As I have mentioned, I have a 19 month boy who LOVES to get into everything! As a chronic worry machine, one of the many things I have stressed about since he began crawling was our fireplace. It has a brick hearth and I have been scared to death of Will hurting himself on it. Therefore, I have kept a gate in front of it. I know that they sell hearth guards but being my frugal self, I have been happy using the gate despite it’s appearance. Lately though with the thought of the new baby arriving, I wanted to save some space in the playroom so my husband and I decided to create a solution together. A friend had told me about seeing a homemade fireplace cover and that the person had made it not only be a safe solution to the danger, but had also made it the cover look beautiful at the same time. Well, my husband and I decided to give it a try. I think it turned out pretty great! Not only is it a nice safety feature, it looks aweseome, AND it was created at a fraction of the price than if we had purchased one. Check out financial breakdown, pictures, and directions below:
Price I found at various sources online for a hearth guard: $69.95-$120.95! Whoa!
(Some of these are fire resistant; ours is not but we made it so it easily lifts out of place for the extremely rare occasions we may have a fire.)
2X4: $3
Plywood: $12 a sheet, we used 1/4 sheet, so: $4
Foam edging: $5, we used 1/2 a bag so: $2.50
Batting for cushion: $14.95 at AC Moore-40% coupon=$8.95
Material to cover: old sheet with hole in it: FREE
Staples: around $0.50
Total Cost: around $19
Total Saved: $50.95-101.95
*I have estimates on the staples because we had a lot of material already on hand. Really we only spent the $8.95 plus tax out of pocket so our savings was even better! I am just trying to give you an idea of what it would cost if you didn’t have anything around your house already.
Picture before (using the gate)
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