DIY Dog Furniture

I saw this online and immediately wanted one.  Andy has a standard dog crate big enough for a golden retriever.  It lives under the dining room table and is just an awkward eyesore.  It would be great to have one that doubled as a classy end-table.

This particular one is listed for $105, although the nicer ones can run $200-$400.  Looking back, maybe we should have just bought it, because in the end we only saved about $50 by doing it ourselves.  The original plan was to only spend $20 and seemed like a stroke of brilliance. 

We begin with an old cabinet of unknown provenance that we acquired for $20 at Goodwill six years ago.

Until lately, it had been used to store our DVDs.  Now it will be transformed into Lady Andromache's doggie boudoir.  

First step was to remove the shelf and pull out the support pins with pliers.  Easy.  Next we had to cut windows into the doors.  That was a bit more complicated because the only power tool we own is a drill.  I used it like a woodpecker, and after three days of drilling and chiseling, we had fabulous open spaces.  

A little wood stain and varnish, and it looks great.  Just don't look too closely.

Anyway, we added fencing to the front doors by cutting up the divider that came with Andy's big crate.  We had never used it, and it was about time it justified the space it was taking up in the closet.  I attached it be means of screws and big washers for lack of any better ideas.  Then I pried the rotten cardboard off the back.

I was still undecided about how to finish the back when we went to Home Depot this morning.  The original plan was to use a panel from the portable dog fence on the patio, but that proved impractical.  After wandering around for a while, we found a pet grille meant for a screen door.  At $35, that was what pushed us over budget, but it worked out perfectly after trimming it down to size.

Scored some 3" high density foam for the bottom today at the craft store.  That stuff is usually $50/yard, but we only needed 13" AND we brought our 50% off coupon.  So, $9.

I covered the foam with part of Andy's old fleece blanket and secured it with safety pins underneath because I didn't have the patience to sew it into a zipper cover.  Took out the door magnets.  The front was retrofitted with a hook latch between the handles, and it was finished.

Andy hasn't seen it yet.  I hope she likes it when she gets home from doggie daycare.  Johanna was intrigued by the whole process.

Change of Plans

I've been looking forward to moving house for a long time.  Some friends of ours moved into a lovely apartment almost two years ago and I immediately knew I wanted to join them.  Unfortunately we had only just resigned our 12-month lease, so we had a long wait ahead.  When our next opportunity rolled around, they served us with new papers earlier than expected, and the location Dave's new job assignment was in question, so we opted to wait another year.  The move was now scheduled for next April.  I was really looking forward to being closer to friends, closer to Dave's work, closer to the free dog park, in a prettier apartment with a double sink in the kitchen, long counters in the bathroom, a gym and a pool.  (Our current apartment lacks both the gym and the pool, the gym being the more attractive prospect of the two.)

The de-cluttering began in earnest.  We were going to paint the walls, buy new furniture, replace the glass on the dining room table.  There was a whole list of exciting things that would happen "after we move."  One of those things was going to be trying for another pregnancy.  It seemed silly not to at least give it a shot after all the probings and scannings and surgical corrections we had done.

But you know what they say: location, location, location.  As much as I wanted to just move and be done, in the end I couldn't reconcile moving away from my current doctor.  It's not that I'm particularly attached to her, but both my PCP and my OBGYN are in the same building, and that building is just a few minutes up the street we live on now.  The hospital is a ten-minute drive down the road and through a neighborhood.  If we're going to attempt another high-risk pregnancy, it doesn't make sense to move away from this incredibly convenient set-up we have here.

So, I mourned the move for about a day.  Then I bought (and built) new furniture and painted the walls.  I rearranged everything in the living room and the bedroom.  I made pillow covers and new table linens.  A large piece of glass will be procured to keep them nice.  The thought of possibly being pregnant, miserable and couch-ridden soon made me want to do all the heavy lifting now.  In the meantime, we've given up our semi-celibate lives, so we'll see what happens.

Pictures of the new decor to follow, just the "afters" because I forgot to take "befores."   Regardless of whether the pregnancy works out or not, I love our new blue walls.

Decoration Renovation - Tealight Centerpieces

I've always liked candles on the table.  When our table has actually been clear enough to use, we've had little glass candlesticks.  Here's the new idea.

• 1 large thrifted glass, $0.90
• 2 small thrifted glasses, $0.80
• jute twine, preexisting
• craft twine, preexisting
• 1 bag crushed shells, $5.00
• 3 tealights, preexisting
• craft glue, preexisting

Retail cost:  $6.70

Total cost to me:  $5.70

Decoration Renovation - Flower Vases

We have a side table sorely in need of a few accent pieces.  So, here's where we start.

I found the tall glass vase/carafe at the thrift store.  The other one was sitting around already being generally useless.  I don't remember how much I paid for it, but it dates from back in the penniless days so it's can't have been much.  The rest of the supplies were acquired at my workplace, Joann Fabric and Crafts.  The fabric paint, brush, and adhesive stencils were leftover from previous projects, and all this is laid out on my "craft mat," a repurposed swatch of discontinued upholstery vinyl.

The supplies:

• thrifted glass carafe, $0.90
• inexpensive glass vase, preexisting
• 1 pound skein of jute twine, $5.00
• 1 yard of woven brown ribbon, $3.00
• 6 long-stemmed burlap roses, $30.00
• 5 small burlap roses, $20.00
• adhesive stencils, preexisting
• black fabric paint, preexisting
• paint brush, preexisting
• 1 discontinued swatch of upholstery vinyl, $2.00
• 1 bottle of glue, $7.50.
• 1 bag brown excelsior, $3.00

Retail cost:  $71.40

You know I didn't pay full price for any of this stuff.  Fortunately I clip coupons and can combine my employee discount to sale prices.

Total cost to me:  $38.05

Decoration Renovation

I am officially changing the theme of this apartment.  Through the collection of various odds and ends from here and there, we've been heading in a classic stuffy European direction, which was fine for a while.  I've been feeling the call to a more rustic, craftsy theme for a while now; seeing it come together at Meredith's wedding just sealed it.

So, I'll be trying for less of this:

And more of this:

The greater part of this renovation will involve retouching and repurposing a lot of the things already collecting dust around here, so I expect to be buying a lot of paint and decoupage paper.   Hopefully any new things I need can be repurposed from the thrift store.  Whenever possible, I want to make things from scratch.  I'm cooking up an idea for a new bedspread which, unlike garments, I think my sewing machine and I will be able to handle.

I will be heading out to work tomorrow armed with coupons and my employee discount.  Before and after pictures will be forthcoming.

In the meantime, here's the first major project already completed.  This wall used to feature a flimsy poster frame with a cheap poster print of Raphael's School of Athens.  I replaced it with a nine-panel display of John 1:1-5 decoupaged onto the pages of an antique (1907) Latin commentary on St. Thomas Aquinas.