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Quick & Easy Crate Dog Bed

January 16, 2012 in Building and Repurposing, Do it your Dog-Gone Self, Furniture Makeovers, Pups

I built this dog bed shortly before swapping out fall decorations for Christmas. So sorry it took me so long to share! It was a spur-of-the-moment “I’m still wearing my bathrobe” idea. I went out back with the dogs and wandered into my shed (aka second residence… it’s HUGE!). I started digging around in my scrap wood and had an idea. BUILD A DOG BED FOR ROXY! I know, I know…. didn’t I JUST build her a dog bed? Yes, Yes I did. (You can see it here. It’s much fancier!) In my defense, that dog bed is in my bedroom and she sleeps in it evvvvery night. Makes my heart smile to know how much she loves it. The NEW dog bed would be for the living room to try to encourage her NOT to sleep on the furniture. She’s a finicky old soul… and I cater to her every whim. Guilty as charged. Dana = sucker. Roxy = spoiled.

Back to business…. I ran in the house, measured a standard store-bought $5 bed pillow, then skiddaddled back to the shed. Yes, still in my robe. Stop judging me.

I found some plywood scraps that would work for the sides and then used some leftover furring strips for the front, back and bottom. I used the miter saw to cut the plywood down to size. It was a little tricky because I had to flip the board over and make another cut to go through the full width. No worries though… that laser came in handy! I also used the miter saw to cut my my furring strips to same-ish lengths. You’ll see in the photo below that I wasn’t particularly careful with this step. See how the strips don’t all quite line up?

The bed was assembled using wood glue and my brad nailer. SUPER simple. No really… SUUUUPER simple. Seriously. I promise. And the plywood already had those blue paint strips on the side. I was going for a very rustic crate look on this project so it didn’t really bother me. I decided I could always add some black paint on the edges and then sand some off for a weathered, worn look.

Next came stain! At this point I might have had an hour tied up in this project. That even includes my trip back inside to measure a pillow!

One quick coat of dark walnut Minwax stain…

I let the bed dry for the day and was ready to move it inside that evening! Just to be sure the stain wouldn’t rub off on the carpet, I placed the bed on the bottom shelf of a table. Didn’t seem to bother Roxy one bit!

Don’t mind the bits under the table legs. I’d just had the carpets shampooed and left those to protect the carpet until it was DEFINITELY dry. Better safe than sorry!

The pillow was a perfect fit. I threw a waterproof, washable pillow protector on it and plopped it in the bed. Not too long later…..

It’s so hard to see her. White dog + White pillow + iPhone snapshot = terrrrible exposure and camouflaged dog!

I love the idea of adding a design to the outside. Maybe something on the ends of the crate to make it look like an old apple crate or something of the sort. What do you think?

Please be sure to stop by and visit some of the uh-mazing link parties where I love to hang out. They’re GREAT sources for inspiration, ideas and encouragement.

Special thanks to Home Stories A2Z!

A Finishing Touch for Roxy’s Bed

October 28, 2011 in Bedrooms, Building and Repurposing, Do it your Dog-Gone Self, Furniture Makeovers, Pups

Confession – I’ve been sitting on this for a while now. Seems I’m BAD about that. I buy (aka hoard) when I find a great deal and then things sit until I get a sudden burst of motivation. Case in point:

I bought a cute vinyl decal on clearance at Michaels MONTHS ago. At the time, I thought I would find an old board to put it on or stick it directly to the wall above my window. The longer the decal sat on my dresser (see! I didn’t even put it away!), the less I liked the idea. I thought paint would look better on an old board and I was afraid the decal would be too small for the scale of the window.

But wait – Plan B (or C?) – What about putting it on Roxy’s bed that I built earlier this year? I held the decal up to the front of the bed and it was a PERFECT fit. Don’t you just love when things work out like that?! So of course I did just what you’re expecting, right….. put it on Roxy’s bed while I had it out? WRONG. I put it back on the dresser for another few weeks. (I swear, I have a problem!)

Fast forward to today… Finally got motivated. Took me long enough! While my Mom may not be nearby to make me clean my room, I still do just fine throwing a fit about it alllllll by myself! I put my big girls pants on, dug through the MOUNTAIN of laundry and made my way to the dresser. After reading the instructions twice (I’m a decal newbie) I slapped that bad boy on the bed! (there might be a better way to say that… but let’s just roll with it)

Yup… that’s a dog bed in the kitchen. Normal? Nope. But it was the best natural light I could find thanks the the skylight.

