AJ started crawling recently, and now she gets into everything! One of her favorite things to do is splash in the dog’s water bowl, which is cute, but not all that great for our hardwood floors. So as part of our baby-proofing efforts, I created a simple DIY raised dog bowl stand for Fawkes’ food and water bowls. It keeps the bowls up out of reach of the baby, plus Fawkes doesn’t have to bend down to eat or drink, which will be helpful as she gets older. I got the whole project done in less than a day, and most of that time was spent waiting for paint to dry; if you skip the painting portion, you can build a DIY raised dog bowl stand in less than half an hour!
I started with an old, beat up laminate drawer unit, and I decided it needed a fresh coat of paint to spruce it up a bit. But if your small dresser is already the style or color you want in your home, it makes this project even easier; all you have to do is cut two holes in the top!
DIY Raised Dog Bowl Stand
- 1 hour and 30 minutes (time spent doing stuff)
- 3 hours (time spent waiting around)
- 4 and a half hours (total project time)
Tools
- jigsaw
- screwdriver
- cordless drill
- large drill bit
- pencil
- paintbrush
- wood glue and quick grip clamps (only if you need to repair any pieces of your dresser)
Materials
- a small 2 drawer dresser (I repurposed one I had laying around, but you can find similar ones at Target or Walmart or online on Amazon)
- two dog bowls with rims (these are the ones that we use)
- Americana Decor Chalky Finish paint in Lace
- Americana Decor Soft Touch Varnish in clear
Instructions
The first step is to take the drawers out of your dresser. If you’re planning to paint, remove all of the hardware (drawer slides, handles, etc.) from both the dresser and the drawers. I had to do a little repair work to my dresser, so I used wood glue and a quick grip clamp to fix the broken piece.
Figure out approximately where you want your dog bowls to go in the dresser, then turn the dog bowl upside down on top of the dresser and trace the rim of it with a pencil in each spot.
Draw a second pencil line about 1/2” inside of your traced line. This second pencil line will be where you cut, because you want the rim of the bowl to sit on top of the dresser and not fall through the hole.
Drill a large hole in the center of the circle you plan to cut out (or you can drill two smaller holes right next to each other). The hole needs to be large enough that your jigsaw blade will fit inside of it; jigsaw blades are made for cutting forwards and they only have teeth on one edge of the blade, so you won’t be able to get the jigsaw blade into the center of your dresser unless you pre-drill a large hole for it.
Slide the blade of your jigsaw into the pre-drilled hole, then turn on the jigsaw and carefully cut around the inside line that you drew until the center disc of wood falls free. Repeat for the other circle.
Don’t worry if the edges are a little bit jagged or ragged or not perfectly circular; it will be totally hidden by the dog bowls!
If you’re not planning to paint your DIY raised dog bowl stand, then you’re done! Put the drawers back in, and put the dog bowls in the top, and start using it!
I wanted to paint my dog bowl stand because the dark brown doesn’t really match our house, plus it was pretty beat up from years of use. I gave the outside of the dresser and the drawer fronts two coats of paint with Americana Decor Chalky Finish paint in Lace, and then I sealed the whole project with Americana Decor Soft Touch Varnish in clear. The varnish gives it a nice polyurethane finish, so even when the dog is messy about eating and drinking, the paint job will still be protected.
Once the paint and finish are dry, reinstall all of the hardware, slide the drawers back into the dresser, add the dog bowls on top, and you’re done!
This DIY raised dog bowl stand is the perfect height for Fawkes! She isn’t a really big dog, but I think she likes not having to bend down to eat or drink! If you have large dogs, or older dogs, it’s really helpful to raise their food and water bowls up so they don’t have to crane their necks to reach.
I’m really thrilled with how this project turned out! The dog bowls are up off the floor so the baby can’t reach them, and it’s a pretty piece of furniture to have in our house!
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Joan Barbour says
A lot of neat ideas!! Liked the Dog Tire Bed, but I have dogs who love to chew ANYTHING!! Is the tire rubber or paint poisonous, or should I forget this idea for my poiches??
Jessi Wohlwend says
If your pup chews everything, I’d skip the tire bed idea, just in case. The paint is not really meant to be ingested, and I don’t know about the tire rubber if you left the tire un-painted, but I probably wouldn’t chance it.