How many baby gates have you bought, then broke, & then tossed out? Not only are most baby-gates not very appealing, but they aren’t really that sturdy either {if you are mounting them between stair post, like we had to}. I’m not saying that they ALL don’t work, but I am the type of person that wants everything to really flow & having a big ol’ metal gate on my stairs, just didn’t really go with the rest of my decor. So, I looked around on Pinterest & fell in love with the idea of a barn-door baby-gate!

Lucky for me, I have a very handy fiance & soon to be father-in-law to help me build & install one.

First, we had to measure the area {length x width= 32 x 36} we were going to install the door.

Next, we went to Lowe’s & picked out the wood. Personally, I like to pick the pieces that have the most “defects.” Those little defects give the wood character.

Then, we started sawing away & placing the wood pieces where we wanted them to go. We stapled our pieces together, not for any particular reason, a nail gun will work just as fine.

After the gate was built, I stained it using a semi wet paintbrush to add that extra worn, wood look. I let it dry for about 10-15 minutes before I wiped off the excess stain.

We had extra hinges and a latch leftover from our parents fence they built, so I sprayed those black (originally, they were silver) & drilled them into the gate & then drilled the hinges and latch into the stair posts for completion!

I am super excited about sharing this post with ya’ll because not only does it add so much character & make such a loud statement, but it is also practical & beneficial.

You could even play around with some ideas & paint yours a fun color or use really cute knobs!

{For the wood on the gate I used Minwax- Dark Walnut stain: found at Lowes . This is one of my favorite stains to use for a deep, rustic, wood finish.}

{For the hinges & latch I used the Valspar- flat black spray paint.}