February 9, 2023

When you live in a small space, multipurpose items are a huge help. When we needed a side table in our RV, but still needed a place for the dog bed, we decided to pull the dog crate out of storage and put it to work doing double duty.

It isn’t as difficult a project as you might think.

First, make sure the crate is sturdy enough for what you will put on top of it–the wood table top and any other decor or functional items.

Second, measure your crate top. We wanted to round our edges and corners, so we added a quarter inch.

Third, find a piece of wood for it. Many DIY stores carry pre-made table tops, but check the prices in case a piece of pine is a bit cheaper. We opted for pine since it was a better price and they were out of table tops anyway.

Fourth, choose a paint or stain color and a polyurethane coating you like and be sure to get the correct supplies for these as well.

Fifth, cut, sand, paint/stain and coat it to your preferences.

Finally, attach it to the crate. We attached ours with wire shelf hooks so we could simply slide it off and fold the crate up, if we needed to store it. If you want a more permanent option, there are fasteners and hooks to fix it in place so it won’t move.

Be sure to let it air out so you don’t bring fumes into your home for you or your pet to breathe.

This simple project made great use of our limited space and has been a nice addition. Since our pup was used to having her crate while we were in the house, she has enjoyed having her “room” back while in the RV, and it is a perfect fit for her dog bed, and her heating pad during the winter.

Happy DIY’ing!

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