DIY Pottery Barn Dog Bed for Under $50

If you follow us on Instagram, you know that our puppy sleeps everywhere — on our dining room table, on the back of the couch, on our bar stools. So we thought it was time to convince her to sleep in a bed instead of all over our furniture.

I found a beautiful dog bed from Pottery Barn, but it was well over budget ($350!) and the wrong color for our space. We looked at the pictures and decide to build it ourselves with a few small adjustments.

Let’s start DIYing!

Tools

• Miter Saw
• Drill
• Electric Sander
• Clamps
• Kreg Jig
• Tape Measure
• Optional: Nail Gun

Prefer printable plans? Grab your dog bed plans HERE.

How to make a DIY large dog bed

New to DIY? Download our free 5 Steps to Getting Start with DIY guide!

Step 1: Cut your wood

Cut all of the boards, except for the x details. If there are angled cuts involved, the length is to the longest side of the board.

For	Board Size	Quantity	Length
Support Beam	1×2	1	27.75″
Bottom of Bed	1×6	5	37″
Side Frame	2×2	4	27.75
Bottom Frame	2×2	2	37″
Top Back Frame	2×2	1	39.75″ – both sides are angled in 45-degrees
Front Side Frame	2×2	2	8.5″ – top angled 45-degrees
Front Top Frame	2×2	2	10″ – both sides angled in 45-degrees
Legs	2×2	4	12″ – top angled 45-degrees

Step 2: Sand

Sand your boards using 80-120 grit sandpaper to remove small imperfections.

STEP 3: assemble the bed frame

Begin by attaching two legs to a bottom frame board to create the front of the bed. The angles on the legs should be facing in and the bottom boards should be 2″ off the floor. Attach the legs with glue and a pocket hole on each side of the bottom of the bottom frame board.

Pocket holes are the foundation of most DIY furniture. Become a pocket hole pro in less than an hour in Pocket Holes: Explained.

Repeat to create the back of the bed. To ensure the bottom board is the same distance off the ground as the front of the bed, you can place the front of the bed that you already assembled on the ground and then align the back legs on top of the legs you used for the front. Use a pencil to mark where the bottom board should be placed.

Next, attach the top back frame to the back legs. Glue the angled pieces together, clamp them in place, and then nail them together using 1.5″ nails.

For the front, lay the frame flat and position the front side and front top frames on the floor without gluing or assembling. mark where the front side frame hits the bottom frame board.

Pre-drill four holes through the bottom frame board where the side frames will intersect the bottom frame. Then glue and secure the front side frames with a 2.5″ screw. Then glue, clamp, and nail the front top frames using 1.5″ nails.

Attach the front and back using glue and 2.5″ Kreg screws through the pocket holes on the side frame pieces. The bottom side frame will be 2″ off the ground. The top side frame will be flush with the top of the bed.

Step 4: cut pieces for the x detail

We will use 1x2s for all of the x details. Start with the x for the back of the bed. Lay the bed down with the front on the floor so that the back of the bed is facing up. Place the 1×2 board on top of the back of the bed and mark angles from underneath the boards. See the picture below on how to mark your angles.

Cut one board and then place the cut board on top of the uncut board and mark it. If using a miter saw, you can also place the cut board on top of the uncut board and bring your saw blade down (make sure it’s off) to make sure it would be cutting at the same spot.

Once you have everything aligned, remove the cut board and cut the new board.

Test both of the boards by sliding them in one at a time. Place the more snug board in. This will be the x detail that will not be cut in the middle.

Place less snug board on top and line up angles in corners. Mark from underneath and then cut your angle. Note: if your miter saw doesn’t cut a sharp enough angle, you can use a circular or jigsaw and cut along the line your marked.

Glue the solid board in place and then nail on each side.

For the board that you cut into 2, use wood glue and a nail like you did for the solid board. In the middle, just use glue to attach. Clamp the middle boards into place until the glue is dry.

If your angles aren’t perfect, it’s okay. We will fill with stainable wood putty after it dries.

If you are using our exact bed plans, we used the following angles: back is approximately 10 degrees (technically 9.6), sides = 12.5 degrees, front = 45-degrees

Repeat this process for the sides and front of the bed. For the side and back boards, the angle will be from side to side. For the front, you want to do top to side so that the angled line continues. For front x, don’t use nails, just glue

step 5: attach the bottom

While the x details are drying, attach your bottom boards using pocket holes. Drill 2 on each side on the bottom of the bottom boards and screw into the bottom side frame.

Step 6: Prep and Paint

Remove clamps and fill nail holes and any imperfect angles with wood putty if needed.

Once wood putty has dried, sand where needed (wood putty, corners, etc).

Clean your workspace and remove all dust and wood shavings that could find its way into your paint.

Paint.

We can’t wait to see pictures of your sweet pups enjoying their new bed! Send us pictures on Instagram!