Pop up Trailer Pet Mods - Water Bowl
AS I HAVE MENTIONED in my other pop up posts, Poppy came into our lives by accident. My husbands Aunt and Uncle had recently purchased a large fifth wheel, and offered to let us borrow their older pop up. We took them up on it, and the next year decided to purchase it from them. Me, being a project junkie, decided she needed a makeover. The complete post is HERE if you would like to see the transformation, and before and after photos of Poppy the Pop-Star.
Today however, I am talking pet mods, and first and foremost a place for the dog bowls to live. So they don't get kicked. And water spills everywhere. 47 times a day. Funny not funny.
One of the first things we did with the makeover was remove the cabinet doors for painting. While the demo was in progress, I started looking at what kind of storage they provided, and how we could make improvements. I love little Poppy, but wow is she lacking good storage.
The tiny, emphasis on TINY, cabinet to the left when you walk in our camper door was mostly useless.
My Husbands Aunt used it for small portable fans, flashlight, and misc. tools, etc., but we had already created a new bin for the front storage compartment that would hold those items. Since this cabinet was literally only 7" deep, and had a wheel well on the bottom, and a fire extinguisher on the end, I couldn't really come up with a good use for it. Other than - wait for it - a perfect place for the dog bowl!
Keep in mind that our dog uses a slow feeder bowl for her meals, so this spot was strictly for the water bowl. That being said, there is enough room for two bowls side by side in this cabinet if you happen to be cursed with the same one in your camper.
The photo to the right is after demo and initial painting. You can clearly see the small size of the cabinet, and wheel well in the bottom, making it not-so-useful for storage.
That's the existing shelf I primed and painted black. Other than being ugly, it was solid, so we decided to reuse it. My original plan was to replace it, and stain it to match the countertop, but plan B was easier and, well, free!
I covered both the wheel well and fire extinguisher with new, stained boards to give it a finished look. I used the same stain as the countertop, and did several coats of an exterior polyurethane on all boards in this cabinet, since water would most definitely splash and spill.
The boards were attached using wood glue and a brad nailer. The countertop here, (and everywhere in the pop up), was reattached from the bottom using the original screws.
Next was mounting the bowl. I used a water bowl crate mount found HERE. Because there was a cabinet on the other side of this one, I could place the bowl mount through the wall, and use nuts to hold it in place. It was so easy using a level and a basic drill.
You can see in this photo to the left that there would be room for two bowl mounts in this cabinet if needed, and I feel like this could work for small to large dogs. Probably not toy or giant breeds, but most breeds in between!
We are super happy with how it turned out, and it is the perfect out of the way spot for the water bowl, and easily accessible to the dog anytime.
Painting the shelf black was a good choice, and I think adds contrast to the overall look.
Two add-ons for this mod that we love -
The "Dog Bar" sign: a cute addition for sure, but also practical to cover the old cabinet hinge holes that did not fill-in well.
We also have a small folding bin on the opposite end of the cabinet to hold waste bags (!) It works perfectly and makes it easy to grab one as you head out.
