A dog crate is somewhat of a necessity when you decide to take the plunge into dog ownership. They’re incredibly useful and dogs really love their crates. But they’re so… ugly.
It’s ok to admit it! Dog crates are generally something we want to hide — or at least integrate — into our home. There’s a lot of nice dog crate furniture out there, but you could also go the built-in route.
In this post, I’m going to show you how I planned and designed a built-in dog crate, as well as things to consider when you tackle this project.
I’m presenting the keys to the kingdom…
No, literally, this is the key to open up the tunnel.
The Search For The Perfect Dog Crate
Let’s back up a bit. We got two puppies less than a month after we moved into our new build home. Not our smartest move ever, but we were acting with our hearts, not our heads. They have proven to be a giant handful: rather destructive (RIP vintage runner) and all-around pains in the butt. But they are also very sweet and part of the family so oh well.
Trending videos
That aside, they needed a place to sleep and call their own. We have a big fenced-in yard so getting a dog door was a no-brainer. The head-scratcher was finding a spot for the door that:
- was somewhat inconspicuous, and
- led to the front porch.
The side and the back of the house have a steep drop-off, so the door could only go in the front. At first, we thought the powder room might work, but what if somebody was using it and there was a dog frantically scratching at the door? Sounds… relaxing.Also, these maniacs quickly proved that they needed to be crated if nobody was watching them so they somehow needed access to the door from the crate. Hmmm.We left the issue for a bit since I work from home and could bring them out as needed but we quickly grew sick of having a random dog crate in the middle of an empty room.
And one day…
Please Head On Over To Next Page Or Open button and don’t forget to SHARE with your Facebook friends