Check out this DIY dog crate console that would even make a cute faux fireplace, too!
At first glance, this may look like a typical console cabinet. And I guess technically it could be, but I actually made it for my sister’s dog.
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They wanted to give him a hang out spot for his bed, but also wanted to use this as a TV stand and storage console.
RELATED: How to Build a Modern Slatted Dog Crate Console
And if you know my sister, you know this had to have a lot of fancy trim and time consuming details haha.
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It did take some patience and a lot of unnecessary add ons because of those details. But, no pain no gain, right? It was definitely worth it.
The details make it pop, so despite the extra work, it did take things up a notch 😉 I think the doors make it look like a fireplace mantle.
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PS if you want more faux fireplace console ideas, here’s a couple fan favorites 🙂
I’ve got the plans and step by step tutorial below and I’m sharing the video here as well. This post contains affiliate links. See policies.
For this Dog Crate Console, You Will Need:
- 2 ½ sheets ¾″ plywood
- 1 sheet ¼″ plywood
- (1) 1x2x4 ft board
- (8) 1x3x8 boards
- (1) 1x4x8 boards
- (1) 1x6x2 ft long board
- Crown molding
- Cove molding
- Miter Saw
- Circular Saw
- Nail Gun
- Jig Saw
- Drill
- Pocket Hole Jig
- 1 ¼″ pocket hole screws
- 1 ¼″ wood screws
- (7) pair 16″ ball bearing drawer slides
- (2) pair cabinet butt hinges
- Cremone Bolt
- Hardware mesh
NOTE: Overall cost to build this dog crate console cabinet was APPROX $300. Lumber costs vary by location, so your cost may vary.
Step 1: Build Middle Console Cabinet Box
The first thing I did was start cutting down my plywood. I’ve got a detailed guide here for how I cut down my plywood sheets.
For this project, I ripped two 23″ wide strips for the middle cabinet and two 17″ wide strips for the side cabinets. Then cut them to length as needed.
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Once my plywood was cut down, I began assembling the middle section of this console first. This section was deeper and wider than the side cabinets since it would be the dog crate part of the project. I assembled the sides and bottom together using my Kreg Jig ¾″ pocket holes and 1 ¼″ pocket hole screws.
Step 2: Add Face Frame and Top Supports
Once the carcass was together, it was time to add the face frame. I used 1x3s on the sides and a 1×4 at the bottom and assembled a U-shaped frame using pocket holes and screws.
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Then I glued and nailed this onto the front of the middle cabinet section.
Now here is where some of those unnecessary details come in. I added another 1×3 at the top here on the inside of the face frame. I used pocket holes and screws from the inside (see video for details.)
This would have been easier if I’d added this as part of the face frame, but my sister wanted the crown molding that goes along the top to wrap around the 1x3s for some added detail. See what I’m talking about??
Once that 1×3 was added, I also added some strips at the top front and back just to give me somewhere to attach the top later. You could use ¾″ plywood strips or more 1x3s.
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Now the main box was together, but here’s where another unnecessary detail was added. I basically added a frame inside the face frame for the doors to sit inside. Again…this wasn’t necessary, but just added more detail and dimension…and work haha…to the project.
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I simply cut to fit and screwed these pieces in place from the inside.
Step 3: Add Dog Crate Side Cabinets
Now, it was time to add the side cabinets. She wanted these cabinets to be shallower than the middle section, so I made these 17” deep. And for these sections, there’s only one side, a bottom, and some bracing at the top. I assembled it all with pocket holes and screws again.
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Note there will be two identical in dimensions, but since one’s on the left and one on the right, they will be opposite orientation. The left one is shown below.
I flipped the middle section on its side to install the first side cabinet. I made sure that the top support was square (17″ from the back edge) before screwing it in place.
Then I flipped it on the other side to install the second cabinet.
Once the sides were attached, I added a face frame to each one by assembling two “L” shaped face frames with a 1×3 on the side and a 1×4 on the bottom. Then I glued and nailed these onto the side cabinets like shown.
Step 4: Add Trim Details to Console Cabinet
And now, more unnecessary details 🙂 I glued and nailed some 1×3 blocks at the bottom corners of the middle and side cabinets like shown. And then I cut to fit more 1x3s to go between them.
To finish off the trim details, I added some cove molding along all the bottom 1x3s and crown around the top. It’s a lot of little trim pieces, and you can totally skip it. But my sister wouldn’t be happy if I didn’t add literally as much trim detail as possible haha.
I cut to fit crown molding all along the top and I used a scrap piece of wood laid on top to make sure I installed these at the right height so the top of the crown would touch the top panel once I install it later. Everything needs to be even across the top of the piece.
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As a side note, you can add the crown after you add the top if you want, but I just did it backwards.
Step 5: Add Top to Dog Crate Console
Before I moved on to the drawer boxes, I went ahead and attached the top to make sure I didn’t run out of plywood for it.
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I cut a piece of ¾” plywood about 1″ longer than the total width of the piece (including the crown molding) and set it on top. NOTE: Depending on the size and style of the molding you used, your measurements may vary slightly. Double check your own sizing before cutting.
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I needed to trim the front corners down to match the shape of the cabinet, so I measured and marked to allow for about ½” overhang off the crown molding. I marked this off and put painters tap along the lines to help prevent splintering from the jig saw, then cut along these lines.
I applied some glue on edge banding along the sides and front of this piece, sanded it smooth, and centered it on the cabinet.
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I attached through the top supports of the middle and side cabinets with wood screws from the bottom side.
