Crate Expectations - Dog Crate Cover

When we adopted a furry, squirmy, chewing bundle joy into our home in the form of a 1 month old smooth collie there were a lot of things we were excited about... and a few that we weren't so excited about... like the eye sore that is the standard wire dog crate.

Since he was going to be a fairly big boy we knew we needed a large crate, and after lots of research settled on a two door model that has the movable internal wall to "grow with your puppy." This is an amazing invention because when my first dog was a puppy they didn't have such things and he destroyed any number of objects that were meant to keep him cooped into a smaller space.

We bought the crate from PetsMart, but I really wanted to do something to make it less hideous. I also hated that it took up so much space that couldn't be used for anything else, the metal grate really doesn't work (or look) well as a table top, and moving things around on the top scared our little puppy. Not to mention he was occasionally able to pull things in and destroy them! My solution was a decorative table and cover. See below for how I made mine:

Materials

• (1) Ikea Desktop (~ 24" x 47")
  
• (4) Ikea legs (~ 27.5" tall)
  
• (1) Dog crate (36 x 23 x 25")
  
• Glue Gun & Glue Sticks
  
• Staple Gun and Staples
  

• (1) Tension rod that can expand to 48"
  
• Set of small drapery clips
  
• 4 1/8 yard fabric (with nice selvage edge to avoid hemming) 45" width
  
• Stich Witchery Peel and Stick bonding tape
  

• Assemble the Ikea desk, installing the legs on the far outer corners to maximize interior space
  
• I cut the fabric 6" down the selvage edge (the manufactures edge). I didn't want to have to hem the fabric the whole way around and the edge looks like a nice fringe.
  
• With the table upside down I used the hot glue gun to glue the fabric evenly around the edge with a 5" overhang (selvage out, cut edge to the interior of the table
  

• Cut the remaining remaining length of fabric along the selvage to 29". From this I removed 50" from the end to make the curtains
  
• Hot glue the longer fabric over the existing decorative band around three sides, leaving the front open, then permanently secure using the staple gun
  
• Trim fabric as needed at final leg
  

• Now that the main table is complete, take the remaining length of fabric that we set aside for curtains cut it in half
  
• Iron the raw edges in and use the stitch witch to permanently form the hem.
  
• Attach drapery clips to the top edge and hang them on the tension rod, then hang tension rod over the open side

• Gently set crate inside, and it is ready for your pampered pet!