Our dogs LOVE to look out the window. I’m assuming this is a normal dog behavior, but I swear that Ranger and Cullen take it to abnormal levels.
They did it in our old apartment…
Note: this photo was taken before we lived together, which would be why it’s so messy in that house.
And when we moved to our duplex, they continued to do it, only it was even worse because our duplex faces a street, and the apartment didn’t.
It’s annoying, to say the least, but there’s not much we can do about it.
On a seemingly unrelated note (I promise I’ll link it all back together), Cullen has suddenly decided that for some unknown reason he can’t jump up on our bed. Never mind the fact that he had zero problem with it for the first 6 months we lived here, and when we’re giving Ranger lots of love on the bed he doesn’t seem to struggle too much to get up there and get some love for himself.
But when it’s time for bed? He’ll spend hours (seriously, HOURS) jumping up and down next to the side of the bed, barking at us to help him up. I work with kids with behavior issues for a living, so it’s putting it mildly to say that I get a bit stubborn when it comes to these things. I absolutely refuse to let him learn that if he barks at us, we’ll let him up, so if we don’t catch him and toss him up on the bed before the barking starts, it’s unlikely we’ll get any sleep that night.
So, the other day when I was browsing Craigslist and I saw something that could be a solution to our problem, I knew I absolutely had to have it.
I’d been tossing around the idea to get a bench for the end of our bed in the new house (since our master bedroom is SO BIG), and this one fit what I wanted exactly.
And of course, in the meantime, it totally doesn’t hurt that we can put it next to our front window (since it doesn’t fit into our current tiny bedroom) and the dogs can hang out on it to look outside. See? I told you it would all make sense in a minute.
As soon as I got the bench back home, I had a vision in mind of exactly what I wanted for it. Glossy white paint and a modern, yellow fabric. I’m a big fan of mixing unexpected patterns and colors with more traditional pieces, and I was super excited to see how this one turned out.
I got it all painted within a few days of getting it, but then we had to wait for the fabric to arrive. So, for several days we had this sitting in our living room:
Lovely, right?
Well, the fabric finally came in a couple of days ago and I got the bench reupholstered and ready for our new master bedroom!
I tried to take photos of the finished product right after I was done, but there was a minor problem.
For the first few days, I literally could not get the dogs off of the bench long enough to take photos of it. They are in LOVE. One of them is almost constantly on it, and Cullen is very happy that he no longer has to stand on his hind legs to look out of the window.
Once the bench had been around for a few days, I finally caught a few minutes where neither of the dogs was one it (probably because they were outside or something) so I managed to snap a few photos of the bench by itself.
I’m absolutely in love with it, and I can’t wait to see how it looks in our room at the new house. And I can’t wait to know what it’s like to have a dog that can get up on the bed by himself again.
Oh, and don’t worry – the windows in the new house go almost down to the floor, so hopefully the dogs won’t be too upset when there isn’t a bench by the front window anymore.
Have you ever bought or modified anything in your house to make life easier for your dogs? Or am I the only crazy/pathetic one that does crap like this?
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Comments on this post
Wow! You did an amazing job! That bench went from boring and dull to fresh and fun, and I bet the doggies love it! Bravo!
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15. June - 7:23 amIt’s SO cute!! Your chevron obsession is totally contagious because now I have it too!
I absolutely love what you guys did with it–A+!
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15. June - 7:49 amOmg amazing! Youre right, this is more awesome than the dresser turned media cabinet. Didnt think that was possible. And how nice for your dogs
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15. June - 8:01 amLove it! So cute.
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15. June - 8:02 amHoly crap..I LOVE it!
We’ve been looking for a bench for the end of our bed for quite some time now – yours is a great find! Awesome. (And, yes, we often rearrange things to make things easier for our dogs, too!)
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15. June - 8:08 amIt looks so great! It’s kind of amazing how much better it looks painted white than stained/unpainted. Also, I love the fabric choice (I bought it in the blue/ivory color scheme)
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15. June - 8:41 amLove it! Such gorgeous fabric, and I love the design if the legs, too.
