Doors – how to deter children from opening an interior door

child-safetydoors

I have extensive work being done in one of the rooms in the house. For their own safety, I would like to keep curious 3-to-6-year-olds out of that room. The door to the room has no lock, and opens inward into the room.

I will of course explain to the children not to go there, and put appropriate incentives for compliance. However, I do not expect this to be 100% effective, and so am looking for a mechanical solution as well.

Note that the solution need not be 100% effective. For example, if a child needs to fetch a chair to stand upon to unlock the door, that is acceptable. I just want something to protect from impulsive "I am just going to take a small peek, I promise." Because this is only for a couple of weeks, I do not want to install a lock. Ideally I would like not to have to repaint the area either.

Best Answer

I think the most simple solution is this installed close to the ceiling:

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Assuming the surrounding paint is white, this really shouldn't require painting since it's one small hole and you could just use white wood filler to make the holes disappear once removed.