Guinea Pig Home (2014)

My niece got 2 Guinea Pigs, she asked me to make a little house for them.
She'd like to have something that resembles some sort of farm house with little shutters. The house had to be grey with a red roof. The shutters needed to be red, green and white with the pattern found at old farm houses. And she wanted a name sign.

Finished house

Before I started I made a 3D drawing of something I thought looked farm like, compared to online pictures. I also tried different shapes of the roof and colors.

3 types of farm houses. I choose the front one to make. I wasn't fond of the chimney, therefor I skipped to make it.

From the drawing I took the measurements necessary to make the house. When I was drawing the doorway on the wood, it seemed too small. I looked online and it had to be at least 10 cm wide; the arc on the 3D drawing had to go.
I used the sawn out door to glue it on the side. I could have made that one a bit smaller thought. But it's alright.

For this project I used Plywood (6 mm for the walls, but 9-12 mm might be better). This is a safe kind of wood as far as I know and it will not absorb liquids like pee as MDF would (And break down because of it)

It's size is: 30 cm width, 20 cm deep. The rood overlays in the front which is about 1,5 cm. From the ground to the highest point is about 21 cm.

Starting with a pile of wooden parts.

With a pair of scissors I carved some lines in the roofing, so it would look like tiles.
When the paint job was done I covered it with 2 layers of acrylic varnish. If you do not varnish it there's a chance your Guinea Pig has a red or grey tongue later on because the acrylic paint will eventually stain if you soak it.

House without the name sign.

Perspective view

Perspective view

Left Side

Right Side 

Because Guinea Pigs are rodents, one of them decided to use his house as a teeth sharpener.
When it becomes to bad, I will fix it up again.

IMPORTANT: You're working for animals, make sure you sand all the edges, use paint that holds no lead or any other nasty chemicals and no nails, screws or any other sharp bits!