When my husband and I first got our puppy, Hattie, almost 8 years ago, we purchased an inexpensive baby gate/pet gate from a local hardware store. It was a tension fit gate that was a pain to install and remove on an as-needed basis. Thankfully we didn’t need this gate for more than a few weeks.
Then we decided to have children and our “gate need” situation changed dramatically. We needed gates with a multitude of features, including ones that looked stylish and modern. If you’ve read any of my other blog posts about having a baby in our home, you’ll know that I don’t want my home to look like a daycare and I don’t want to have to sacrifice style for safety and functionality. My search for the right baby gates were no exception to this personal rule.
I knew as soon as I saw the Lascal KiddyGuard Avant Retractable Baby Safety Gates that these were the gates for our home. My BIL and his wife have a stunning Modern-Scandi style home with a little one and a new puppy and these are the gates that they have installed. I couldn’t get over how sleek, modern and stylish these were – especially for a baby/pet gate! I didn’t know such a thing existed and now that I do, I am shouting it from the rooftops so that everyone will know! You don’t have to sacrifice style!!!
Five Must-Have Baby Gate Features
#1: Easy to Install: A baby gate that can be installed in a variety of ways. The stairwells in our home aren’t framed with drywall on each side, so we needed something that could easily install into wooden posts as well. The Lascal KiddyGuard Avant can be installed in almost every situation making it the ideal solution for us!
#2: Easy to Operate: A baby gate that can be easily opened and closed. I didn’t want to fuss with something that would drive me bananas every time I had to open and close it. If a gate is a pain to use, you just won’t end up using it. I can also open and close these ones one-handed.
#3: Discrete Mechanics: A baby gate that doesn’t have a visible mechanism. Okay, so this might sound silly to you, but our little one has figured out on many baby gates and how to open them. The mechanism on the Lascal KiddyGuard Avant is hidden discreetly at the top making it harder for her to figure out or even see!
#4: Something Safe: A baby gate that little ones can’t climb on. The barrier itself on the Lascal KiddyGuard Avant is a really tough mesh fabric. It isn’t like your traditional post and rail system that a baby can climb onto and swing around.
#5: Something Stylish: A baby gate that looks sleek and modern. I know that a baby gate can only have a certain degree of style, but I didn’t want something that looked like cheap plastic or like it was from the 1990s. The sleek stylings of the Lascal KiddyGuard Avant are significantly more discreet when they are not in use and still clean-lined and modern when they are in use.
Baby Gates In Our Home
I mentioned above that we have a few different installation scenarios in our home. Some were straightforward (between drywall) and others involved attaching to posts. Each was simple to install and the instructions provided made it a breeze! Check our gates out below!
Main Floor Gate 1: Basement Access
This gate was installed primarily to keep our little one from tumbling down the stairs when she first learned to crawl. Now it keeps her from venturing to other levels of our home by herself!
Main Floor Gate 2: Access to Upstairs
At first we didn’t think we would need this gate – until one day I was in the kitchen and saw our little one half way up the stairs on her own. I had no idea where she’d learned to climb the stairs and for some naive reason, didn’t expect it. Now she’s obsessed with climbing the stairs, so for her safety and our peace of mind, we’ve installed this gate to keep her contained on the main floor!
Quick & Easy Install
These gates were quick an easy to install and everything you need is included, which is great. You also don’t need a ton of tools – just simple ones like a drill, level, tape measure, etc.
If you aren’t sure about doing this yourself, don’t hesitate to hire a handyman! We found these installations to be quite simple and straightforward as the detailed instructions really break it down nicely.
