Like many old houses, ours has a fireplace. The hearth is made out of bricks, which is perfectly respectable for an old house, but a bit treacherous. When I was pregnant, every time I looked at it, I saw it under a caption that said “This causes gaping head wounds in clumsy toddlers.”
I puzzled over the best way to cover and pad the hearth. Should I try to sew something? (That’s a joke. Only my family is laughing.) Then when I was at Walmart or Meijer or something, I saw cushions for lawn furniture.
It turns out the cushion for a reclining lawn chair was exactly the right size to cover the hearth. The bricks of the hearth are scratchy, and hold the cushion in place easily. Best of all, when we have parties, the cushioned hearth works as extra seating for the young and healthy.
And none of my children has yet brained herself on it.
For more helpful ideas, visit Works-for-Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer.
Photo please?
GAH. We have one of those head wound fireplaces too. I never did find a good solution. Those stupid bumpers are ridiculously expensive.
That’s a great idea.
Yes, I remember thinking the same thing about our fireplace. I ended up just layering 2-3 quilts over it which he gleefully pulled off six or 80 times a day when he became a proficient crawler. He ended up banging his head on the stone a couple of times anyway.
i used to worry about that when visiting my parents.
great idea!
Blessings,
Karla
I wish this could work for me! I have a 10 month old who just started walking, but our fireplace hearth is narrow. I guess I’ll have to get the bumpers that are, indeed, expensive!!
So many places to thwack one’s little head on at this end, so hard to prevent all the thwackings…
Sigh.
Genius!