Hi All – we don’t have kids yet but are hoping to start a family in the next year. We are just finishing off our house renovation and we are debating whether a stable door between the kitchen and dining room/play room would be a good idea. Hubby suggested seeking Mumsnetters’ opinions as part of deciding!
The background is we live in a quirky barn conversion (but with proper separate rooms rather than it being all open). There is currently no door between the kitchen and dining room and we’d like to put one in now. We had thought it might be useful to put a stable door in so that we can keep pets (none yet) and children out as needed. The bottom would be solid and the top would have 9 panes of glass to let light into the quite dingy dining room/playroom.
The main idea of the stable door that it could provide a way for me to be in the kitchen cooking but with the top half of the door open so I can keep an ear out for what is happening in the dining room/playroom when the children are in there. I think this could be of use now just with small children but also with slightly older children. It could also be a good way of diverting guests who often walk through the kitchen when we’d prefer they went through the lounge. My mother in law thinks it might look odd to have an internal stable door but we think the property is quirky enough already that it can be pulled off.
That really leaves us with the practical question of whether this sounds like it would be a useful arrangement as a parent. What do others think based on their experience? If you had this layout, would you consider the stable door, or would you use a stairgate? All thoughts appreciated! ?