Monday, October 7, 2013

Crazy, Dog People

UPDATED (10/13/13):  I added a video at the end of the post of us using the feeding station.  The quality is not great but you get to see it in action. Enjoy!

Happy beautiful Monday all!  Our area got it's first real taste of fall yesterday.  The sun is shining again today and there is a little chill in the air.  I personally could live like this for a few months and go back to summer, I love the heat and I hate winter.  The dogs are loving the cool weather and have been a little hyper since the front came through.

Speaking of dogs....today, I have a confession to make.  Well its not a secret or anything but some of you may not know.....my husband and I are crazy, dog people.  These are people who do abnormal, sometimes expensive, time consuming, human child like things for their dogs.  You all know one or are one.  I have talked about the dogs in the past or they have been in photos but I haven't ever talked about things we have done for them around the house.  They are indoor dogs so we have to integrate (I feel like I am back teaching using that word) their needs into our home design.  But first, a quick introduction for those of you who are new to the blog or don't know the background of the pups.


Aren't they cute?!
Can you tell Jaxson HATES photos? LOL.






First, is Jaxson Bruce, our 9 year old male.  I got Jaxson while in college after I had to put my other dog down.  He was only 6 weeks old.  I knew having a puppy was hard but being a single parent while going to school and working was REALLY HARD.  Luckily, my roommates had dogs and helped out with him a lot.  He is very loyal and serious when it comes to me.  In his world, his job is to know where I am at and to make sure I am ok.  He only snuggles a little and is very independent.

Things he loves:  swimming, fetching, running with mom, laying on the deck, laying in his boat bed watching the water, barking, riding in the front seat of the truck,  and riding in the boat and jumping out when we are not looking.












This guy LOVES his boat bed and LOVES looking out the window at the water.  Read about the skiff bed here.  It does have sheets but they were in the wash when I took this picture.


Sabine Lake is our 7 year old female.  After being married a few months, we thought Jaxson was lonely....he had never been the only dog.  We "rescued" her from a family that gave their children lab puppies and the kids (10 & 12 years old) had 6 months to prove themselves as dog owners or the pups would be given away.  Needless to say, they didn't prove themselves.  As soon as we pulled in and saw the 2 pups,  I told Brian we were bringing them both home.  Long story short, they were overweight, had no manners, neither responded to their names, had no idea what a toy was or how to fetch and were obviously neglected.    A man had already reserved a dog and was on his way to pick her up but since we were first to show up, we got to pick one and he got the other.  They were both crazy, chocolate and female so we just took one.  We still talk about sister all the time and wonder if she is ok.  God put something special in Sabine and I often wonder if sister has that something special too and if she is with a family that loves her and treats her well.  If I could go back I would have stayed to talk to the man personally and pushed harder to take sister home too.


Things she loves:  snuggling (she loves to love), following me around all day, laying in the same patch of grass in the yard, NOT swimming, visiting with the ducks, sticking her head through the deck railing, Brian (she is a daddy's girl), being mischievous, drinking from the hose/faucet,  posing for the camera and laying under things.  She has a hilarious personality....a lot more laid back than Jaxson.



Her dead grass patch.  She lays there so much the grass is having a hard time.  We just laid sod so its kind of annoying that she is killing my new grass but its hard to be mad at her when she loves it so much.  







Now that you have met the dogs, on to the furniture part of the post.  Dogs have a lot of stuff.  Not near as bad as human kids but enough that you need a good place to store it.  Our Bayou Vista home does not have a lot of storage.  Closets are decent but on the small side and we do not have a laundry room.  I am grateful our home does have a laundry closet upstairs, inside the house but I am missing our utility room in our NOLA house.  It was big and we were able to store all the dogs stuff and food in there.  Now, the dog food has been stored in the guest room and we have been feeding them in the hallway.  Their leashes are usually left in the chair and bones are stored in the cabinet.  Obviously not a permanent solution but it worked.  Then I saw this guy and knew he was the solution do my dog storage problems.







Not seeing it?   Here are a few afters.













Still can't see it?  


That's the point!  This guy holds all their stuff but you can't tell!


Dog Food & Jaxson's Daily Rx.




Leashes, Shampoos, Brushes, Bones, Monthly Treatments.




Life Jackets, Extra Leashes, and Collars.




Food Bowls.





See it in action.  Here they are waiting patiently for the "OK" to eat.




Eating.




Luckily our dogs are not food aggressive so this works for them.  They are close but are at a comfortable distance.




I painted it to match the entertainment center (Read about it here) and is now a beautiful feature in our living room.







I questioned this idea when we got home with the dresser, but I am so glad I went for it.  I love that you can't see any of their stuff but it is in our main living area and is convenient for us.  Also, it is secure.  Labs will eat themselves to the point of illness or bloat, which can kill them,  so keeping their food secure is important.

Here is a poor quality video of the dresser in action.




I saw this link about 21 Reasons a Dog is the Best Investment on Life In Velvet's Blog.  So cute and so true.


KITCHEN UPDATE:  The kitchen reveal will be this week!  I can't wait to show you all!  It is beautiful and we love it.  I hope you will love it too! 







