DIY Farmhouse Criss Cross Gate

You know those big, beautiful, charming, white farmhouses that have white wood “criss cross” fences, that wind all the way around their big wide open porches, in the country, next to cows in a meadow, and a vegetable stand out front with corn, and tomatoes for sale, and a dog named Rusty running around? Yah? You do? Okay, good. Now you know where I got the idea for our “DIY Farmhouse Criss Cross Gate” 😊.

Porch Before the DIY Farmhouse Criss Cross Gate

Okay, so we obviously do not live in a farmhouse, and even the indoor theme of our home is not even close to farmhouse style. However, we do have some “farmhouse” traits in our home, and why would it matter anyway? I can have a mix of styles, and still totally look fabulous. In fact…I suggest a mix of what you love is best. There is absolutely no need to put any label on your style.

With all of that being said…I have been trying to figure out how to utilize our front porch “nook” for many, many years. It’s a very weird area where it’s almost too small to put a bench, but too big to leave empty.

The above photo shows the porch right before we got started on the DIY Farmhouse Criss Cross Gate. Doesn’t it look empty?

Maybe not to everyone, but to me it just looks like it needs something for folks to sit on 🤔.

Well, howdy ho. I did just that one year with these cute friendly witches for Halloween. Oh my goodness, I had such a blast creating this “Spooky Witch Porch” complete with fog for our kids and their friends.

Well, great. It made a perfect “stage” for the holidays, but the 2 different garden benches I tried here for us non-witches, never seemed to look right. It seemed forced. On top of that, when the benches were there, no one ever sat in them. I mean…it was like people were avoiding the benches on purpose, lol. What the heck?

Why Add a DIY Farmhouse Criss Cross Gate?

So…one day, I said to myself, “Julie…forget the damn benches. Get over it, Red. It doesn’t work”. As soon as I got myself over the benches, it allowed my mind to envision other possibilities (you will see where I ended up putting the bench below). It was then I finally pictured a criss cross fence. Maybe you recall other areas of our home that actually have the “criss cross” theme including in our kitchen, family room, and living room? If not, I will leave those other criss cross ideas/photos at the very end for you to see.

By the way, the gate part didn’t come to me right away, but here’s the drawing I made for my husband who said he could make the criss cross fence. Keep in mind, he wrote “Cita’s Gate” much later (he calls me Cita).

I’m not remembering the exact moment that the “gate” idea flew into my head, but I knew if we put a fence there with no opening, we would never be able to sit there again (not that we were anyway 😆). I was worried we would regret that. So, boom…let’s split the fence in half, add a latch, and call it “Cita’s Gate”. My husband get’s full credit for building the gate (see his full tutorial below), and the for the name “Cita’s Gate”.

Ta dah…

The Finished Reveal of the DIY Farmhouse Criss Cross Gate

Well, I guess you can say, “Cita’s Gate” is now part of the family, and she is one good looking Mama Cita. Rick did an incredible job, and this was not as simple as it may look (full tutorial, including most materials found below).

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As soon as he finished making the criss cross gate complete with the latch that I ordered, I knew I could play house with it, and set up different seating arrangements. No bench required 😊.

This homemade gate looks great closed, or open, during the day, at night, any style of chairs look cute, too. I am so happy we added this little bit of “country” to our more traditional home. I think we knocked it out of the park.

TIP: I use a special double sided hook to lower the flowers when we aren’t sitting there. They were super high with out it. Here’s a few more photos to take you through the rest of the tour, and then you’ll find my husband’s full DIY Farmhouse Criss Cross Gate Tutorial at the end of this post.

~ENJOY THE REST OF THE TOUR AND FULL TUTORIAL AT THE END~

TIP: There’s more “criss cross” designs at the end of this post!

DIY Farmhouse Criss Cross Gate Tutorial

Materials

6 cedar board 1x4x8

1 cedar board 1x6x10

Deckmate screws 1 5/8  #8

Gate latch

Gate/Door Hinges (we used ones we had off of an old door and sprayed them black)

Exterior primer/paint

Before you begin, you are going to want to prime and paint all the boards so you do not have to do most of the painting after you have mounted the gates.

To assemble the gate, you must first measure the size of the opening for the gate.  Then divide the measurement in half to accommodate the dimensions of each gate.  You will be constructing each gate with the 1×4 cedar boards for the bottom, sides and internal X’s using the 1×6 cedar board as the top rail of the gate using the Deckmate screw to secure everything together.  

You will also have to mount the gates using a 1×4 cedar board to each pillar so the size of your gate needs to contemplate the side width of each mounting board, and that total distance of the two mounting boards needs to be subtracted from the overall size of each gate so the two gates will shut properly.   

Begin by determining the desired size of each gate and measuring and cutting the bottom and sides to length.  The top rail needs to be to oversized by ½ inch on either end to allow the gate to open freely once it is mounted.  Once the box frame for each gate in constructed, measure diagonally from the upper left hand corner to the bottom right hand corner and cut a 1×4 cedar board to the measurement with the ends on a 45-degree angle so that the board run diagonally through the middle of the gate. 

Next you will have to take two additional measurements from the upper right corner of the board running in the middle diagonally, with a 45-degree cut for the right hand corner and an angle cut on the left to match up to the angle of the middle board you just installed.  

Repeat the process taking two measurements from the bottom left corner to the board running in the middle diagonally, this time with the 45-degree cut for the left hand bottom corner with an angle cut to meet the middle board.  When you are done you should have a perfect X in the middle of the gate.  

Repeat the process and construct the second half of the gate.  Once both gates are completed you will need to mount the hinges and each gate to the 1×4 mounting boards once you have determined how high you want you gate mounted and after you have affixed the 1×4 mounting boards to each pillar.

Make sure the gate shuts properly.  There will be a gap between the gates as they close.  This is normal.  Cut a trim board the length of the gate and fasten on one of the gates so that when the gates are closed, the gap is hidden.  

Mount the latch on the top rail and you are done.  Fill the screw holes with wood putty, sand, and paint the holes and touch up the gate as needed.

Kitchen Sink/Facet Makeover

Colorful Family Room

Coming soon…our front living room now!