It’s definitely NOT perfect… but it was the third thing I ever built… so I’m pretty happy with it.

The bed was strategically sized to perfectly fit a couple of cheap $2.50 bed pillows at Walmart… which strategically fit in el cheapo waterproof pillow covers.

I love that it looks hand-painted. I think it goes well with the look of the bed.

Roxy likes to make sure EVERYONE knows it’s HER bed.

…and fair warning. You could probably stop scrolling now… because all you’re going to get now are pictures of Cutie Patootie Roxy with the bed in its normal spot….

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Still scrolling? Okay! You’ve been warned. Here are ~~a few~~ too many pictures of Roxy lounging in “her spot” in the bedroom:

That’s a water bowl to her right. If Queen Roxy wakes up in the middle of the night and wants something to drink, she’ll pace around the bed and growl until I get up and get it. So filling HER water bowl is MY sleep aid.

After 14 years of my photo sessions, she’s less than amused!

Awww

LOVING this decal!

Roxy is officially OVER it. Doing what she does best… SLEEP.

If you’d like to see how I built this bed, check out the original post!

Have a great weekend everyone! I’m hoping to get a lot of cleaning and laundry done. Here’s hoping I find the MOTIVATION.

Huge thanks to all of the amazing bloggers with such great link parties. Be sure to stop by and give them a visit!

Thank you to the following blogs for featuring Roxy’s Bed!

do what you LOVE what you do

October 4, 2011 in Bedrooms, Building and Repurposing, Wall Decor

Way back in May ‘The Lettered Cottage’ made an awesome sign for their mantel! I loved the idea. It seemed totally doable… or if your name is Christy you’d probably say “totes” doable. So I pinned it (I heart pinterest) and tucked it away for a rainy day project.
Fast forward about two weeks and I headed off to Lowes to buy the furring strips and thin strips. Game on.

I had a spot in mind for the sign and had already measured to find the width to fit the space. I cut all my strips down to that measurement and then laid them out to decide what sign height felt right….

Yup… I’m busted. Obviously I worked on this sign several months ago… I just hadn’t posted about it here for you yet. Evidence A – the partially sanded table pictured above that is currently staring at me front the kitchen all finished up (seen here).

Once I had the height and width I constructed my frame exactly the same way Lettered Cottage did. Easy as pie. Have I mentioned I don’t really agree with the statement “easy as pie”? I mean, I’m sure they’ve been saying that phrase for far longer than ready-made pie crusts have been sold in stores. So really, how EASY was pie really when they first started saying it? Probably not very easy. … but I digress. Back to the sign!

Here’s a look at the structure from the back:

I built the frame using wood glue, a couple of 2″ brad nails and some wood screws. The slats were then attached using small brad nails. Then I stained the front side. Hindsight – I wish would have stained the frame BEFORE attaching the slats. From the front, if you get close you can see that the frame is unfinished. It doesn’t REALLY irk me, but if I thought about it long enough it would. The problem was it was SO hard to get the stain down in between those slats.

Then I broke out my trust $5 yard sale steal-of-a-deal overhead projector. I whipped up my design on the computer, printed it on a transparency sheet and projected it on the sign. This is where I got brave. Rather than trace the letters onto the sign I sat there painting with nothing more than the light of the projector to guide me. Talk about holding your breath!

…and here she is after one coat of Annie Sloan’s Old White Chalk Paint:

I wasn’t worried about even coverage because I knew I’d be taking the sanding block to the letters for a distressed finish.

I’m sorry I couldn’t take that photo from further out, but that would have ruined the reveal of my finished bench and some fun lighting. Patience!

If you want the design for your own projects, here’s a PDF you can simply print it off using the link below and get to work!

bedroom sign 5

I made another sign for my sister and will have her snap a photo of it in her gorgeous living room. I was nothing more than grunt work… it was her concept, her design, and her painting. All I did was slap it together. …………and I think you’ll love it.

…and as always, if you decide to make your own sign I would LOVE to see your version! Send me a link to your post or even email me a photo – craftedniche{at}gmail{dot}com Maybe we could start featuring them here at CraftedNiche and on Facebook to get people’s confidence and creativity up! Don’t be afraid… just jump right in!

Be sure to check out all the awesome link parties where I’ll be linking up this week!

Huge thanks go out to Lines Across My Face for featuring this project!