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I’m familiar enough with the space-saving life. From back when I lived at home with my parents to living in tiny apartments in the greater Seattle area and finally to the house I live in now, there has always been a need for space efficiency. Especially when you factor dogs into the equation, space becomes a valuable resource, and there’s not always enough to go around.

There are a lot of tips, secrets, and “hacks” to living with dogs that help make life a little more efficient. But I think a lot of people underestimate exactly how much space is really needed to house even a small dog when you’re already trying to have space for the rest of life.

When I moved to my most recent (and most spacious) place, I knew my two dogs and I were long overdue for an upgrade. In my last apartment, they had been in pretty standard wire crates tucked into the open space beneath a piece of furniture in my bedroom. While this was perfectly fine as a setup for them, it really wasn’t the most space-friendly option for me, and I knew I wanted something nicer for my new area.

And while my new house was certainly an upgrade over the tiny apartments I was living in, as I started to prepare for moving and expanding my business, I quickly realized that space-saving was still going to be a factor when it came to managing a lot of my area if I wanted to avoid excessive clutter and keep my dogs happy and comfortable.

After setting up my new bedroom space how I wanted it, I decided that I’d finally go ahead and invest in a pair of nightstand dog crates to go on the sides of my bed. My dogs are roughly 15lbs each, so the idea was completely feasible.

But I was picky about what I wanted. The crates needed to look symmetrical and attractive in my new bedroom, fill the space well enough, have enough room on the furniture tops for at least a table lamp and a book, and have a crate design that allowed air to flow safely for my dogs’ health and comfort.

It became clear pretty quickly that it was a tall order. Beyond custom-made crates that would take months to complete and cost hundreds each, there wasn’t a whole lot that fit the bill for all of my requirements. But I’m nothing if not determined, and I scoured the internet for a long time until I finally found a dog crate that actually did have it all.

The Omlet Fido 24

I’ll admit that I found this product completely by accident. I had been looking on local listings on facebook marketplace and sale apps like OfferUp, and noticed that two people were selling the same type of dog crate, called the Fido Studio from Omlet.

The listings in question were a wire dog crate furniture combo, with an added “closet” area for storing pet clothes, toys, food, or whatever you may need the storage for.

It instantly drew me in for being an aesthetically attractive product that met all of my criteria: the right width for my bedside, well-ventilated, secure, good tabletop space, and the designs were reversible (the closet and main crate doors can be put on either side) so I could get symmetry using them as end tables. The extra storage space you get out of the closet add-on was the cherry on top.

The for-sale listings both said more or less the same thing: the person was moving out-of-state and was planning on re-purchasing the Fido Studio crate in their new place, but preferred to just have fewer things to move such a distance. I decided to reach out to both of them, and set up a time to pick them up.

The first one went smoothly, and I was pleasantly surprised by the condition of the furniture dog crate, especially after being used. The first one I purchased came with the extendable clothes rail, a shelf for the closet, and a storage box from Omlet.

I brought the first one home and set it up next to my bed, pleased that my measurements were correct and it fit perfectly.

The second person, much to my disappointment, cancelled on our sale. They reached out to tell me they were going to have a little more room than they’d thought at their new place, and wanted to keep the Fido Studio dog crate during their move. While this was unfortunate for me, I suppose it can attest to how much this person did like the product itself.

I ended up purchasing a brand-new Fido Studio 24 from Omlet’s website, which I only hesitated to do originally because I had plans to paint the wood portions of the furniture crates black to match my bedroom decor.

I didn’t want to risk messing up a brand-new product, but I was already so enamored by the one I bought secondhand that I knew I needed to have one for the other side of my bed and my second dog.

For clarity, the product I have is the Fido Studio Dog Crate, not the Fido Nook Dog House with Crate and Closet, which is a similar product design with a removable wire crate. Based on my pleasant experience with the Fido Studio, I am certain the Fido Nook must also be a fantastic option for dog owners who want to be able to take the wire crate portion on-the-go from time to time, but for transparency that is not the product I have.

