Southwest Babyproofing Fun

Home designs in the Southwest are so neat. There are the traditional one story adobes or two story adobes. There are stucco with red tile roofs. Inside, many homes offer kiva-style fireplaces. Our home? We have these really cool cut-outs in the walls going up our staircase. When we first moved in, we thought these were just too cool. And we think young kids will probably think the same thing...only their version will be something like this: "awesome, do you think we could squeeze through those?" You got it...they are the perfect size for children to dive bomb through to the next lower level. In the case of at least one of the cut-outs, that would be all the way from the second level to the lower level...a drop no child (or adult) would survive without major injuries. I spent the past month racking my brain trying to figure out a way to babyproof these suckers without totally ruining the affect and the walls they reside in. And, at long last and a trip to Lowes, I think I figured it out.
Pre-proofing:














And post-proofing:














I have only managed to get this one done so far, but G will be home this weekend to tackle the remaining five. The cool thing is that from the front, you can't even tell the plexi-glass pane is there. The acid-test will be when my nephew comes for a week at Thanksgiving..."baby destructo meet your match" in my brother's words :). Now onto the remaining household hazards that probably exist in homes across the continent.