During the recent move to our new house, we struggled with where to put our cats’ litter boxes. At the old house we had three litter boxes for the three cats. We decided to try going down to two litter boxes in the new place. However, we weren’t excited about any potential litter box locations.
A few Google searches later and I knew there were a variety of furniture options I could purchase to hide litter boxes. I also knew that they were pricey, leading me to decide make my own. A few days of watching Craigslist and a trip to the Salvation Army later, I scored two solid wood furniture pieces that worked in our house and were big enough to conceal a litter box for about $90 total. I couldn’t even purchase an already made piece of furniture for twice that cost. Once the furniture was home, we put in the litter boxes for a few weeks and left one of the cabinet doors open so that the cats would get used to the new digs. Probably only needed to do it for a few days, but we were still busy unpacking.
Furniture piece one: a cabinet that fit nicely by the front door and stairs.
After measuring where to put the cat sized hole – few inches above the inside platform, centered, about 7 inches wide – I drew the lines for the hole, using a bucket to get the arch correct. I then covered the lines with masking tape and drew them again so that the wood would not splinter when we cut it.
My husband then took care of using the drill to start the hole and then the jigsaw to cut out the opening:
After finishing the whole, we removed the tape and sanded the edges.
As our cats don’t always hit their litter box target (weird, right?) We decided to line the inside of the furniture with heavy duty plastic drop cloth so that it can be cleaned / replaced as needed. I used a staple gun to hold the pieces in place. Update, 7/26/14: we’ve recently added pet pee pad lining behind the boxes in addition to the plastic for those times when the one cat misses the litter boxes. They do a pretty good job of absorbing liquid and locking in the odor.
As soon as we carried the cabinet inside and installed the clean litter box, our cat Carston make a beeline for the litter box. I couldn’t even get a photo first! It was good to know he wasn’t reluctant about trying it out. Here’s his exit:
The litter box inside, along with a litter mat to try to trap litter before the cats make it out the hole.
Now unsuspecting guests will never know what this piece of furniture is hiding by our front door. As a bonus, it’s an excellent place to store mail! Now I just need to repaint it once I settle on the colors for that part of the house and hang some art work above. Someday.
Furniture piece #2 is a rock solid low cabinet. It was obviously made by hand. It smelled strongly of patchouli when I got it home.
Following the same process, we cut a hole in the slide a few inches above the inner platform, lined it with plastic and swapped out the gold knobs for brushed nickel knobs left over from our bathroom renovation at the old house.
Here it is inside. It’s so roomy we could probably put two boxes inside.
It’s positioned just below the window that looks on to our back porch, a perfect kitty sitting spot. The exit faces our fireplace so it’s concealed from the rest of the living room. I plan to either strip and re-stain this cabinet darker or paint it to match our living room. I would like to get cushions to put on top so that it acts as a people sitting bench in addition to a kitty sitting bench. Again, someday.
Mojo and Carston say it’s perfect for gazing out the window:
The cats have been using their new litter box cabinets with the holes in the side for more than a week now. We’ve happily noticed a that these cabinets do a decent job of containing unpleasant odors and the cats are more than happy to use them. Hooray!
What kind of furniture finds have you repurposed for your pets?
Thank you this is great !!! ❤
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Alright, you are the first to mention this box and plastic lining. We are trying this this weekend. Thanks for the reassurance.
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We still have the plastic, many months later. I haven’t had to replace it, and it’s certainly been needed for a few incidents.
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Laura, I wish I had seen your post many months ago — it’s awesome. I searched and searched for something like this, and finally had to make my own from scratch. I like your idea of the plastic lining. I ended up painting the inside of mine with a kitchen paint that can practically be hosed down. Here’s a link to my sneaky litter box:
http://ana-white.com/2012/11/printers-console-or-sneaky-litterbox-cabinet
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Thanks for sharing! We finally removed the plastic and replaced it in one of the boxes, so I’m definitely glad we added it.
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This is fantastic! I’m going furniture shopping tomorrow!
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This is a wonderful idea looking for a way to hide the litter box and plus not have to constantly have to vacuum litter off the carpet where I currently have the box, thanks for the idea!!!
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Thank you for posting this! Went and bought a $10 salvaged bathroom vanity and a $5 piece of wood to fit the top. Cut the hole, painted, lined it and added covered foam
to the top. It now serves as a kitty litter box, storage for pet supplies, bench and allows the dog to jump up on the bed. All total…about $30.
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Sounds awesome! We’ve started lining ours with pet pee pads in addition to plastic because of one cat who has really bad aim…
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Did you staple the pee pads on like the plastic or do they seem to stand on their own? We definitely have an aiming impaired kitty as well. Thanks!
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We have to use a staple gun to keep them in place.
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I love this idea! So much cheaper than some of the brand new ones for sale online! Do you mind if I share your photo in a blog post I’m writing about how to hide a litter box in an RV? I would of course credit you with your name and a link to this blog post or whatever URL you prefer. Thank you!
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Sounds great, thanks!
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Just thought I’d share this …
I recently I found the following article were they used LIGHT PANELS and caulk to line the cabinet:
http://livinginflux.com/life/diy/how-to-hidden-cat-litter-box/
I thought it was a creative way of keeping the wood from absorbing any urine accidents.
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Very cool! We’ve been using heavy duty painters plastic plus dog training pads to line ours but this is a much more permanent solution to the plastic!
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