The Omlet Pet Products Shopping Experience

While I did end up paying more than I anticipated (compared to buying a used Omlet dog crate), my seller cancelling on me was kind of a blessing in disguise, because I got a chance to check out the Omlet shopping experience and put together the second crate myself, so I knew it would be symmetrical in my bedroom.

I really liked the Omlet website, and the shopping page for the Fido Studio crates was really intuitive and easy to understand.

In addition to a video showing how the Fido Studio dog crate works, Omlet also has a build-your-own-dog-crate feature as part of the shopping experience. I got to pick out the size and color of the crate, whether or not I wanted the wardrobe (I did), and opt in to any extras like shelves, clothes rails, and pet beds.

As you click on what you want to include, the page shows you a preview image of exactly what you’re getting with your selection, which I think it incredibly helpful. Because the Fido Studio crate design is so modular, it really helped to be able to visually confirm I was getting exactly what I wanted.

For my 15lb dog, I got the 24 inch crate with the wardrobe, in the brown color (for painting black). The only accessory I wanted was the crate tray, so my total including tax at the time was $173.32. There was a shipping fee of roughly $45 to my area, which brought my total for the entire purchase up to exactly $216.86.

I did notice they have integration with both PayPal and Klarna, which offer payment plans, which I did not use but could imagine being helpful for some dog owners looking to make it work on a tight budget.

I purchased the unit from Omlet’s website on February 19th, and it was delivered to my front door on February 25th.

I appreciate Fido Studio’s customer support throughout the shopping process, as the weather in my area at the time was pretty nasty. For those that aren’t familiar with western Washington, anything more than a couple inches of snow at a time can be really difficult to deal with as the area has a lot of hills and slopes. What’s more, in my neighborhood in Port Orchard, the roads do not get plowed unless a caring neighbor takes it upon themselves. And with the shade that comes with the trees, snow can stick around for a while after falling.

So it was very helpful when I reached out to Omlet to check on my tracking and got a prompt response that because FedEx was having issues with the weather and restricting some shipments, they sent my shipment out through UPS, and directed me to where I could track my shipment to make sure it wasn’t lost (during the height of covid-related shipping issues and poor weather).

They also sent me an email exactly one month after my order to get me specialized instructions on assembly with video tutorials and invited me to reach out to their support team if I needed any additional help.

I appreciated that, but I was way ahead of them, and was putting together my new furniture dog crate as soon as it came in the mail.

Assembling the Fido Studio 24″ Dog Crate

Omlet has a ton of videos and helpful content on putting their products together, which are available at this page on their website.

I, however, went straight at it with the included instructions and had it put together entirely by myself within an hour or so. The written instructions included in the box were very helpful and it was a fairly easy one-person job to assemble both the crate and the wardrobe.

The most difficult part of assembly for me was making sure I was putting the doors on the correct side to have the symmetry I wanted within my space. This was really no fault of the design itself, and just a side effect of a modular and customizable dog crate system.

In fact I did, at one point, accidentally put the door to the wardrobe on the side I didn’t want it. Luckily, the assembly is very forgiving, and I was able to disassemble the portion I did incorrectly and fix my problem without much fuss.

After assembling it, I gave the crate a few coats of the same black paint I used on the secondhand unit I’d bought earlier, let it dry, and moved it in to the spot in my bedroom I’d originally imagined it. I’m sure that I should have done more work in the way of preparing the unit to be painted, but it worked out well for me and the units came out as I’d imagined.

I would warn against painting the units, or at least the inside, especially if you have a dog that licks or chews. Because my dogs are crate-trained, non-destructive, and I had the trays to keep them off direct contact with the painted portions, this was a non-issue for me. But if your dog licks or chews furniture or has issues with separation anxiety, I would avoid painting the unit or stick to painting only the outside with a non-toxic paint.

