Upcycling a Monitor into a Pet Bed

By: Victoria Kulig

Not that long ago, we all used CRT monitors. They were big, clunky, and took up a large portion of our desks.

I'm sure some people out there still use them, but a large number of people seem to just toss them out into the trash (although I would hope they're being disposed of properly and not just tossed to the curb!)

I saw a monitor turned cat-bed once, and decided to see if I could do it as well. How hard could it be? So, I set to work.

A word of caution: This. Is. Dangerous. CRT monitors can hold an electric current for up to two years after being unplugged. Hitting the screen the wrong way can break the vaccuum seal and cause it to explode. The Divine Domestics can not be held liable for anyone trying this and getting injured. If you don't know what you are doing, please find an electrician to help you. Getting hurt trying to make a bed isn't worth it.

I got my hands on an old CRT.

Nothing fancy, and in fact this one still worked. The next step is to take it apart. At this point, I do need to caution you about handling the inside parts of the monitor. Please wear rubber shoes during this process to protect yourself from electric shock. Don't stand near or in water.

 

 

There are a lot of wires and other pieces inside of a monitor. Please do not fiddle with the wires if you don't what they are, and be VERY careful not to break the monitor itself. A CRT can hold an electric charge for quite some time, so don't think that just because it has been unplugged for a week or two that it is completely safe.

In the monitor I used, everything came out in one solid piece, and we put it in a card board box and took it to our city's trash facility to be recycled. Please do not throw these in the trash.

Once it is apart, reassemble it, and paint it anyway you choose, then put a pillow inside. Now you have an adorable cat bed.

My cat isn't particularly fond of having her photo taken, but you can see here that is a cozy fit for a cat.

You can do this with virtually any type of CRT monitor, and here is an example of six in progress:

Cats fit in them best, but very small dogs could use them as well. I try to find pillows that fit, but you can always make your own pillow the really customize it.

Remember to be very, very, very careful in taking apart the monitor, but have fun making creative beds!

Curtains & Re-covering Chairs

By Kandis Hamrick and Kari Baker-Lott

 

This project was completed in an afternoon, but I can't take all the credit. My partner-in-crime was my roommate and all-around awesome person Kari Lott. We are fortunate enough to have a dedicated game room in our house, but it gets incredibly hot during the day because it has several large windows and gets a lot of direct sunlight. Using some old curtains of various sizes, we made new curtains and used the same fabric to recover a couple of chairs.

We had one red curtain that was a single panel and a set of patterned curtains. We used the extra valances to lengthen the shorter curtains. Because of the type of print, we had to line the prints up before cutting. This type of fabric was also very prone to unraveling so we used a French Seam to attach the pieces. The red curtain simply had to be cut in half so that it would be narrow enough for the window.

We found two of these chairs at Goodwill for $6/each. While they are much more comfortable than the uncushioned chairs we'd previously been using for our regular game nights, were weren't fans of the fabric. So we used the leftover fabric from the curtains to fashion our new seat covers. We measured the seat and determined that with 1/4" seam allowance on each side, our seat was 20x20". We measured the side height of the seat and determined that our side panels should be 5" tall. We sewed the sides to the main seat panel first.



Next, you'll need to sew the corners. For this, we basically did a little fabric origami. We folded the panel on the diagonal so that the side seams line up.

The picture at the right shows where you will be sewing your corner seam once you have it pinned. We recommend that you start from the unfinished edge and sew toward the seat panel as indicated by the arrows in the photo; we recommend this because it will be difficult for you to get your needle in just the right spot if you start at your previous seam and sew away from the seat panel. You don't need to worry about finishing the side panels because they'll be stapled to the bottom of your seat cushion and won't be visible when the project is complete.

Next we put the covers on the seat cushion and pulled the sides down so the cover fit snugly. This took a little effort since we were not able to remove the arms of the chairs and instead had to finesse the new cover between the arm and cushion.

You'll want to staple one side at a time and make sure that you pull the cover as tight as you can so you don't end up with any extra fabric or puckering on your cushion. If you have enough extra fabric, you can fold the unfinished edge under so it won't be visible.

For the back of the chair,  we had a single seam on each side that only went halfway down the back cushion to accommodate where the back is attached to the arms of the chair.

We slipped the cover over the top of the cushion and stapled the back piece first and wrapped the the front piece around and folded it over before stapling it so there would be a clean edge.

 

As a finishing touch, we trimmed the fraying fabric and used craft glue on the edges under the cushion to help keep the unfinished material from continuing to unravel. Depending on the fabric you use, this step might not be necessary but (as previously noted) our fabric frayed very easily.

 

When it was all said and done, we had two newly covered chairs and three new curtains.