Curtained Storage: My First Attempt

As my daughter becomes more and more mobile, I am increasingly aware of all of the hazards in our apartment. There are exposed outlets, breakable knick knacks, and garbage cans within reach.

A major hazard is our TV stand. There is a big pile of electric cords and wires under it, easily within reach of a curious baby.

I wrote about a solution I read about online. It’s called curtained storage. I decided to give it a try, and am pretty happy with the results.

First, I measured the height and width of the spaces I wanted to cover with curtains. I went to Joann Fabric and picked out some black and white fabric. I used a 40% off any regular priced item coupon from their weekly ad, and ended up paying about $6.00 for the fabric.

Next, I went to Target and picked out three tension rods. The total came to about $7.00.

When I got home, I got to work sewing. I’m not an accomplished seamstress by any stretch of the imagination, and basically made up my own way to make the curtains. I folded all four edges of the fabric over, ironed them to give a nice crease, then used my Grandmother’s old sewing machine to stitch the hem. (To be honest, I have no idea if I’m even using correct sewing lingo! If you aren’t sure how to make curtains and my writing makes no sense to you, either try to make it up, like I did, or look it up in an internet search engine.) I stitched the top hem about an inch from the crease to leave room for the curtain rod to slide through.

I think it looks much better, and I’m also hoping it will keep our baby from getting in to all of the cords and wires. Either way, it was a cheap fix, and very doable for anyone.

DIY Baby Proofing: Curtained Storage

Our baby just turned 7 months old today, and she’s getting eager to be on the go. When we put her on her tummy, she’s kicking, reaching, and wiggling. She can’t move forwards yet, but she can scoot backwards, and turn her body in circles.

Our living room furniture faces the TV. When I see what’s underneath the TV stand and think about the fact that our sweetie may soon be crawling, I shudder.

Lurking under the TV stand are piles and tangles of electric cords. Cords that lead to the TV. Cords that connect the TV to the VCR and DVD player. Cords that go from our modem to the power strip. Cords that go to our Wii, and to our Rock Band equipment. Cords, cords everywhere!

Our TV stand, unfortunately, does not have doors or drawers. In fact, I think it is supposed to be a coffee table. The result: an insane amount of exposed, unprotected electric cords, easily within the reach of a curious baby.

If we had extra money, I’d buy a new TV stand, but we don’t have extra money. We definitely could store our Wii, Wii equipment, and other electronics in a different room, but that’s not very convenient.

I’ve been trying to brainstorm ways to make the coffee table/TV stand baby friendly. So far, I’ve been coming up with nothing.

I stumbled upon a fabulous idea today, and I am excited to give it a try. I didn’t find it under “baby proofing” or “TV stand” – I found it under the heading of “curtained storage.”

The idea is very simple: If you need to store items that you don’t want to display, buy a cheap curtain rod, buy some cute fabric, do a little sewing to turn the fabric into a curtain, hang up the curtain, and cover it up yourself.

This idea is perfect for what I need. I can easily buy 3 curtain rods, put them between the legs of the table (the back of the table is against the wall – that’s why I don’t need 4 rods), and hang fabric. Sure, it’s not totally baby proof – our baby could reach under the fabric – but it should at least serve as a deterrent.

I’ll let you know when I get around to doing it, and will for sure post before and after pictures.