aemeijers wrote:

Smarty wrote:
As grandparents, my wife and I do frequent toddler babysitting.

The kitchen cabinets, drawers, and other compartments are very
tempting for our grand-daughter to investigate. We are looking for
a way to keep this closed and inaccessible to a young child, while
still allowing adults to easily open and close the doors and
drawers.

Unlike 30 years ago when our own children were toddlers, we now have
very high quality custom cabinetry and drawers, and do NOT want to
drill or attach any fasteners which deface or damage the cabinets /
doors. The fasteners were used 30 years ago required drilling holes
into both the doors and the cabinets in order to attach the plastic
latches. This is NOT an option for our current cabinets.

Does anybody know of any device or fastener or method which
provides a secure and reliable latch to children, easy access to
adults, and easy removal without leaving any permanent damage to
the custom cabinetry?

Thanks in advance for your assistance and suggestions.


Nobody else said it, so I will- they used to sell little
battery-powered alarms for applications like this. Smaller than a
smoke detector, but using a similar horn, linked to a photocell that
tripped the alarm five seconds after light hit it- hopefully enough
time for a grown-up to turn it off when they were in the drawer or
cabinet. I haven't looked lately- no idea if anyone still offers
them. Seems like an obvious market niche.

Thank you for the suggestion. I took the prior suggestion offered to
use magnetic latches, which are activated using a magnet "key" carried
by the adult. These are quite ingenious, relatively inexpensive, and
serve the purpose especially well. The Amazon and other user reviews
are extremely complimentary, and confirm that the latches not only work
very well but are truly 'child-proof' while avoiding any drilling or
cabinet damage.

My thanks once again to Jim ('JimmyDahGeek') for the recommendation he
offered on Saturday.

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