how to climb over the gate at the top of the stairs when she needed to, but in general observed the gate and waited for an adult to open the gate whenever the gate was actually closed, as she knew she wasn't supposed to go down the stairs without an adult with her. (Much as kids often stay in their cribs until lifted out, long after they know how to climb out on their own.) I was amazed that the gate continued to work as a psychological barrier for her (she was not a passive or otherwise very obedient kid, and was a great climber) long after it ceased to be an actual barrier - I think it had something to do with the habit that was established before she could climb over it.
Cool! Love to see the other non-commercial options that are out there. Will keep in mind for future reference ;) P.S. I too use dog gates on occasion anyway and I live in a contemporary-built home, it would be awesome to have a nice gate. Those metal, commercial ones really are cold and industrial feeling. Boo.
Yeah, the 1st gate, Samuel Martin, is wonderful. Can see why it won an honorable mention. Could be used as decor once the baby out grows it. Wonderful, clever design.
Amazing! Wish I had these options when my kids were little! And I can vouch for the longevity of needing these. We had one up for years after the kids grew up to help contain the dogs. Fifteen years of an ugly baby gate! UGG.
Lovely, baby gates are truly ugly most of the time. But I agree, any with horizontal pieces of wood are a bit useless. I want the security of knowing my child cannot get through the gate so that I can leave them unattended (to a certain extent)
We went the retractable option, not as obtrusiive.
The "Loft" baby gate is definitely an improvement. If you prefer a pressure mount, have a look at the metro gateway by KidCo. My favorite is the KiddyGuard Avant by Lascal because it completely disappears when not in use. I saw it and it is strong.
Whether you can justify the additional cost depends on how many kids you have or plan to have. Whatever style and function that you opt for, I feel that parents should take this time to teach their child about security and risk at an early age instead of strictly relying on a gate. Looking at my son, I know that babies/toddlers have a bigger learning capacity than the society currently gave them credit for.