DIY Raised Dog Bowls

The second project we wrapped up last week were two raised dog bowl stands. We’ve been wanting to do these for a while but kept putting it off. Although we had heavy ceramic bowls for each dog, they would be pushed around on the floor each day and our youngest liked to play in the water bowl creating a wet mess, even with a mat under the bowl. I’d seen raised bowl stands made from vintage crates and loved the look but A) didn’t have a vintage crate and B) if I did I wouldn’t have two that matched, or want to destroy an antique for a dog bowl stand. So we DIY’d an alternative.

The hubs built simple hollow wood boxes and then cut the holes out for the bowls, using small holes inside the diameter of where each bowl would sit as a staring point.

Then it was up to me to finish the look. Since I knew these pieces wouldn’t stay pristine being used by the dogs, I decided to intentionally create a distressed look. I started with a coat of stain, followed by a coat of light grey paint, which I sanded randomly to make them look vintage.

Here’s the finished look! It’s so much nicer than the hodge podge mess we had before! (Apparently I hated it so much I never took a single picture of it, because I can’t find any before pictures to share!) We have one stand on either side of the buffet in our dining room, so we all eat together. One holds two water bowls and a single food bowl for Tequila since she’s the alpha and likes to be separated from the others when eating. The other has two food bowls and a single water dish for Stoli and Bacardi who often share while eating.

I wasn’t sure how well the kiddos would take to the new set up and planned to ‘introduce’ them to the bowls with treats, but it wasn’t necessary. In fact they started using them as soon as they went down, which made me even happier with the project! Eating at this level is easier for them and is supposed to help improve their digestion.

I think Luna is actually a little jealous of their new bowls! But since her bowls are in the laundry room window ledge, where she has plenty of privacy I think she’ll be just fine.