The always-useful Parent Hacks blog posted this simple, elegant way to keep children safe in the kitchen today. It was too useful not to pass on:

Mark the stove's "hot zone" with painter's tape

Kristin's simple visual cue keeps her kids safe in the kitchen while letting them stay involved:

I have a three year old, two year old, and 12 week old. They all like to play in the kitchen when I am cooking, and with all the baking I am doing this time of year, we talk a lot about staying back when I have the oven open or hot pots/pans on the stove.

I put a blue "box" on the floor with painter's tape and they know that if the light is on, they need to stay behind the line. It allows them to still watch what's going on -- they are very interested in cooking -- and works better for us than just repeating "stay back" a thousand times! I also know that when I have the oven door open, the line is far enough back that they can't reach over and get burned.

If you aren't yet a regular Parent Hacks reader, take one peek and you'll be hooked!

If you have parts of your home you need gated off from crawlers or little walkers, KidCo's safety gates are about the best being made, and normally they come with a premium price tag. The company has a great safety record and segments are connected with hinges so you can angle and block almost any kind of area. We started with a five-piece set that blocked off access to the back half of our house, and broke it down to a half-hexagon shielding our water dispenser when she had grown a bit more. We got ours used through Craigslist, and later sold it the same way - these things are built to last. Who knows how many people have now used the set we did!

For some reason, KidCo safety gate components are on sale in Amazon's Friday Sale today for 75% off, making individual segments about $25 apiece instead of $100 apiece. The value for the price is there even at the regular price - KidCo gates are worlds away from the wooden, ratcheted Evenflo gate that can block off a hallway and that's it. You might wish they offered more than black or white - bare aluminum or a brushed chrome would be a nice option in keeping with the product's simple design - but it's hard to argue with their convenience or effectiveness. They do make a beechwood version, but it's harder to find.

The off-putting product shots that are, or look, 30 years old actually have a deeper meaning. If you use the CPSC's handy search-by-company recall-finding tool for KidCo, you won't find it, because as far as we can tell, this company has never had to recall a product since it was formed in 1992.

Some locations are obviously in need of barriers - open stairways, etc. - but there are others where you might not need any if you play your babyproofing cards right. Make sure to check out Elise's great post on proactive babyproofing with style before you buy so you know just what you might need, and what you can get away without if you're willing to "think like a curious child." If and when you know what you really need to block access to, take measurements, keeping in mind that longer paths might have sections positioned at angles rather than running straight across a space.

To find the KidCo sale items, head to Amazon's Friday Sale, click on "Baby" in the lefthand column, and then scroll down and click on the "70% off or more." You'll see the KidCo gate components starting midway down the page.

Using child-proofing devices seems like a no-brainer. We all want our children to be as safe as possible. But organizing and decorating your home in a child-centered way, rather than relying on store-bought barriers, can make for a safe and beautiful home.

Well-meaning friends suggested that we’d have to transition from antiques to Ikea when our daughter arrived: “You’ll have to get rid of all that peeling painted furniture…it’s probably full of lead.” But our daughter MG has never chewed on the side of a cupboard, and at 14 months, she eats off of china plates, opens cupboards, and leaves our objects intact.

Creating a child-safe home requires thinking like a curious child. I’m not suggesting that you should allow children unrestricted access to your precious and delicate belongings, but you don’t have to lock every cabinet. I want my daughter to touch, but not everything, and keeping both my child and my stuff intact is a work in progress. To begin with, some pieces of pottery have migrated north for the childhood season.

I don’t like cabinet locks - I want MG to love the kitchen as much as I do, and learn to feel comfortable poking around. My solution is frontloading each cabinet with child-friendly kitchen stuff - salad spinners, pots and pans, bowls - and putting the ceramic bake ware and serving platters in the back. Ditto with the pantry: Cans and bins on the floor, vintage Ball jars higher up.

There are many durable and beautiful materials that will add charm to your home, and withstand curious fingers. We replaced the pottery bowl on our coffee table with a wooden one. I find myself turning to textiles, woven, printed, and embroidered, to decorate odd spaces. And pewter, enameled tin, and silver for vases and on the tabletop now seem like a sensible investment.

By all means, plug those outlets that fingers pry into. And gate that perilous staircase. But active watching and a sharp “no” can often stand in for purchasing yet another product. Consider these options:

• Buy used. Old objects look great, and often cost less, so you can be more relaxed about wear and tear. It seems more acceptable for a toddler to eat an ice cream cone on a chair you picked up on the curb, even if it’s been reupholstered. Embrace the “distressed” look. The children will help that farm-table age more charmingly.


• Since plastic is increasingly a child safety issue, try used china and silver for children’s table settings. We use mismatched bread and butter plates, scavenged from local thrift shops, and a silver porringer that’s served 4 generations of my family—and has the dings to prove it. (These are cheap and easy to find on Ebay.)

If you must put areas off limits, don’t forget your grandmother’s frugal and easy way: Rubber bands drawn across the knobs a few times secure cabinet doors and two straight-backed chairs block a doorway.

Welcoming children into your life can force you to rethink your home and refresh its décor. With a child-centered organization and decoration, you won’t have to plug every outlet and gate every door.