Welded and wood dog crate kennel

I made this probably over a year ago but I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures. I had just recently learned to weld and wanted to try some projects that were floating around in my head. Welding is so versatile and not as hard as you think. It's like hot gluing but sparkier. That said, please take a class at your local community college if you want to try it. Yes, it can be a little dangerous, just like swimming without lessons first.

I was inspired by Ana's project plan, but obviously got sidetracked with the design. This happens a lot as I'm working... my husband actually nicknamed me "sidetrack", but I digress... again.

This dog kennel was meant to be in our living room for a long time so I thought it would be fun to have something that looks like it's furniture. I love the look of old distressed wood/iron industrial furniture, so the wood was distressed before staining and finishing. I used stove polish on the metal before waxing to give it a dark, aged look.

The grate on top (acts as a skylight) came from a conference my husband attended years ago. It's been sitting in our backyard rusting and I thought it would make a neat feature on the top. It cleaned up pretty good!