Dog Crate Turned Storage Chest

Alicia W
by Alicia W
11 Materials
$200
4 Days
Advanced

Our 5 year old Lab, Koby, was having surgery which meant spending several weeks in his crate. Because the crate would be in our main living space, I wanted a functional piece of furniture.

After a Google search, I saw on Etsy, storage units with built in pet crates for over $900! I knew I could make one for much less.

After measuring the crate, I went to Lowe's and had one piece of 1/2" plywood (for the floor) and one piece of 1/4" plywood (for the top) cut to fit the crate. I added 3" on either side and 12" on the back.

Using 1"x2" pine boards, I framed out the floor.



Using 1"x3" and 1"x4", I built front side pieces and attached them to the floor.

I then built a panel for each side using 1/4" plywood, 1"x3" along the side and 1"x2" along the top and bottom of the panel. I attached these to the floor and the front pieces.

I added a back panel of 1/4" plywood and framed it out using 1"x2" and 1"x3".

I wanted to add shelving to the back of the crate/storage area. Using 1"x4", I determined the height of the shelves. The middle of the board was marked along with the height of the shelves.

Using a drill bit, I drilled a hole and added shelving pegs.

The shelves were cut from 1"x15" pine boards.

Corner pieces of 1"x4" were added to either side. These also contained the shelving pegs.

A floor was laid using 1/4" plywood. The floor was trimmed with 1"x2".

The top of 1/4" plywood was added. I wanted a rim around the top using the 1"x2" wood. Using a scrape piece of plywood, I aligned the trim and screwed it in place.

Six "feet" were added to the bottom of the cabinet.

Nail/screw holes were filled with wood filler.

A bead of caulk was placed around the edges.

The entire cabinet was sanded.

The entire storage cabinet and shelves were painted with a Valspar chalk paint in the color 'Kid Gloves'.

After it had dried, Valspar 'Dark Satin' wax was applied.

The panels were painted with chalkboard paint

The cabinet looks great in our family room and has plenty of storage.

And Koby... he's so happy to be in our main living space and is recovering nicely. Just look at his smileicon  

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  • Dawn Reed Dawn Reed on Feb 20, 2018

    I have an XL crate with (2) doors. How could I make this with both openings? Maybe no shelves? Would love to make ours look like it belongs in our living room.

  • Dawn Reed Dawn Reed on Feb 20, 2018

    I have an XL crate with (2) doors. How could I make this with both openings? Maybe no shelves? Would love to make ours look like it belongs in our living room.

  • Tori Doan Tori Doan on Mar 20, 2018

    What size kennel was this built for?

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  • Marlaina Linda Ibrahim Marlaina Linda Ibrahim on Jun 10, 2018

    No, my did died, but I still have his crate! Perhaps a “thought” for the future!! Awesome Idea, TY

  • AngelsAttic AngelsAttic on Oct 15, 2018

    Great Idea to start existing crate. our deaf dog is more secure in a crate & I've wanted to get one as furniture piece, but expensive so was thinking about building one. This definitely will be in my future.

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