If you're not familiar with me and my families story, we are slightly crazy. I say this because we have 3 Great Danes! For us it’s normal and I can't imagine life any other way but a lot of people looking in can’t imagine having 3 huge dogs!! And like any other loved family pet, our dogs think of our couch as their personal bed that they allow us to sit on. The problem with 3 Great Danes is they take up most of the couch and there are times where we have to kick them to the floor. For those times we wanted to create something that not only serves the purpose for them to lay on, but also not be an eye sore for when we have company over. The Great Dane might think they are lap dogs but actually do live up their name in size. We needed something big but more importantly something that could handle their weight. Like lots of things, I saved our twins crib mattresses after they out grew their cribs in the hopes of repurposing them and they have made great dog beds. We just put a crib sheet on one and threw it on the floor to see if the dogs would use it. I wanted to do something to dress it up a little and make it look like a piece of furniture instead of just a mattress laying on the floor. I found a neat pattern on Pinterest for making a dog bed frame and after some time studying, my husband and I came up with our own twist on it.

Supplies

8 - 1 x 4 x 6
4 - 1 x 2 x 6
Kreg Jig
2 1/2 inch Kreg Jig Screws
1 1/4 inch drywall screws
stain - Minwax Dark Walnut
cream latex paint
grey latex paint
8 corner brackets
1 - 2 x 12 x 12
1 - 2 x 10x 8
2 1/2 inch wood screws
wood glue

Cutting the 1 x 4’s

Showing you how the corners go together.

To figure out what size we needed to make the bed we measured the length and width of the crib mattress and added 3.5 inches to accommodate the width of the sides since they sit inside the front and back pieces. Our mattress measured 27 x 50.5 inches. I then cut 4 - 1 x 4 x 53 , 3 for the back and 1 for the bottom of the front piece. For the front we cut 2 - 1 x 4 x 14 inches and 2 - 1 x 4 x 17 inches and laid them out on the bottom 1 x 4 x 53 so we could get the angle we wanted. (The final picture will help the explanation with a visual) With the pieces laid out together, we played around with angles and decided we wanted a 45-degree angle for the opening in the front. We drew our lines and used the miter saw to cut the pieces. We then cut 6 - 1 x 4 x 27 1/8 for the side pieces and cut 8 - 1 x 4 x 10 inches long. With all the 1 x 4’s cut, I lightly sanded them to get rid of any splinters or rough areas. It was then time to assemble the sides.

Side Assembly

The black dots are where we drilled the pilot holes and screwed the pieces together.

Assembling the sides was pretty easy. We laid our side pieces out taking 2 of the 8 shorter 1 x 4 pieces we cut earlier and laid them perpendicular to the long pieces on each end. I marked on the longer 1 x 4's where I wanted my screws and drilled pilot holes just big enough for the screw to fit in. With the pilot holes drilled I used the wood glue and 1 1/4 inch drywall screws to secure the pieces together. We did this for all four sides.

This is what it looks like once they are screwed together.

With all four side put together its time to do the decorative trim with the 1 x 2’s. We cut them to length and secured them the same way we did the 1 x 4’s.

With the sides completed we put a couple pocket holes with the Kreg Jig in each side to secure it to the base.

The Base

Since we have such large dogs that will be laying in this bed we wanted to beef up the base. We decided to make the base more decretive so we made it about an inch longer then the frame on each side. The final base was cut to be 31 x 55 inches. We used 2 pieces of 2 x 12 and sandwiched a 2 x 10 in the middle for the perfect width. We connected each piece together with wood glue and Kreg Screws.

We wanted feet on the bottom to add some decoration to the piece but didn't want to spend a lot of money on them. We decided to cut them out of the scrap 2 x 12 and stain and paint them the same way we did the rest of the piece. We then attached them to the base with 2 1/2 inch screws.

Stain and Paint

Dry brushing the cream on after staining.

Before final assembly we stained all the pieces with Minwax Dark Walnut. You know me, I wanted to have an aged look to the wood. I first dry brushed cream paint over each piece. After they dried, I dry brushed some watered down grey paint to add a darker contrast. Once both colors were dry, I went back and dry brushed it lightly with the stain. This gave the appearance of weathered wood. With each piece finished and dry, I clear coated it with Minwax Spar Urethan to add a little extra durability. Time to put the puzzle together:)

Final Assembly

We started by taking a side piece and the back piece, set them together, and we used a corner bracket that we secured in the middle of the top and in the middle 1 x 4's. We did this all the way around until all 4 sides were together. We thought using corner brackets would make the sides more durable when the little guy (our boy who weighs 160+) leaned on it. We put the back side flush with the back of the base and centered the frame in the middle, that left about an inch on both sides. We then screwed the back down using Kreg Jig screws. We used a square and squared up the back corner and attached the side with Kreg Jig screws as well and worked our way around to the other 2 sides. Once everything was attached its ready to through the mattress in and for the puppies to curl up in it!!

Hope this has inspired you to turn something ordinary into a special piece but if you don't have the time to make your own, contact me for a custom piece and let me bring you that A Rustic Rose you've been looking for.

Our male Great Dane Enjoying the warmth of the fire in his new bed.

Thank you for spending time with me and until next time....

Addie

DIY Dog Bed