Sitting on the wonderful deck that the D-Man and I spent most of 2015 constructing one beautiful SoCal Sunday morning in October, I realized Samantha’s dog house had seen better days. An understatement. It was in about as good of shape as Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign. With the upcoming holidays, money was going to be an issue, but El Nino was on its way and I had a flash back to the first rainy season I had Samantha. She did not like the dog house she had inherited from my previous dog. (Too small of a door. She does not like confined spaces.) I came home many a night after a gig to a wet and muddy dog. She had taken to digging a mud hole by the side of the house and taking refuge there during rainstorms. Nothing says fun like coming home after being up for almost 24 hours and washing a 90 pound dog with a hose.
At this point, the new dog house was looking more like a necessity than a luxury item. But how?
That’s when a crazy idea popped into my head. I would build it myself. What follows is a few life lessons I learned from building the perfect dog house.
SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO JUST DO IT
I did not want another project before Christmas. Truth be told, I wasn’t sure I wanted another project before self- driving cars became readily available. The D-Man had declared himself retired from DYI after the deck experience, so this one was all on me. Let’s also remember my building experience before the deck was…oh yeah, pretty much nothing. With no real budget, I assembled leftover materials from the deck project and decided to go for it.
MAKE A PLAN
I had several deck boards left over from the deck, so I decided they would be the basis. I also had a piece of the old deck that the current dilapidated house was sitting on, so that became the base.
I Googled mid-century modern dog houses, found some inspiration pictures and drew up a plan. Yes, a plan! Complete with dimensions and how many boards I would need. Something, believe it or not, we had not really done with the deck. Which may be why, instead of five months, the project took two weekends.
YES YOU CAN
Less than twelve months ago, this project would have never crossed my mind. I hate assembling things. What made me think I could build something from scratch?
Check out the photos on my Home Ideas page. Built for less than $80.00 in new materials and using up many things I already had in the garage, I come home every night to a clean and dry pup, no matter what the weather is.
So what does 2016 have in store? Do you have some things you really need to tackle, but think there is no way you can deal? Really? Check out Samantha’s mid-century dream, built and designed by someone who couldn’t put a cd holder together. Then get back to me.
At this point, the new dog house was looking more like a necessity than a luxury item. But how?
That’s when a crazy idea popped into my head. I would build it myself. What follows is a few life lessons I learned from building the perfect dog house.
SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO JUST DO IT
I did not want another project before Christmas. Truth be told, I wasn’t sure I wanted another project before self- driving cars became readily available. The D-Man had declared himself retired from DYI after the deck experience, so this one was all on me. Let’s also remember my building experience before the deck was…oh yeah, pretty much nothing. With no real budget, I assembled leftover materials from the deck project and decided to go for it.
MAKE A PLAN
I had several deck boards left over from the deck, so I decided they would be the basis. I also had a piece of the old deck that the current dilapidated house was sitting on, so that became the base.
I Googled mid-century modern dog houses, found some inspiration pictures and drew up a plan. Yes, a plan! Complete with dimensions and how many boards I would need. Something, believe it or not, we had not really done with the deck. Which may be why, instead of five months, the project took two weekends.
YES YOU CAN
Less than twelve months ago, this project would have never crossed my mind. I hate assembling things. What made me think I could build something from scratch?
Check out the photos on my Home Ideas page. Built for less than $80.00 in new materials and using up many things I already had in the garage, I come home every night to a clean and dry pup, no matter what the weather is.
So what does 2016 have in store? Do you have some things you really need to tackle, but think there is no way you can deal? Really? Check out Samantha’s mid-century dream, built and designed by someone who couldn’t put a cd holder together. Then get back to me.
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