How to Build a Pet Feeder — Choose Rustic or Modern Style!

DIY Rustic Pet Feeder

Hello, I’m Tamara visiting again from Provident Home Design where I share design, decorating, and DIY tips on a budget!   Today I have a special DIY tutorial for all you pet lovers–2 different stylish pet feeders!

Wouldn’t it be awesome if our pets had their own rooms to keep all their supplies in (cages, litter boxes, food, bowls, leashes, etc.)!  A room just for animal stuff would be oh SO nice but most of us don’t have that luxury.

Neither did my friend Lolly who like me uses her laundry room as a dual pet supply room.  When I helped, Lolly make over her laundry room a few months ago it was very clear to me that one important step to making her laundry room feel more glamorous and orderly would be to replace the towel  and bowls set up with an actual pet feeder.

Before the DIY Pet Feeder

There are some gorgeous wood bowl feeders out there but most come with a hefty price tag.  Lolly and I decided a DIY bowl feeder would be necessary.

Using a couple of pieces of leftover oak hardwood flooring she and her husband crafted this beautiful rustic pet feeder for her dog for only $10 (the price of the two large silver dog bowls)!

How to make a rustic pet feeder

How to make a pet feeder

 

So, want to learn how to make this puppy (no pun intended)?

Easy DIY pet feeder, in either rustic or modern style, to fit your decor. Great beginner project. @Remodelaholic

How to Make an Easy Pet Feeder

Can’t see the video? Watch it here on our YouTube channel and be sure to subscribe to get all our new videos!

 

This project requires a kreg jig but don’t worry if you don’t know how to use one, that’s what I’m here for!!  I recently made a pet feeder for my cat and it was the first time I ever used a kreg jig. It was SO much easier than I anticipated!

Supplies-to-Make-a Rustic-Pet-Feeder

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Supplies:

  • Kreg K4L Pocket Hole Jig (it comes with the drill bits and screws you will need)
  • Drill
  • Jigsaw
  • Wood glue (optional)
  • Wood- We used left over oak hardwood flooring but you could use any 3/4 inch thick wood.
    • Big Dog Size- 22.5″L x 12″Wx 6.5″H
    • Cat or Small Dog Size- 15″Lx 7.75″Wx 4.5″H
  • Bowls (with a lip, like these — that price is hard to beat!)

 

Tutorial:

Here is Mr. Kreg Jig (not scary at all)!  Lay ‘him’ down on a stable surface.  Lift the lever to the right to open the clamp and slide the piece of wood in.  Once the piece of wood is positioned where you want it push the lever to the left to lock the clamp in.

Kreg JIg Tutorial

Put the kreg jig drill bit into the drill and drill downwards into one of the holes on the jig as shown below.  In this step you are creating a pocket hole for a screw to be screwed into in order to connect it to another piece of wood (see video for this step).

How to Use a Kreg Jig

There are numbers on the side of the jig that tell you given the thickness of the boards what size screws you will need.

Using a Kreg Jig

For my cat feeder I made 2 pocket holes in each side board that connected to the top board.  My friend, Lolly, added an additional back to hers.

Below is a photo of the underside of her dog feeder.  You can see that she created a total of 4 pocket holes in the side boards (2 to attach to the back and 2 to attach to the top board).  And lastly two pocket holes going from the back into the top.

Making Pocket Holes with a Kreg Jig

Are you still with me???  Good! It gets even easier from here!!:-)

After making the pocket holes, set the first two pieces of wood you want to attach together in place.  With the kreg jig bit in the drill, drill the kreg jig screws all the way into the pockets holes.

Kreg Jig Instructions
Sorry the picture came out so grainy!!

Once you have all the screws drilled in, flip the feeder over (and celebrate because you used a kreg jig and not everyone knows how to use a kreg jig)!!:-)

Next turn your bowls over face down on top of the feeder.  Trace around the bowls lightly with a pencil.

How to Make a Dog or Cat Feeder

Remove the bowls and draw a circle parallel to the one you just made but about a 1/4 of an inch in.

How to Jigsaw a Hole

Then erase the outer circle so you don’t get confused.

NOTE:  We do this so that the bowl’s lip has wood to rest on (otherwise the bowl would go straight through the hole).

We are almost done!!  Using a large drill bit drill a couple holes next to each other along the inside of each circle.  We do this to create space for the jigsaw blade to fit in (see video for this step).

How to Build a Pet Feeder

Using a jigsaw slowly follow along the line of the circle.  When the circle has been completed the wood will drop out (see video for this step).

