Want to build your furry best friend a DIY Modern Dog Bed? I’ve got the plans for you in this post! But first, let me show you my furry best friend, Lucy.
This post is sponsored by Build Something and contains affiliate links. See policies.
We’ve had Lou for about 3 years. Check out the dog house I built her when she came home with us here. I’m kind of jealous of her. Is that weird? I whipped out the camera to take pictures of this project and she instantly stole the show.
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I take 100 pictures of myself with a project and find one mediocre one that’ll do. But Lucy…
She knows what she’s doing. I took 25 pictures of her in her new DIY modern dog bed and could easily have used 20/25 for this post. The other 5 were just blurry because I moved my hand while pressing the button…
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WHO TAUGHT HER THIS? She’s like a professional! For a rescue mutt, she’s pretty impressive 😉 I’ve actually had a ton of questions about her breed…and we have no idea. I personally think she’s got some boxer, some German pointer, and probably some pit. All I know is she’s pretty haha.
Anyway, about the DIY modern dog bed…she was well overdue for a new dog bed after she had completely flattened her old one from laying on it. So we went out and got her a big fluffy one.
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The problem was that it was SO FLUFFY she couldn’t figure out how to crawl up on it and lay down. I had to pick her up and set her on it. (Forgive the terrible quality photo.)
I’m cheap and I didn’t spend that much money on a nice dog bed for her not to lay on it (HAHA), so I thought maybe putting it in a box to help keep her from rolling off of it might be a practical solution.
SHE. LOVED. IT.
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I actually found this original modern dog bed design online, but it was only available in extra small and small…and our Lou just wasn’t going to fit in that. So I made this one to fit large dogs and a dog bed size of about 25×35. But it’s easy to modify…I’ll show you below how to modify it to fit your own dog bed size.
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And I’ve partnered with Build Something to bring you the free plans here and a video tutorial below!
Now, a few notes about this DIY Modern Dog Bed Project:
I’ve provided the free plans on Build Something here, but here are a few notes about modifications if you need to adjust the bed size or if you noticed that what I did in the video isn’t exactly what the plans show. I’ll explain these things below.
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Also, this bed can be made from a single half sheet of 3/4″ plywood and some scraps OR a 1×8 board for the feet. So it’s definitely an affordable option and is quick and easy to assemble. Besides the 1/2 sheet of plywood, all you need to complete this project is:
Miter Saw (or could use circular saw instead)
Adjusting the Bed Size:
I mentioned that this particular bed box fit a dog bed size of 25×35 (that’s overall measurement when it’s sitting on the floor fluffed up–the fabric measurements are 28×38). But, I made the bottom of the dog bed box 1” shorter in both width and length than her bed so it would be a tight, snug fit. So since her bed pillow was 25”x35”, I actually made the inside of the box 24”x34”.
In order to modify this to fit your own bed, simply adjust your box bottom piece to be 1” shorter in width and length than your dog bed and cut to fit the pieces along the sides. You can see my example in the plans on Build Something.
Possible Assembly Modifications:
If you compare the video and the plans, you’ll notice that I assembled the sides of the box slightly differently in each one. This wasn’t intentional…Here’s the deal…I just don’t think ahead haha.
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No, but really. I cut my pieces and built the bed in the video from a brand new full size sheet of plywood because I had it in the shop. But, then I realized that you could easily have built this bed from a half sheet of plywood and not a whole sheet if you didn’t want to buy (or didn’t have room to buy) a full size sheet.
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But that would require you to cut your sides to 24″ long instead of 24 3/4″ long. So here is what I did in the video:
But that’s not what’s in the plans. The plans show you how to build this using 24″ long side pieces, which is way more efficient. My bad. The only difference between the assembly in the video and the plans is that the sides are SLIGHTLY different in dimensions and I drilled my pocket holes in the back piece vs in the side pieces to attach the box together. I apologize for the confusion.
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Next time, I’ll try to think ahead better 🙂 But, here are a few more pictures of Lucy to make up for it haha.
I was cracking up so bad editing these photos…she’s so serious! Look at those eyes!
Anyway, if you’ve got a furry friend of your own, be sure to check out these free plans on Build Something to build one of these fancy looking beds. I think Lou is really enjoying being able to stay in her bed AND that it’s up off the ground, too.
Be sure to check out the video for a few Lucy bloopers and be sure to pin this project for later. Thanks so much for following along and letting me tell you all about my dog 🙂 haha.
Until next time, happy building 🙂
