I love the brickwork and the shape of the arch. I even love the detail painting that was already here when we moved in.
But my fireplace does not heart babies. It’s a functional fireplace, and although we’ve never used it, it’s covered in layers of soot. I’m also pretty sure the chimney is crumbling on the inside because there’s always a little pile of dust and gravel in the bottom. (Yeah, no good. We should probably get that looked at.)
For months, I’ve been trying to come up with a solution for babyproofing the fireplace without resorting to an ugly and expensive hearth gate. And then I ran across something we had upstairs that might do the job.
This is a piece of fabric stretched on a frame. I built the frame in college and it originally had a canvas stretched on it for a painting class I was taking. A few years ago, I removed the painting and stretched the fabric for a cheap piece of “artwork” in our old apartment.
I’m not sure how long this will do the job, but it didn’t cost anything. It’s lightweight and won’t hurt her if she pulls it on herself. And it’s a heck of a lot prettier than a plastic gate.
