Fancy Pet Bed Tutorial

Category: Bedding

Elegant pet beds can get expensive, but you can make your own for a fraction of the cost! I combined several thrift store items with comfortable Fairfield World fillers and my favorite fabric to make this princess worthy dog bed for my sweet dog, Xena (the warrior princess). I was reading recently about how a luxury brand dog mattress is made, and the designers explained that dogs instinctively paw at the ground or their beds before they lay down. For this reason, they had extra fabric and a bit of plush filler on the top layer of their very expensive dog mattress so dogs had something to paw at. I kept this information in mind when I designed this bed, so I wrapped the comfy foam in batting and added a light layer of filling to make the bed as inviting as possible.

What you need to make this project

Materials: Project Foam 24″ x 36″ x 3″ thick; Cotton Batting; Poly-Fil Premium Fiber Fill; Twin Sized Headboard; Large Wood Coffee Table; Wood Finials; Cuddle Fabric from Shannon Fabrics

Supplies: Corner Brackets; Metallic Silver Paint by DecoArt

Instructions

Step One

Attach the headboard to the wood table using corner brackets. Use a drill to screw the bracket ends to the table and the headboard.

Drill holes where the decorative finials will go. Screw the finials in place.

Paint the entire project with silver metallic paint. I used two layers of paint to get this shimmery, even finish. When it was dry I decided to accent the flower on the headboard with gold metallic paint to go with the yellow in the fabric.

Step Two

To make the cushion for the bed, I started with three inch Project Foam, and wrapped it with two layers of batting.

Measure the fabric so that it is three inches wider on each side than the foam. My fabric was cut to 54 inches by 42 inches.

Fold the fabric in half with the wrong side out. Sew the two sides together. Flip the fabric so that it is right side out. One long end will still be open.

Slide the batting covered foam into the cushion cover. Fill the top of the cushion with a small amount of Poly-Fil cushion foam.

Pin the open side together, tucking the ends inside. Hand sew the edge closed.

Step Three

I used coordinating, pre cut quilt squares to make simple decorative pillows. See THIS post if you need guidance. I filled them with Poly-Fil. Place the large cushion on the dog bed, then add the smaller cushions as accents.