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A Cottage Style Dog House

by - Monday, February 09, 2015

What was your favourite thing to do as a kid? For me, I loved arts and crafts. I loved drawing things, cutting things out, and displaying my art all over my room. I think we all still have a creative kid inside of us but we seldom let that kid out and play.

For the longest time, Chloe has been wanting a dog but since her Dad is allergic to dogs and cats, its not something we could even consider. So when Chloe got an American Girl dog (yes, they have dogs for your dolls) and asked for a dog house, I knew her Dad wouldn't disappoint her.



Sean had the best time putting this doghouse together. Seriously, he would rush down to the craft table after dinner every night to spend some time gluing down the shingles or painting the siding. It is a little extreme but when you have fun building it and your child has fun playing with it, isn't that what counts? Sean has always loved model building so this was like the best project ever for him.

cottage style dog house | painted siding | Rambling Renovators

You can buy dog houses online but the wood ones cost about $100. Crazy! This was built out of scrap wood and paint we already had, balsa wood leftover from our wedding little house project, and siding and shingles from the local doll house store.

cottage style dog house | painted siding | cedar shingles | Rambling Renovators

I don't have a tutorial for you but I thought you might like to see some of the details. I've always loved cedar shingles and painted siding so we decided to indulge our cottage-style tastes with this little house. The house is painted in Benjamin Moore's colour of the year, Guilford Green. I love the little chimney! The balsa trim pieces on the corners and roof edges really finish the house off nicely...

cottage style dog house | scrapbook wallpaper | Rambling Renovators

there's wallpaper inside (scrapbook paper that's been applied to the walls with mod podge) and baseboards too...

cottage style dog house | scrapbook wallpaper | Rambling Renovators

and the house sits on a base with routered edges and covered with paper that looks like grass. 

cottage style dog house | cedar shingles | painted siding | Rambling Renovators

I still have to sew up a little cushioned dog bed and we'll have to hunt down a miniature dog bowl too. We have to decide on a name (today it's Chantal, yesterday it was Coco) and make a little name sign as well. Chloe has been carrying this thing around the house. I hope it holds up pretty well because I'd love to see her pass it on to her own kids someday.


Care to see more things we've built for kids? Check out our retro play kitchen, make believe station and costume closet.

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