                                                       

43 comments:

  1. Wow! What a difference you've made to this beautiful piece of furniture! It looked so out of style before but looks fabulous with the paint color you chose. I especially love the drawer with the food bowls for the dogs. I'm stopping by from Give Me The Goods Monday (#17 Living Room Makeover)

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  2. As always amazing transformation , you have a gift !!!

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    1. Thank you, Mrs. Janko. Thanks for following our progress and being a regular reader!

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  3. great way to make that work for you guys and your sweet pups! I imagine it's sturdy, right, so it won't come forward with them eating from it?

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    1. It is very sturdy...and heavy. I thought about putting brackets of some sort to secure it to the wall but its not needed. We have been using it for several days now without any problems. But sturdiness is definitely something to think about if you are going to do a project similar to this.

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  4. Awwz love your fur babies :D, they look like bundles of fun.
    you made a huge difference with that piece of furniture, looks awesome. :)

    You live in TX?!? me too :D

    I'm having a give a way going on right now, if you're interested I hope you enter. :)
    it's a fall inspired sign I painted.

    Have a Lovely day,
    Molly

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    1. Hi Molli. I do live in Texas...near Galveston. What area do you live in? I love your blog. I used to be a high school teacher then started my furniture business and blog. It's nice to see young people like you with so much ambition. Keep it up!

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  5. This is awesome!
    Thanks for sharing.
    Hope to see you on my blog:)

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  6. This is a wonderful way to contain all the dogs stuff and the drawer with the dishes built in is pure genius. Thanks for sharing.
    Traci

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  7. We have major issues with dog food storage as well. I cannot believe how good you made that cabinet look! I would never have seen the potential.

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    1. We have been dealing with the storage issue for a while. I am so glad this worked out and looks great at the same time. It feels good to be organized and not have their stuff in several different rooms in the house :)

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  8. Wbat cute doggies! Love your storage solution for all they need and that the drawer pulls out with their dishes. Quite ingenious!!

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  9. Truly amazing! Thank you for sharing. You are one of the features today at the Anything Blue Friday party at The Dedicated House. Pop on over and grab a feature button. Here is the link to today's party. http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/2013/10/anything-blue-and-pink-friday-week-29.html Hope to see you again at the little blue soiree. Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse

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  10. What a unique solution! I absolutely love the pull out drawers for the food! We'll be featuring this over at Someday Crafts tomorrow, so stop by if you get a minute :)

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    1. Thank you so much! Of course I will visit and share!

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  11. What a fantastic dresser transformation! Genius! You have such a gift! Most stylish feeding station I have ever seen :)

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    1. Thanks for visiting. This post has been featured on other blogs. Hopefully it will bring some traffic your way. :)

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  12. So creative! I especially love the pull out food bowl drawer on the bottom. I need to do something like this for all our pet stuff. Thanks for linking up to Gingerly Made's Show & Tell party!

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  13. How awesome is this!!! Great idea!!!! The bowls in the bottom....GENIUS! Thanks for sharing on DIY Sunday Showcase!! I'm pinning this one to our board!!

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  14. I love this idea! Thank you for sharing at Making Monday last week, I wanted to let you know that I featured you for this weeks party and would love for you to come grab a feature button. Also, PLEASE link up any other projects you wanna share :)

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  15. Great idea! I hate having dog dishes floating around the kitchen for people to run into and knock over. Is their water dish in another room?

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    1. Hi, Jessica. They drink a lot of water so we have one of those large water bowl dispensers with a 3 gallon jug on it. It is tucked away in a corner where no one can see it unless they pass right by it. Its easy for the dogs to get to and out of the way so no one can accidentally kick it. Thanks for visiting!

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  16. How cool! Thanks for sharing at our link party this week.

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  17. So, so clever! I hate looking at our ugly dog bowls sitting on the kitchen floor. They get kicked around, and we have to move our dog food bucket out from in front of the pantry door to get our broom. This is stylish, and everything is hidden! So awesome! I'm visiting from the Year in Review link party.

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  18. I love this! I pinned it awhile back, and I'm so glad you shared it at our Year in Review Link Party! Happy holidays!

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    1. Thanks, Angela. I just came across your link party the other day. I don't know how I have been missing it. Hopefully there will be many more link party sharing in the future.

      I hope you and your family are having a great holiday season.

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  19. Hi Kaylor,
    Congratulations! Your Armoire Turned Dog Feeding Station has been chosen as a feature on the Year in Review Link Party! We'll be having a permanent weekly Link Party called Thursday STYLE now that the holidays are over :) It will be every Thurs evening at 8 EST. I can't wait to see all of the great projects you link up! Happy New Year!

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  20. What a truly excellent idea!!! Thanks so much for posting. We adore our dogs too although our 4 legged children aren't lucky enough to live on the water! We are either buying a new house or going to build very soon. Either way, we will certainly utilize your marvelous idea!

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  21. I am commenting to let you know what an impressive experience my daughter took pleasure in examining through your site page. She saw a wide variety of pieces, with the thought of what it look like to have a sublime styling to have the rest without trouble understand some tiring matters.

    Henderson Dog Training

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  22. Did you build the ramp next to the dock? If so, so you have plans that you can share?

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  23. Fabulous, we have several dogs that would love that ramp, can you share details?

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  24. Love the dog ramp as well! Our lab puppy loves to swim and we need a solution for our boat dock! Could you share how you constructed it? Thanks so much!

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