Jamie found this dog bed online,
and it was just about everything we liked…..reclaimed, plumbing piped, pretty freaking awesome…and sadly out of our price range.
To quote A Chorus Line……”I can do that, That I can do.” I have power tools, and a pile of scrap lumber in the garage.
Without going into all boring details, I built a frame from 2 X 4’s and an edge from 2 X 6’s with mitered corners.
The side are held together with lag screws. Just for the look. I drilled pilot holes before Jamie screwed them in.
My finished box frame…..
We beat the wood with hammers and crowbars to make the new pine lumber look more “reclaimed”.
Then we rubbed it down with the same stain from our wood headboard wall in the master bedroom. Jacobean
All those nooks and crannies from the beatings really stand out from the stain.
Here’s a better shot of the lag screws in the corners.
For the feet, we used 1/2 inch plumbing flanges with 3 inch connectors sandwiched between……. but weren’t diggin’ on the galvanized.
So again with the Rust-O-Leum hammered spray paint in Bronze.
Much better.
For the side rails we used more plumbing pipe. A 12 inch piece connected to 2 elbows and 2 smaller pipes. I drilled holes and hammered them in with a rubber mallet.
The plywood bottom just slips in.
That’s about it.
Looks pretty similar to the inspiration……at a fraction of the cost.
Jamie bought a hunk of 4 inch thick foam from the craft store, and cut if to fit inside the frame with a steak knife.
Then he wrapped the foam in dark brown canvas (dark brown will hide all the little black hair) and just secured it with safety pins.
And does Harley Davidson just LOVE her new dog bed??????
No, not really, (sigh)
We had to bribe her with a treat just to get on it for the photos.
(you can still see the remains of her yellow pedicure….NOT my idea)
This is what she usually looks like…..
Yes, we know that the floor is cooler.
But she keeps walking around the house crying, looking for her old bed.
So we covered the awesome new bed with her old, ratty, Doberman-stinkin’ blankets – and everything is right with her world once again.
You’re welcome, Harley.
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Bless her soul.
She is so cute! I thought she had a french mani at first! I think the bed you built looks better than the expensive one…nice job!
I don’t think it looks very comfy to lay on though it is cute; the wood edge would hurt if he wanted to stretch out! Dogs usually like a bolster or something they can sink into. Love your skills though!
Absolutely love the bed! It looks wonderful. I see how my puppy would love it! Thank you for sharing it!
Awesome job Dad’s….but what were you thinking by not placing her old bed inside. I guess she told you.
Her old bed was gross………and yes, I suppose comfortable
I love it! We have 2 big dog beds around. Can’t do a big frame because of where they are. Maybe some pendleton inspiration on a stadium blanket budget?? hmmmmmm……..
🙂
A Pendleton blanket would make a excelent dog bed…..LOVE that idea
Love It!!! Hubby thinks it’s going to be too heavy for me to move around. (we have bad dust bunnies here) Settle a bet: Does it weigh more than 50#? Thanks for all the great ideas! He’s now a fan too!
Hi Shawnee, tell him that it doesn’t weight that much. It IS substantial…..our beast is not very delicate and we didn’t want her to be able to tear it apart……Maybe 25 pounds. We put felt pads under the feet so it kinda slides on the floor to clean under it.
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Our doberman Shadow has the same ears – one up, one down. So cute!
Her ears were what drew us to her immediately! They were just as quirky as she is……someone botched the ear job (she is a rescue dog)…..and it’s her best feature. Aren’t Dobermans just the greatest dogs? So glad that you found us!
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WOW. I totally LOVE this bed! Do you recall how much it cost you to make?
Not much at all…….maybe 30 or 40 bucks.
By chance, would you be interested in selling this, if your doggie is still not interested in it, that is 🙂 ? I absolutely adore this bed, and this is *exactly* what I’ve been looking for, for so long now – this rustic / industrial style wood dog bed. Unfortunately, I don’t think my hubby would be able to make this beauty! If interested in selling it, please feel free to email me at annlanglois {at} hotmail {dot} {com}.
Hi Ann, luckily for us, Harley Davidson has grown quite attached to her new bed. Don’t think she’d want us to sell it out from under her. You can always order one from the company that we “borrowed” the idea from…..here’s the link http://olgaguanabara.com/gallery.php?piece=counting-sheep-dog-bed
Love this bed. We made 2 and have them together with the exception of the pipe on top. What bit did you use to drill the top? The paddle bits we have don’t seem quite right for the project. Thanks!!!!
James? did you get my question?
OOOh my God Cat!!!! I totally forgot to respond….so sorry. I meant to ask Jamie if he remembered the details. he doesn’t either. I used a paddle bit, not sure of the size but it was much smaller than the pipe, so I used a rubber mallet to really drive the elbow end into the wood. They are in there pretty tight, but I wouldn’t pick it up by the handles……
Thanks so much for getting back to me!!! I tend to over think things. Can’t wait to put the finishing touches on the beds:)
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Wonderfull James,!!!
Sorry for my english i am french.
I have a question what did you put on the wood to be dark???
I would like to do it for my baby dog 😉 .!
Hi Janet. Your English is much better than my French will ever be. We used a water based stain, American Walnut color, to stain our boards. Hope this helps you.
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Great job! Love your creativity & your humor.💜🐶
Awwww shucks, thanks Penny.