
Still such a necessity in our lives, this dog kennel is both a tabletop surface and home for our puppy. We choose to leave the kennel unfinished because puppies tend to chew and scratch, but now that Avery is growing up, it may be time to paint.
When we built our home - and cabin - we had one rule: Don't move in until it's finished. Because otherwise, the house never gets finished. Well, Grace was crawling around on a dirty garage floor, so we moved in to the house before it was 100% done, and that was the day work stopped on the inside of our house. And now we live in a home that is 99% done. Because you can't just tack up trim in the middle of your life. Well, you can, but it's not as simple as just tacking up trim. You gotta bring tools in, move stuff out of the way . . . it's just not as simple or easy. Life is in the way.
So we knew better. We built another house this weekend and let the occupants move in before it was finished.
We knew better.
More Girls
Meet our puppies. Nala has been our much loved dog for many years, and Avery is a brand new puppy. Avery is actually Nala's grand puppy. We brought the crate inside to see if the girls would like it and if the size would fit in our living room, with the intention of hauling it back to the garage for paint and finish.
Who would have thought they would LOVE it?
Breaking More Rules
And because we broke our rule of letting them move in before their house was finished, I'm now breaking my top blogging rule: Never blog an unfinished project. But it's either that or disturb them. And they are loving this kennel! What do you think?
Unfinished Shots
I wanted to show you a close up of the kennel unfinished as well because it's built from pine furring strips - just $1 a board for 1x2s and $1.50 a board for 1x3s. By using furring strips, builder grade plywood (which will get painted) and a project panel for the top ($12) this kennel came in under $40. Not bad, considering this thing is B-I-G and solid and retails in the several hundreds. Did I mention it's B-I-G? Yeah, it's B-I-G :) . All my girls - Grace, Nala (who weighs 90lbs) and Avery all fit in there.
Painting
The plan is to paint the pet crate black, so I'll be sure to post completed photos when that happens.
[6]
And here is the drawing. I'm always amazed at how accurate the drawings are to the real deal!
Links:
[1] http://ana-white.com/users/ana-white
[2] http://www.kregtool.com/files/anawhite/anawhite.asp
[3] http://ana-white.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/avery-and-nala.png
[4] http://ana-white.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/avery-and-nala-2.png
[5] http://ana-white.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/avery-and-nala-4.png
[6] http://ana-white.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/pet-crate-1.jpg
[7] http://ana-white.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/pet-crate-2.jpg
[8] http://ana-white.com/category/plans/room/living-room
[9] http://ana-white.com/category/plans/skill-level/intermediate
[10] http://ana-white.com/category/plans/estimated-cost/50-100
[11] http://ana-white.com/category/plans/style/cottage
living room [8], Intermediate [9], $50 - $100 [10], Cottage [11]