Remember the edge of the new hole doesn’t have to be perfect because the lip of the bowls will hide the edge.

How to Use a Jig Saw to Build a Pet Feeder

Just slip the bowls in and you are done!!  If you want to cover the pocket holes made by the kreg jig, they make these caps/plugs to fit right in or I assume you could just fill them with wood filler.

Caps for Kreg Jig Holes

DIY Rustic Pet Feeder using scraps of wood flooring, great beginner project @Remodelaholic

If you are into a more modern or chic style, here is a different option!

Modern Feeder

Above is my cat, Bengal.  Can you tell she has a little bit of sass to her personality?:-)

DIY Pet Feeder

I bought the faux marble contact paper (shown below) for another project and got the idea to use some of it to make a modern chic pet feeder.  The plans are very similar to my DIY marble console table.

Marble Contact Paper

It is very simple to make.  Cut a 2×2 into (6) 5 inch pieces.  Then glue the pieces into the formations shown below with wood glue or Liquid Nails.

Making Legs for Marble Pet Feeders

Let the glue dry for 24 hours.  Once dry spray all sides of the base legs with gold metallic spray paint.

How to Build a Pet Feeder

While the spray paint is drying cut a 1/2-3/4 inch thick piece of wood or MDF in a 8″ x 17″ rectangle.  Place the wood onto the sticky side of the faux marble contact paper.

Using Faux Marble Contact Paper

Wrap the board with the contact paper like you would wrap a present (except you don’t need tape).:-)

Marble Pet Feeders

It will look like this when you are done.  Now make the holes for the bowls to fit into by following the same steps as described above for the rustic pet feeder (also shown in video).

Pet Feeder Instructions

After the holes are made apply wood glue or Liquid Nails to the tops of the bases.

Pet Feeder Tutorial

Measure and place the faux marble board evenly spaced onto the bases.  Let the glue dry for 24 hours before handling.  I shot a couple of nails from the top of the board into each leg with a nail gun for added durability and then filled the nail holes with a spec of spackle.

Modern Pet Feeder

And it’s done!!

So there you have it, two stylish options for a pet feeder–rustic and modern.  Which do you like better??

Featured Image DIY Pet Feeder

OR

DIY Modern Feeder Horizontal

I hope you enjoyed these tutorials!  Please don’t hesitate to ask questions!!

Be sure to come visit me at Provident Home Design to see what I’ve been up to!   Also, you can come check out the rest of Lolly’s laundry makeover, HERE!  Lots of budget friendly ideas!!:-)


How to Make a DIY Pet Feeder

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More ways to use flooring (other than on the floor!)

Butcherblock style wood countertop from flooring
(and read how it’s holding up here)

Peggy PJH Designs DIY oak flooring countertop review

Peel and stick flooring turned backsplashPlank Backsplash Using Peel and Stick Flooring  Mom 4 Real for Remodelaholic.com

or, read our tips for actually installing wood flooring 😉
10 tips for installing new wood flooring

and see our latest flooring choice and installation experience hereRemodelaholic living room flooring install process (3)

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Hello! My name is Tamara and I am the author of Provident Home Design, a blog devoted to deals, DIY, and design. I'm a big advocate for getting "the Look" for less and love to share lots of tips on the subject! Currently i am turning my builder blah home into my own one (or 5 or 6) DIY projects at a time.

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4 Comments

  1. thank you for your wonderful blog, tamara! we found that its a good idea to seal the wood first. dogs drool and drop food around their bowls, so if the wood isnt sealed you end up with stains and the cleanup is harder. this is not really a concern if you only feed kibble, but dont we all slip table scraps or canned food into the bowl? plus, dogs drip water, which isnt good to leave standing on unsealed wood.

    you can also use a piece of laminate countertop for the eating surface instead of plain wood. it requires modifying the plan a little, but the result is worth it.

    best wishes!

    1. Hi Donna! Thanks so much for mentioning sealing the wood! A protective finishing coat like a polyurethane would definitely be recommended.

      Using a piece of laminate countertop is a great idea! Also melamine would be a good option too. It has a very similar surface material as laminate but comes in thiner sizes which might be more conducive to this project.

      Thanks again, Donna, for your awesome suggestions!!:-)

  2. This is really neat! Just one thing….I learned a long time ago with my beloved lab that some dogs, particularly large dogs should not have their bowls elevated. it’s important that they eat they way they are supposed to eat –head down, not like they are at a table (tables are for people). So I would just recommend making the feeding station, but keep it lower to the ground.