DIY: Baby Proofing Your Brick Fireplace

Materials Needed:

  • Plywood or particle board (Since both the staple gun AND the screws didn’t work that well with the particle board, you may want to consider getting plywood instead.  But we made it work!!!)
  • Upholstery Foam (we got ours from Hobby Lobby)
  • Fabric
  • Spray Adhesive

*For the above mentioned materials we spent about $80*

  • Nails/Screws
  • Staple gun
  • Hammer
  • Drill

 

We desperately needed a way to make our brick fireplace safer for Maverick, who is into EVERYTHING these days.  Here’s what we did!

 

We first measured the fireplace “step”. We measured the length across, how deep it is, and then how high it is. We then ran up to Lowe’s and had them cut some particle board in those dimensions…one piece for the top and one for the front.

Then we laid our particle board out on the fireplace and (when the drill/screws didn’t work out), nailed the top to the front. At this point we had basically just covered up the brick.


Then we got our foam out (we picked 2” thickness so it would at least be a little comfortable to sit on since we wanted extra seating anyway) and adjusted the placement to where we wanted it–it wasn’t quite long enough to go all the way to the floor. Then we sprayed the particle board with the adhesive glue (we accidentally bought a light strength glue but I’d go heavy-duty if I were you!) and glued the foam to the particle board.  

We let that dry for 10 minutes and then laid out our fabric on top.

We sort of shimmied the whole bench off the fireplace just a bit so that Brandon could staple the fabric to the particle board and then once he had the sides stapled, we stretched the fabric as we took the whole bench off to lay it  upside-down on the floor. He stapled the rest of the fabric on and then we took the bench and laid it back on the fireplace!!

IT IS AWESOME! I AM SO HAPPY WITH HOW IT TURNED OUT!

Want more information on how to baby proof your fireplace? My friends over at Mom Loves Best have you covered! Click HERE for tons of useful tips!

Tags: bench, diy, fireplace, mom, mommy, project

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Comments

    • Stephanie
    • December 21, 2019
    Reply

    We are going to be trying this out on our huge fireplace (the brick goes wall to wall, so about 12 feet) BUT I was wondering what kind of fabric you used on this? Anything specific or basic cotton flannel? I am more worried about my children getting food and stuff on it and it not washing out well.

      • Meghan
      • December 23, 2019
      Reply

      Ours has been up for about 2 years and still looks good, even with 2 kids and 2 dogs. We just used regular fabric (Michael’s or Joann’s) and went for it. I have spot cleaned it a couple times but that’s about it! When it wears out or gets gross we will just pick out a new fabric and remove the old. 🙂

      • Katie
      • October 2, 2020
      Reply

      Hi! This may be a silly question but do you still use your fireplace with this on?

        • Meghan
        • October 5, 2020
        Reply

        Hi Katie! Not a silly Q! We actually have never used our fireplace…before or after the bench. I would say to be careful of any materials used, making sure you are using glues/supplies that are ok for high heat. Then watch everything very closely, do not use fireplace unattended, etc. Sorry I can’t be of more assistance on this one! If you find any valuable info that may help others on this topic, be sure to post another comment!

      • Melanie
      • August 3, 2023
      Reply

      May I ask your dimensions for your fireplace? I want to know if you like the 2in thickness or prefer maybe 3inch? I would like one solid piece of foam to lay like you did but I may need to purchase 2 separate pieces to cover the board and then just glue separately?

    • Jasmeet
    • March 1, 2020
    Reply

    We tried this out and it worked out so well for us! Thanks for the tip!

      • Meghan
      • March 5, 2020
      Reply

      Aww I’m so glad! It’s been so great for us–we use our living room for a few too many games of tag for us to not have a little bit of cushion on that hard brick! 🙂

    • April
    • March 5, 2020
    Reply

    How do you attach the wood to the brick? Or does it just kind of “slide” on there?

      • Meghan
      • March 5, 2020
      Reply

      Hi April! We did not attach ours–it’s basically a 2 sided overlay. At any point we can lift/slide it off to clean behind/under, change out the fabric, etc. Hope that helps!! 🙂

    • Keeley
    • October 1, 2020
    Reply

    Ours is almost complete, just need to attach the fabric. Did you cut and sew the fabric at the corners or is there just a little bunching there where you stretched it and stapled? Thanks for sharing this DIY!

      • Meghan
      • October 1, 2020
      Reply

      Ahhh Keeley! Be sure to email me a picture of the finished product! 🙂 I did not sew anything–just a little bunching/extra. Hope you love the bench as much as I do!

      • David Geary
      • December 31, 2020
      Reply

      Do you have any specific tips on how to do the upholstering? Did you use one big piece of fabric, did you do each side individually, one piece going up and down with another going left and right overlapping? Thank you!

        • Meghan
        • January 15, 2021
        Reply

        Hi David! Great question! We just attached each piece of wood and one large piece of fabric to wrap it up. Hope that helps!

    • Farah
    • August 17, 2021
    Reply

    Since your cushion slides in place do you have any issues with it sliding off? If so do you suggest anything that helps it from sliding off?

    • Chelsie Sircy
    • March 19, 2022
    Reply

    Thank you so much for this!!! This was perfect for us to do- easy, inexpensive, and looks fantastic! I don’t think I’m able to post a picture on here or I would!

    • Carolina A
    • March 12, 2023
    Reply

    This looks great! Would love to do this to our brick hearth for baby proofing. Do you find that the corners are soft enough for future mobile baby? FYI, we also don’t use our fireplace. It currently has a dog bed in it that my dog’s love 🙂

      • Meghan
      • March 17, 2023
      Reply

      Yes–I definitely think it worked for all ages and stages. We left it up til we sold our house, so we made it through babyhood, toddlerhood and into the preschool years without any brick fireplace-related injuries! 🙂

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About Me

I'm Meghan. I am an average mom.

I'm Meghan. I am an average mom.

I am a wife and mama of two, just trying to keep everyone decently happy and content. I love scrapbooking, reading, the elusive date night, and iced coffees.
I'm Meghan. I am an average mom.