If you happen to struggle with separation anxiety or destructive behavior in the crate, I have a helpful article on training this called How to Fix Separation Anxiety For Good.

I also decided to forego the closet rail and shelf that came with my original unit, and instead installed a pair of small pull-out waste bins into the wardrobe space to better suit my needs, which I found by accident at a local store.

I really appreciate how DIY-able and customizable the units are, and how flexible they can be for use in a lot of different spaces and lifestyles. I was really able to make them work for my needs, and in my time searching for the perfect dog crate I have not found another brand that has such a modular design.

The Fido Studio: A Year Later

As of writing this article, it is February of 2022. I have had both crates for over a year now, and they have been an absolute dream.

They fit in my space perfectly, have held up over the year I’ve had them (even the used unit is still just like the day I bought it), and my dogs absolutely love them.

While I run a business boarding and training dogs out of my home, I appreciate these crates giving me a means to separate my personal dogs from the rotation of dogs coming in for training. I like to think that having the crates in my bedroom gives my personal dogs a break from other animals, and a nice quiet space of their own.

Having dog crates that just work in my bedroom (or any other living space) on so many levels has been so helpful in creating that peaceful environment.

My chihuahua-italian greyhound-mix, Grimm, especially seems to love how enclosed and secure the crates are, and I frequently catch both of my dogs going to their crates for naps throughout the day.

I haven’t had much to complain about in my year of using them. If I wanted to nitpick, I could mention that the top latch/lock of the used unit squeaks a little bit, but that’s no fault of the product quality; it just needs a little cleaning and maybe some oil, same as maintaining any other wire crate.

In general, I would maybe like to see options for larger dogs. Omlet has the 24″ version of the Fido Studio that I have, and they have a 36″ version suitable for medium-sized dogs. I think an even larger version would certainly be nice for dog owners who need a crate larger than 36″ but want the many benefits of the Fido Studio design.

And to be fair, from my own perspective, the 24″ version has been absolutely perfect for my smaller-sized personal dogs, and so this has not been an issue for me as much as it is just something I could imagine being nice for owners of larger dogs.

Over the past year of using them every day for my own personal use, I just haven’t run into any snags or anything to complain about.

Another benefit of the Fido Studio I’ve found over the last year is that the wire crate design allows me to use a lot of helpful products made for wire crates specifically. For example, after some time I added in crate bowls that secure onto the wire of the crates, which allow me to easily feed my dogs in their crates without dirtying their bedding or taking up extra space.

This makes feeding their homemade food incredibly easy, as the moisture in the food after setting can make it difficult to eat right out of the refrigerator without pushing the bowls around. With the wire crate design, I can secure their food containers and they can eat much more easily.

I have an article going more over the food-making process called How I Easily Make Healthy Homemade Dog Food.

Aside from the dog crate portion, I really enjoy the Fido Studio crates with or without their dog crate functionality. As nightstands alone, they’re fantastic.

They also benefit from being remarkably attractive in my bedroom, and fill out the space around my bed basically wall-to-wall. The furniture portions have enough room on the tabletops for a reading lamp, a few books, and some water, with plenty of surface area to spare. When decorated and set up for a living space, they just plain look nice.

I have no doubt that I will continue to use these crates for the lifetime of my dogs, and I have no reason to believe that they will last less than that time. I am confident that the Fido Studio crates will remain a part of my household even when I inevitably move again, to the point that, like the person who sold me the pre-owned unit, I would go so far as to re-purchasing if I had to undergo a difficult move and needed to downsize.

Right now, the Fido Studio crates are perfect for my space. But given that they are so customizable and modular, I know they will continue to work for me in any other space for the foreseeable future. It is one of my favorite dog products so far, one of my best purchases for my personal dogs, and definitely one I would recommend whole-heartedly to my clients or any prospective buyers.

In my experience, it has just been the best of both worlds.