Reused suitcase as dog bed

Recently, while looking for reuse projects to feature, I ran across this. I thought I might be able to make it myself. Shortly after that, at an estate sale, I found a suitcase for $1. It seemed like I was fated to attempt the dog bed.

The first step was to open up the suitcase and take out all the guts. Who knows what this suitcase was used for, but there were some very odd items inside. Included was foam with voids cut out. Two of them were obviously bottles of some type and then there were some others that I really have no idea their purpose. Anyway, I took out the foam and on the other side of the suitcase was some faux sheep skin fabric and under that was foam pieces and a fleece pillowcase. I ended up using the pillowcase and foam pieces in the project.

Once I pulled everything out, I spent the next few frustrating hours trying to take it apart. Samsonite really made this thing to last. You can see in the photo all the different tools I used. The next step was to add the legs. I drilled holes, slightly smaller than the furniture screws. I added foam blocks to keep the dogs from getting poked. Finally, I made a no-sew cushion and added it on top. In addition to the fleece from the pillowcase and the foam pieces, I also reused stuffing from carnival animals that I purchased the last time I made a no-sew dog bed. (You can see the first one I made in the background of some of the photos.) If you're looking for cheap poly-fill, carnival animals from thrift stores are a great way to go. You just have to cut them open, pull out the stuffing and then fluff it up a bit before using it again.
I was a tiny bit worried that after all that work, the dogs wouldn't like it. I had Wash jump up on top so I could take a few pictures and he seemed pretty comfy. Later, as I was cleaning up, I turned around and he had got up on the bed by himself. I'm glad the dogs like it, because if they hadn't, that would have been really frustrating to put in all that work.

For more photos of the process and the final project, click here.

One final note: this project was harder than I expected. If you want one for your pets, but don't want to spend the hours making it, feel free to buy it from the Etsy merchant in the first link. I'm sure they'd love your business and it's really worth the amount they're asking for it.