How to Make a Stylish Cat Bed Out of a Cardboard Box
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It happens every single time. A package comes to the house and the cats claim the box as their own. Instead of taking your cat’s beloved box away, you can turn it into a stylish DIY cardboard box cat bed instead.
You probably have a box or two laying around that are the perfect size for a cat. Maybe it’s already on the floor to make the cats happy, but it sure doesn’t look very nice.
It doesn’t have to be this way. You can make your furry family members an easy DIY box cat bed with that ugly cardboard box and some inexpensive materials that you and your cats will both love.
Bonus: sewing machine and sewing skills not required.
Supplies you will need
- a cat-sized cardboard box with flaps
- scissors
- all-purpose glue
- Mod Podge
- needle and thread
- buttons (optional)
- batting
- fabric for the box and the cushion; flannel, fleece, and minky are good choices.
You could go to the fabric store and buy a couple of yards of fabric, which is often on sale, or upcycle whatever fabric you may have around the house.
For my cardboard box cat bed, I used a yard of flannel fabric to cover the box and a soft polyester minky for the cushion.
Flannel is easy to clean with a lint roller while minky doesn’t stain and will release cat hair pretty easily in the wash. Also, these fabrics don’t fray like cotton so you won’t have to sew the edges.
How to cover the box with fabric
- Center your box on top of the fabric.
- Open the box flap and fold the fabric over the flap.
- Glue the edge of the fabric with glue and secure with a clip until it’s dry.
- Repeat this step on all of the flaps making sure the fabric is taut.
- When the glue is dry, cut the excess fabric off the corners of the box leaving enough to fold over the corner of the box, and glue it to the box flap.
- Trim the edges of the fabric down and tuck them into the side of the box, creating a corner.
- Use glue to secure the fabric into the corner.
- Apply Mod Podge to all of the fabric edges on the inside of the box to keep them secure. Let dry.
- Fold the flaps of the box down so they are inside the box.
Now that the box is covered, it’s time to make the cushion. You don’t have to be a master seamstress to make this cushion, you just need to know how to make a basic stitch with a needle and thread.
In fact, you don’t even have to sew it if you don’t want to. Securing the fabric with safety pins will also work just fine in a pinch. The sewn or pinned side will be on the bottom.
Cushion instructions
- Cut the batting to the size of the inside of your box.
- Fold the cushion fabric over the batting and cut enough to make an envelope.
- Fold the edges of the fabric over the batting and cut the fabric to be even with the edge of the batting, except for the two pieces folded over either side.
- With a needle and thread, sew the edge together to form a pocket.
- Fold the other side over where your corners of the fabric are, like the flap of an envelope.
- Sew a button on the underneath piece of fabric.
- On the top piece of fabric, pinch it with your fingers and cut a little slit slightly smaller than your button. This will be your buttonhole.
- Put the cushion inside your box, button side down.
Cleaning instructions
- To wash, unbutton the fabric cover, remove the batting and wash the cover in the machine on a gentle cycle.
- To clean the cardboard cat bed, use a lint roller to remove excess fur.
Now you have the purrfect DIY cat bed for your box-loving kitty.
What if you have fabric left over?
If you happen to have enough fabric leftover from making this cardboard box cat bed, why not make some DIY cat toys instead of letting the fabric go to waste? Fill the fabric with catnip or a small ball and tie or hand sew the ends together. Your cat will thank you for it.
More easy DIY cat projects
If you are looking for more easy DIY projects for your cats then check out these great projects that your cat will love.
