Our pet room holds a couple of birdcages and a couple of aquaria. It used to be the kids' playroom, but they're school age now, so it's basically just for the pets now.Back when the kids were younger, though, we needed a way to keep them inside the playroom where they would be safe. One side was easy enough. It was a doorway and we just installed a small little baby gate. The other side, however, opened up into our living room with an opening about ten feet long. At the time, our only option was to buy a super expensive metal gate/fence that spanned the distance. It was a total eyesore and it wasn't completely rigid, so it could be pushed around a bit. We hated it, but it was the best option we had at the time.Thank goodness we found these retractable gates. While we don't need them for our own kids anymore, we do need something to keep our young nieces and nephews away from the pets. The eyesore gate is gone and shall never return because we can use this retractable gate that neatly hides away when not in use. It's actually taller than what we needed, but I think it looks even better than a short one. Easy to install. Easy to pull out and easy to put away. Very happy we found this gate.