The title of this post pretty much says it all – an outdoor chair or lounge cushion that is no longer suitable for your patio can be repurposed as a dog bed for a small dog.
Smaller Dog Bed From Chair Cushion
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Category Archives: Pets
Dog Bed Made From Crib Mattress
When your little one outgrows the portable crib you can repurpose the mattress and bedding as a dog bed. The mattress is waterproof and can easily be wiped clean and the sheets can be tossed into the washing machine. That sounds obvious, but these are advantages over a dog bed purchased at a pet supply store, which are not generally washable.
New Uses For Old Carpet
The Irish Attic book has a subsection under each main section called Make Life Easier. These ideas are from that section under Carpet.
Indoors
Use squares of old carpet to wash textured walls. A carpet square will get into all the crevices and won’t scratch your walls like a brush would. Use the carpet side, not the backing side.
Glue a piece of carpet to a scrap piece of wood to make a cat scratch post or use a piece of carpet to recover an existing cat scratch post.
Cut carpet into small pieces to place under the feet of heavy furniture or appliances. These carpet pads will make it easy to move the piece around as well as protect your floors.
Scrap pieces of carpet can be used to redecorate a doll house.
Line a pet bed with carpet.
Carpet in good condition can be glued to one or more walls in a child’s or teen’s bedroom. Not only does this add a decorative element, but more importantly it helps to deaden sound (especially helpful in a teen’s room!).
Carpet can be used as extra insulation in an attic, dog house, tree house, even your compost heap.
Place a large piece of carpet in your garage. You can use it to define an area and to make walking barefoot in your garage more pleasant.
Outdoors
Place a piece of carpet in the back of an enclosed truck or van to protect the bed from scratches and make it easier to slide large items across the bed. You can place it carpet side up or carpet side down, whichever you prefer.
Use scrap pieces of carpet as temporary car mats when doing messy activities like the beach or hiking.
Take scrap carpet pieces with you when camping to use as mats to keep the dirt or snow out of your vacation home.
Take larger pieces of carpet to line the inside of your tent for a more pleasant walking surface.
Place carpet in your garden to suppress weeds. Cover with fresh dirt or mulch.
Carpet placed under gravel or bark can be used to create a weed-free path or patio.
Cut a rectangle for a kneeling pad you can use when gardening.
Small pieces of carpet make a great scrubbing tool that you can throw away when it gets too yucky. These are great for cleaning a barbecue.
“Recycled” Pets
Pets would seem to be a deviation from the focus of Irish Attic but not so, I say. Spotlighting the practice of supporting a market for creating new animals by purchasing them from a pet store or breeder, while leaving existing animals to be warehoused is completely in line with the objectives of Irish Attic.
If you’re thinking of acquiring a pet, instead of purchasing one from a pet store or breeder think about adopting a “recycled” pet from an animal shelter or animal rescue center. Alright, I’m being cute about calling these “recycled” pets, but you get the idea.
If you love animals, but don’t have the time, space or inclination for one of your own why not check out your local animal shelter or animal rescue center for opportunities to interact with an animal without the commitment of owning one? Most shelters have a walking and/or visiting program.
To find out about volunteer opportunities with a local animal protection organization, check the Yellow Pages under the headings “animal shelter,” “humane society,” and “animal control,” or just call Information. You will need to contact each group directly to learn about volunteer needs and opportunities.
There are so many benefits to walking a shelter dog:
- Free exercise for you.
- The dogs need a good long walk for their own exercise.
- It’s great for the dogs’ mental health.
- Helps the dogs’ to adapt to friendly humans, making them better pets and more likely to have a smooth transition into a new home.
- Knowing there are dogs waiting to be walked can motivate you to get off the couch and get the exercise you need.
- If you have kids and choose to bring them along you have a couple hours of free entertainment.
Many of the above benefits apply to animals that cannot be walked such as cats, monkeys and other exotic animals.
Find a nearby animal shelter at Pets911.
PetFinder and PetAdoption will help you find a pet you can adopt and Pets.Answers.com is a great site that contains lots of valuable information for animal lovers and pet owners.