For the last five months or so I have been on the hunt for a large vinyl suitcase large enough to make a dog bed out of. I haven't had any luck until a few weekends ago when I was in Portland with Amy. She spotted a large blue suitcase while we were at an antique store. I snatched it up right away because it was the perfect size and I didn't know if I would be able to find another. I finished the dog bed about a week ago but now that Charlotte has entered the house I haven't had very much time to myself in order to finish posting this blog.
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| This large blue suitcase is perfect for the frame of my doggie bed |
I really liked the shade of blue but its going to stay in the bedroom and blue didn't match anything else in the room so I bought a can of Behr High Drama red paint to paint the suitcase a color to coordinate with the existing red in the room. I also bought four legs 4" high to hold up the suitcase.
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| 4" legs found at the local hardware store |
The first step was to remove the top piece of the suitcase. If you are going to do this, I suggest finding a suitcase that is assembled with screws. Mine, I found out used a type of heavy duty brad that were very difficult to remove. I damaged the suitcase a little bit trying to remove them. So for appearance and time management, I would strongly suggest picking a suitcase that is easy to disassemble.
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| A little bit of damage from removing the hardware from the top of suitcase |
After semi-successfully removing the top lid of the suitcase I measured where the legs would go on the bottom. Using a marker I placed dots at each corner where my legs would attach and then used the screw driver to drill my holes for the screws. The legs I chose already had screws attached to them so after drilling my holes I tightened the legs onto the bottom and then used nuts to keep them in place on the inside of the suitcase. I also added a little bit of gorilla glue onto the legs so I knew they wouldn't go anywhere.
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| Pre drilled leg holes |
Next came the fun part of painting the suitcase. The Behr paint I chose already had a built in primer so I did not prime my suitcase. Being careful not to paint the hardware I slowly applied my first coat of paint. Because it is a vinyl covering the first coat of paint went on very thin. Also because I was using red paint the first coat looked more pink than anything. I let the paint dry for 24 hours and then painted the second coat. Total it took 3 coats to cover the suitcase completely as well as get a nice deep red.
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| I used a semi-gloss to achieve a slightly shiny finish |
After the 3rd coat of paint was dry I used a small amount of metallic silver paint to go over the metal hardware and give it a clean, new look.
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| Repainting the hardware updated the look of the suitcase |
The final step consisted of finding a fluffy material to fill the suitcase. I had some chair foam and an extra pillow that I stuffed inside and than added a matching, soft fabric over the top so puppy will have a nice place to rest her head.
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| Sock monkey fabric was used as the puppy comforter |
I added a new little puppy to complete the dog bed. She's still a little small to jump in the bed for now. In a few weeks I know she will be able to get inside but until then she will keep sleeping with mom at night.
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| Charlotte in her suitcase bed |
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| She loves her sock monkey blanket |
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| Its so comfy she's ready for a nap already |
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