DIY Upholstered Dog Bed

Sasha testing her new Sleepnumber bed.

This is our adorable Sasha, a golden retriever we rescued a couple of years ago. We love her dearly and she loves us back, 3 times more. I wanted Sasha to have a comfortable place to lounge/sleep/relax/read books where I wouldn't have to worry about removing pet hair (trust me, I spend enough time doing that already; she is, after all, a Golden and sheds like crazy).

I had this project brewing in my mind for sometime finally deciding one night to just go for it. The whole project took me about an hour to complete and it was all done with materials I already had. Score!

The materials I used were:

1 piece of 1/2 inch plywood, cut to size

1 x 2's, also cut to size

1 piece of foam cut to size

batting and fabric

glue, nails, wood screws.

No power tools needed. I used a hammer and a hand saw.

1. Start by determining the size you want for the bed and cut the plywood. I obviously overestimated and the bed ended up being too big, I think. When she's stretched out, Sasha does take up the entire space though. Still, could have been smaller. I might cut it down to size in the future.

2. Make a frame with the 1x2's using the plywood as a guide. I put 5 same size pieces side by side, horizontally and then nailed 4 pieces vertically to obtain a frame. Glue and nail the 1x2's to the plywood, giving yourself a couple of inches all around to staple the batting and fabric to the back. At this point you should have something that looks like this.

 

3. Next, use fabric glue to attach the foam to the top of the plywood. This is the simplest upholstery job you'll ever do. Place your fabric face down on the floor, batting on top of fabric and finally the bed frame with the attached foam facing down. Starting in the middle, on one side, pull the fabric taut and staple it to the back. Continue to the opposite side, until you have all four sides stapled in the middle. Continue stapling all around and you're done. (Sorry I don't have any pictures of these steps. I got carried away and forgot to document it).

As you can see, I made a little "headboard" and pillows to go with it. Why not? Is this not A bed?

It has been a few months since I made this and I'm happy to report that the headboard is still there but the pillows have long been ripped apart. Bad Sasha!

In case you're wondering, I didn't have a single piece of fabric that was long enough so, like a good DIY'er I used pieces sewn together from 3 different projects:

Curtains in son's room

Curtains in daughter's room

Tufted headboard

And that's it. Easy, fast and cheap! A couple more shots of milady enjoying her bed:

All perched up

I wove this pillow!

I hope you enjoyed this post!

xoxo,

Izzy

DIY Favorite Quote Wall Art

One of my all time favorite books is Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I'm a closeted Janeite hopeless romantic, what can I say? I just about die when Mr. Darcy proposes to Lizzie... swoon... but before we continue, I must state, for all you P&P enthusiasts out there, that I consider the BBC's 1995 production, starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, to be THE greatest adaptation ever! Anyway, I got this idea after watching the series for the third, hummm, tenth?...who-cares-I-stopped-counting-in-2005 time. I needed me some P&P goodness to look at every day. Colin Firth was unavailable to sit for a portrait so I went with something else...

Here we go.

I found this quote on Modern Hepburn, loved the pretty handwritten font and decided to paint it on an old frame I had lying around.

1. Start by removing the glass from the frame and clean it thoroughly with rubbing alcohol.

2. Print your quote on a sheet of paper and tape it to the glass to prevent it from moving around.

3. Turn the piece and start tracing on the other side with black craft paint. I used a thin brush to mimic a pencil.

4. Next, choose your background. I went with white and used a piece of scrap fabric lining I already had on hand. I wanted it to be clean and almost looking like it was painted directly on fabric. If you are using fabric make sure to iron out all wrinkles. I then used spray adhesive to glue it to the backing of the frame.

5. Let the paint dry, put it all together and voila, I've got Colin Firth Mr. Darcy proposing to me every time I look at it. Sigh.

No sew skirt

Ok, now that I know how to do the skirt, how do I get them legs?