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15. June - 9:00 amHA! My dog LOVES looking out the window. He also barks at anyone that walks past (even when he is sitting in our car!) Our windows are pretty high off the ground, but once we open the shade he will stand (his entire body) on the back of the couch and look out the window. It’s pretty ridiculous lol! He also loves my parents’ and in-laws’ houses because they have large windows he can easily look out!
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15. June - 9:43 amOoooooooh! I adore this! Amazing work!!!
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15. June - 10:11 amThat is a super smart and really pretty solution!! I love it!
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15. June - 11:41 amMy Dad cut a window on the side of his deck so our family dog could observe what was going on in the neighborhood. Our dog loves it when she’s over there. Izzy, our dog, has basically taken over the craft room as her own,
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15. June - 12:34 pmYou did an awesome job with this!! I would totally do the same thing for my (future) dog or (really fat) cats!
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15. June - 12:44 pmFound you! Love the bench.
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15. June - 3:28 pmI love, love love it!! It looks fantastic! I want one of those!
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15. June - 6:22 pmlove the fabric, the paint, the puppys! so cute! i love furniture with some “feet” on it, hehe.
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15. June - 9:17 pmI love the new bench! When we got new sofas we moved the ottoman from the living room to the end of our bed so that Max can get on the bed whenever he wants. That is so strange that Cullen won’t jump on the bed by himself anymore! Silly dog!
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16. June - 11:53 amAw, I love that! Sunday’s not big on looking out the window unless she’s freaking out about something going on in the alley, at which point she’s whining and looking out the window with her paws up. Unfortunately there’s no way we have room for a bench like that! The cats would love it. They can just hop on the window sill, though.
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16. June - 3:08 pmUmm, yes please! I love this!! Completely love it!! I recently did a chair makeover and ALMOST chose yellow fabric – I went with blue instead, but this makes me want to find more chairs so I can do the white/yellow color combo! The fact that the dogs love it makes it even more adorable! So cute!!
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20. June - 5:47 pmLove how bright and happy the bench turned out! I haven’t bought any furniture specifically for our dog, but I did pick up something for our older cat. You see, the cat food sits on the bathroom sink to keep the dog out of it. With the cat not as agile as she used to be, I got a little side table about 18″ tall to help her make it up. I’ve thought about painting it a glossy purple, but for now it’s functional. Anyhoo, you’re not the only one who buys furniture for your pets!
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20. June - 6:03 pmGlad I’m not the only dog enabler out there!
Love the bench re-do. I used the same fabric on a chair in our guest room. Glad someone else has good taste.
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20. June - 8:59 pmOur three dogs also NEED something to sit on in front of a window- recently it has been the leather ottoman that came with our sectional (sigh)
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20. June - 9:48 pmI love the bench it looks fabulous. Dang! Now I have to start looking for a bench.
You are not crazy! After we bought new leather couches, we ended up keeping the old love seat so our dog could still lie on a couch. Now, I have THREE couches in my family room, two fabulous black, Italian leather couches and one old, ratty, drooled on love seat for THE DOG!
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21. June - 11:37 amThat was the cutest story. I bet your one dog will love that bench at the end of the bed so he can get up on the bed easier. That bench went from boring to chic, so darn cute!
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21. June - 7:42 pmI LOVE what you did with this bench. I would LOVE a step-by-step tutorial on how you did it. Maybe it is common sense, but I don’t know how you would take the cushion off and put it back on. Or what kind of paint you would use to paint the wood. I
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Amanda Reply:
June 23rd, 2011 at 4:11 pm
Our cushion wasn’t actually attached (the bench wasn’t in the best shape), so we just pulled it off the top! But, usually there is some sort of screw or something holding it in. All you really need to do is flip your bench over and take a look at it to see what the underside looks like, and it should be pretty easy to figure out! As for the paint, I used spray paint for mine!
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I love the new pattern!! Those are some lucky lucky dogs!
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10. August - 1:18 pm