Then, I used a few more nails to secure the top edge of the crown to the top panel as well.
Step 6: Add Bracing for Drawers in Console Cabinet
Once the top was installed, it was time to move onto the drawers. I LOVE building drawers. But you know what I don’t like about drawers?? Adding bracing for drawer slides.
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If you notice, I don’t use face frames often in my builds…because when you add face frames and then add drawers, you have to add a bunch of structural supports/spacer blocks in order to mount the slides onto. For more details, see my ULTIMATE Drawer Building Guide.
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To add the framing structure to this dog crate console to mount the drawer slides, I used some leftover 1x3s and pocket holes to install kind of a “box within a box” into the middle cabinet. I made sure to keep the pieces on the sides where the slides will mount equal distance from the side panel to keep things square.
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Basically, you’re just mounting two slats flush to the inside of the face frame opening to install the drawer slides onto.
Then, I installed a 1×3 at the back of each side cabinet and added 1x3s between the face frame and this piece spacing them out about 12” or so starting at the bottom.
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Thankfully, I only needed to add this framing to the outside ends because the insides didn’t have a face frame. You can see this better in the video.
Step 7: Install Drawer Slides and Drawer Boxes
Once all the framing was added, I could mount the drawer slides. I installed 16” ball bearing drawer slides onto these 1x3s and in corresponding locations opposite them.
I made sure to keep the fronts of the slides about 1” inset from the front edge of the face frame to allow for inset drawer fronts later.
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As a side note: for the slides not mounted on the framing pieces, it’s a little difficult to ensure the spacing is correct for the inset drawer fronts. So I suggest using the horizontal slotted holes on the slides so that once the drawers are installed later, you can use the slots to adjust as needed.
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For details on mounting drawer slides, see my ULTIMATE Guide to Drawers here.
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Now it was time for the fun stuff…building the drawers. I cut my drawer box pieces from ¾” plywood and cut a ¼” dado along the bottom to install the ¼” plywood drawer bottom. Then I assembled them using pocket holes and screws to give me six identical drawer boxes like shown on the left and one like shown on the right.
I used some scrap wood spacer blocks to install these drawers onto the slides. Don’t forget to check out my drawer building guide for details on how to build and install these.
Step 8: Add Drawer Fronts to Console Cabinet
After the drawers were installed into the cabinet, next up was the drawer fronts. And of course, these had to have some extra detail too.
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I ripped some 1x4s into 1” wide strips (note: if you don’t have a table saw, you can use other types of trim or molding instead–just make sure your overall drawer front size matches what’s shown below), and cut to fit these around each drawer front like shown.
You can miter or butt the corners…I’m showing them butted here, but I actually mitered them in my project. I set my miter saw up to 45 degrees to cut these and cut each piece individually for a tight fit.
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Then I glued and nailed these pieces around the edge of the plywood to make the drawer fronts. There should be about ¼″ lip around the front side.
Once the glue was dry, I brought them over and installed them to the drawer boxes. I centered them in place and attached from the inside with wood screws. It was easiest to remove the drawer above it to give you access to the inside.
But once I got to the top drawer, I was frustrated and it was blazing hot in the shop, so I cheated and just shot a nail in the front to hold it in place so I could open the drawer and drive the screws. I’m hoping the hardware later will cover the nails haha.
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And if not, whoops.
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I’m also not going to lie to you here. It was extremely difficult to ensure everything was square on these drawer fronts with these pieces added around the edge. So after they were all installed, I brought out the belt sander and sanded to fit as needed. Don’t judge me…just keeping it real.
Step 9: Add Doors to Dog Crate Console
I stained everything I had built so far with Minwax Early American.
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While the stain dried, I moved on to building the doors. I made these doors from 1x3s except the piece at the top…for that I used a 1×6. I wanted to curve the top inside of these doors—you know—for more unnecessary detail.
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So I laid out all the pieces and used a leftover thin piece I had after I ripped the 1x4s for the drawer fronts to make a nice even bow. But since I was holding the bow, I needed an extra set of hands to trace it out. So I let Danny trace, while I held the bow.
Then I could cut the curve with a jig saw.
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I assembled these doors using dowels and wood glue, but you could also use pocket holes or more fancy joinery if you wanted.
Once the glue was dry, I sanded and painted the doors black.
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I measured the inside opening of the doors and found some leftover hardware cloth mesh (PS you can usually find this at your local garden center–and you don’t need much) to cover the hole. I used some wire cutters to trim the cloth to size and spray painted it black to match the doors.
Once the paint was all dry, I stapled the mesh to the back side of the doors, and used some thin leftover scrap to cover the rough edges.
Then I used some simple butt hinges to install these into the cabinet.
No fancy build is complete without fancy hardware, so I added this cremone bolt latch to the door as well. And to keep both doors closed with one latch, I glued and stapled a little scrap wood block to the back of the other door like shown.
The final step was poly and drawer pulls.
Step 10: Attach the Back
And then I remembered I still had to attach the back haha. So I cut some ¼” plywood to cover the back of the middle cabinet and stapled it in place. You could do this earlier in the build, I just forgot until this point. You could also cover the entire back if you wanted, but I only covered the middle cabinet.
And finally, it was finished! This piece required so much of my patience with all the details, but I have to admit, the details really make it eye catching.
All in all, I’m really happy with how this turned out and I think Dasher is, too 🙂
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If you’re into traditional style furniture, this would also make a really nice console, or even a fake fireplace, too.
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Until next time, happy building 😊