Top 10 ways to decorate a dog crate
From dog crate bars to pet chic for your home
In a perfect world, you could let your dog run loose. You’d go to work and come home without seeing more feathers outside of your pillows than in them. There’d be no urine or pet feces on the floor. Everything in your garbage can would still be there. And your shoes wouldn’t have teeth marks in them. In the real world, it takes pet training and a lot of patience before you get to that point.
So you’re either going to move your dog to a larger room (both of mine lived in an unfinished basement where one had the creative idea to dig up cement by the door like she was breaking out of prison) or a crate. For apartment dwellers and homeowners with finished basements, it probably makes more sense to use a crate until the training is complete. Even if you’ve mastered the art of crate training and are well on your way, there’s only one problem: They’re usually ugly and right in the middle of the room.
Now if you have a DIY Creator’s Glen in your life — or a version of him — by all means, make a cool barn door entertainment center. Absolutely nothing will outdo this creative piece of dog furniture. But what other ways can you get creative with your crate so it doesn’t look so uncomely in the middle of your home? Here are a few ideas.
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Dog frame collection: You’ve got Grades 1–8 frames for your kids, and now it’s time for you to get age-related frames and all kinds of other show-off-my-pet frames. At some point, especially if you have children, you’re going to be competing for space for family photos versus pet photos. No worries. Buy one big slab of wood and place it right on top of the crate. Then spread all of your favorite pet photos along the top of the crate, similar to this Etsy image.
Crate cover: If you’re a seamstress, you can buy fabric on your own and hand-sew the sides together. Make sure to use breathable material. Chewy also offers some crate cover options. Keep in mind that your restless dog who enjoys looking around may think this is a drag to only be able to see out of the center area though. However, it may come in handy to cool off should you not have air conditioning if the crate is in a sunny room.
Lava lamp stand: If you’re someone who enjoys gazing at lava lamps or even electric lamps, with the right placement of lamp table mats or doilies, you can pull this off. Be extremely careful with lamps that plug in behind the crate though. You may want to opt for battery-only versions to keep your pup from trying to yank the cord — or make sure to put a cover or blanket along the back to avoid him reaching for it.
Pet library: You may or may not need that slab of wood again, but this is a perfect place to store your pet training library. Spread books flat or invest in a couple of pet book ends like this one of two sitting dogs or the butt up sneaky dog. Don’t give your untrained dog any new ideas with this naughty dog one and risk a whole lot of wet books on your nearby bookshelf.
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Pet photo blanket: There can never be enough images of you and your pup, and that includes a dog blanket. Clearly the real thing is much better than a cloth version, but if you have a favorite photo of your dog that you want everyone to see, lay a pet photo blanket across the sides of the crate. (S)he can always see her good hair days, too. (Note: If your pet is really into this blanket, you may have to order two — one for the inside of the crate and one for the outside.)
Dog curtains: If you know how to hang curtains from your own windows and even how to hang dog waterproof polyester or plastic shower curtains, then you can pretty much figure out how to hang crate curtains along the sides of the crate.
