Happy in their new home after living in a cardboard box :)
'Candy Cane' emerges
‘Candy Cane makes a dash from his new house

A Guinea Pig House

A Guinea pig house was a request from my lovely Northern based grandchildren. Mum and Dad had at last given in and agreed they (two girls Freya and Bethany)could have one each.

Not knowing what a guinea pig house was an example was asked for.  The picture was quickly supplied and then printed out A4 size.

Working out the dimensions

The overall front width needed to be 350mm. A dimension based on their ‘cardboard box’ used at present.

Studying the perspective of the picture to gain the other dimensions did make me scratch my head for a while.  However a ratio was made from the picture and tested by asking the depth of the house needed. All seemed fine so the finished plan could be made.

Part of the specifications required a side entrance (it also had to be on the right hand side) in addition to the front one, to allow ‘Candy Cane’ and ‘Jaffa Cake’ 🙂 to get in and out. A heart shape needed to be cut out on the front face. Along with a flat pack construction and ‘Real’ wood, left unpainted or varnished, made the instructions very clear.

Finally a heart shape needed to be cut out on the front face, completing the spec.

As an aside my attempts to rename Freya’s pet from ‘Candy Cane’ to ‘Sweet Stick’ didn’t go down to well though 🙂

Work commences

A large redundant, very blue, shelf was cleaned up, planed, and cut to size. So a nice bit of recycling carried out, although this meant, two planks needed to be biscuit joined together.

Shelf to recycle
It was a very nice surprise to see what lay under all that paint!

I am fortunate enough to have a well equipped wood workshop with table saw, planer/thicknesser,

bandsaw etc. I much prefer metalwork and getting into my separate metal workshop seems harder to do these days.  The links to Amazon (if you buy an item)do earn a very small commission, at no cost to you.

Any earnings go towards the costs of the website although they are very small.

Using furniture bolts I was able to build the house ‘flat pack’.

The amazing colours and patterns of the wood that was hiding under that awful blue paint.  It was a real pleasure to see it being uncovered. It really does cry out to leave it alone in regard to the finish. What do you think?  Leave your comment if you like.  Feedback is always welcome.

Hiding under horrible blue paint..
Nice wood hides under the paint when used as a shelf.
a 'Doggy' house as well..
The guinea pig house was such a hit that ‘one for my doggy’ was

It is a simple to make wooden house but remember that any finish must be children and animal safe. Also any fixings should be suitable for both children and the animals.

It only consists of 6 panels and would be a nice lockdown project. The edges were nicely rounded for  safety as well as aesthetics using the small trimmer/router . A tool that is both easy to use but gives professional looking results.

 
If you would like to know more of have a copy of the plans then please contact me and I’ll email them to you.

Thanks for visiting.

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