Dog Food Storage Armoire

Brian & Kaylor
by Brian & Kaylor
For those of you with dogs, you know that there needs to be a designated area in the home where their food, toys, bones and other random items stay. Our waterfront cottage does not have a lot of storage. Closets are decent but on the small side and we do not have any extra storage space in the laundry closet.
I had a hard time adjusting to having such a small laundry space when we first moved. I was missing our utility room in our New Orleans house. It was very big and we were able to store all the dogs stuff and food in there as well as the vacuum, ironing board and extra toiletries. When we first moved back to Texas, the dog food was stored in the guest room and we fed them in the hallway. Their leashes were usually left in the living room chair and bones were stored in the cabinet. Obviously, not a permanent solution but it worked.
Their stuff needed to be easy to access since we feed them twice a day and I wanted it to be hidden. I had been thinking about using a dresser for storage but I already had 2 in our living space. The buffet, which was my grandparents' dresser, in the kitchen and our entertainment center. Then I came across a bedroom set for sale on our neighborhood forum. I knew as soon as I saw it, that the armoire was exactly what I needed.
You would never know that the bird's egg blue armoire in our living room is storing all the dogs' stuff. The picture below shows what it looked like before. Big, brown and dated. This is not a solid wood piece. The door and drawer fronts are plastic molds that had some scratches and were badly discolored so I painted it.
This is what was behind the doors. I removed the dividers and sanded the area smooth.
That space now hides a plastic storage bin that holds about 30lbs of food.
The drawer under the food stores leashes, shampoo, brushes and medicines.
The next drawer holds extra leashes, collars and their life jackets. Yes, they have life jackets.
The bottom drawer has their food dishes. I added a wood top to the drawer then cut out round holes to hold the bowls. They just sit in the holes so I can easily remove the bowls to wash them. I love this! No more bowls being left out or licked across the floor.
They are in a great routine with this. As soon as I pull out the drawer they sit and wait. I put their food in the bowls, close the top up, and then say ok. That is their sign to eat.
When they are finished eating, I just push the drawer back in. All gone. That easy. This armoire is next to one of our couches and is one of the first things you see when you walk into our home. No one would never guess there is dog food and such being stored in the pretty piece of furniture.
You can see the armoire in the bottom left of the picture below.
It is near the entrance of the dining room. The blue is a great contrast to the wood tones in the table and buffet and with the neutral couch. I love this color.
This is one of my favorite makeovers that I have done for our home. We use it at least twice a day. I love that it is easy to use and eliminates clean up for me plus it is pretty to look at.
Brian & Kaylor
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Teresa Ross Teresa Ross on Jan 18, 2016
    What brand and color is this paint? I love it and want to do a dresser and mirror in it!
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