Cute DIY Vintage Suitcase Pet Bed

We recently posted instructions on how to make a roll away bed for large pets – but what about our smaller friends?

If your critters spend most of their time inside, then why not make a cute DIY bed to match your décor?  Sure, you can buy a pet bed at the store but they aren’t very imaginative and often end up looking out of place in a well decorated room. This DIY idea is so cute that you’ll probably want to make more than one of these beds, because our furry friends often have the run of the house. Putting a unique bed in the rooms they frequent enhances the room rather than distracting from it. Plus, you can be done with the tedious chore of dragging a plain pet bed from room to room. 

Start by digging through attic or basement of your older relatives, or searching the thrift stores. Find an old-school suitcase with some character. Vintage luggage featured stiff sides and great hardware. More like a box than a suitcase by today’s standards!

Once you’ve found one, decide if you’d like to modify it. Some will look great without any further decoration, particularly if you’re putting it in a room that has a retro or understated vibe. Or, you can certainly paint the vintage suitcase and apply other art techniques such as decoupage if you want to get really creative.

Next, purchase coordinating fabric from the craft store. Sew it into the shape of the bottom half of the suitcase, and fill the cushion with poly stuffing. It will look best if it fills nearly the entire depth of the bed area. An additional feature of this unique bed is storage.  The top half old suitcases always had elastic edged pockets, and you can use these to store toys and other favorites. You might even want to attach painted wood letters that spell out your pet’s name. Last, you can use the bed as is, but if you want it to look more like furniture, simply screw “furniture feet” on to all four corners.  

For those with pets, make sure to check out our newest program – the Pet Guard Plus Installation Program.  It will make life with a pet much more relaxing for everyone!