Basement Rec Room, Before & After, Furniture Building, Pets, Storage & Organization

Customized Cat Litter Disguise

Finally!   I successfully envisioned and finished an [almost free] project in one  easy week.


Here’s how it went down:

In this odd basement area that leads from the TV room to the guest bath  and laundry area, I’d already created a pet feeding station, complete with a pet pharmacy.  But the cat  litter boxes just sat there, making the space all kinds of ugly.  Not cool for overnight guests, who have to walk through to use the guest bath.

One fateful day, on my drive home from work, I was inspired to squeeze every inch of function out of that space.  When I got home and rushed to Ryan, saying –  “Come downstairs and let me show you my idea!”  – I called it a wrapping station.

Big mistake.   He proceeded to mock me right here on the blog.

But there was more to my idea than a cutesy display of scissors, paper, and ribbon.   Grabbing a measuring tape, I threw my plan into action.

One trip to home depot, $45, and less than an hour of carpentry later, I’d created this two-tiered hardwood work and storage table that could hide the crappers while storing stuff and providing a useful workspace.  In less than an hour, this table was done.  I was thrilled.

(Want seriously awesome, detailed furniture plans and tips on building?  Go see Ana at Knock-Off Wood.  She provides way better instructions than I ever could.)

I painted the table to match the bookshelf, and added a few coats of poly for extra protection.  To truly hide the litter boxes and the wrapping paper storage bins under the table,  I created a skirt out of some old fabric and a leftover tension rod.  I sewed the fabric into curtains and slipped them on the rod which snapped into place under the tabletop.

I stashed all my ribbon and tape in a large glass jar, and put some pens and markers and scissors in a smaller one.   A grid of critter photos, hung in old frames from my Goodwill donation pile, provided the perfect art for the pet-friendly space.

And some more old fabric and curtain rods provided a decorative touch on the little window.

This space not only looks cute now, but it’s multifunctional-as-heck.  I can fold my laundry, wrap gifts, groom the cats, or riffle through the storage that is stashed in the neighboring bookshelf.

A bookshelf, I might add, that looks much better now than it did when all this mess started.

So that’s my fabulous mini space-makeover that I’ve been dying to share.   Yes, I know it’s just a workspace / wrapping station.   Hidden in the corner of my basement, centered over two [sometimes stinky] cat toilets. But with the way my bedroom redo has been lagging, I just needed a fun, quick before-and-after.  It was easy, I was inspired, and supplies were cheap.   And now my house guests don’t have to see the cat litter on their way to their bathroom.

They may still smell it, but that’s a project for another week.

The best part?  Aside from the wood for the table, I used junk that was sitting around.  The entire transformation cost me $45.

Psst:  In case you missed it, here’s Part 1 and Part 2 of the Pet Feeding Station project.  Want to see more of our new borrowed abode?  Check out the tour.

I shared this at All Thingz Related, Sugar Bee – Craft Edition, and Coastal Charm.

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27 Comments

  • Reply Crysty at 12:17 pm

    love it! especially the pics on the wall. need you at my house 🙂

  • Reply Kerri at 12:29 pm

    I love it!!

  • Reply Mikalah at 12:53 pm

    Seriously, this is so great! I loved the “making fun of the wrapping station” post, but really, you made it into something so useful and practical! I’m amazed at the table, how cool is it that you built that yourself?!? Congrats on a job well done!

  • Reply Julie at 12:59 pm

    I love it! It looks so great!! You can add “vet patient table” to the list of functionality, since you can use the wrap table to administer meds to the animals! Love the pet pics, too! I have a couple of pet pics above the food and water bowl in our house. Nice touch!

  • Reply Sunny's Life in Rehab at 1:15 pm

    LOVE it, what a great use of space, and the kitteh outhouse is so wonderfully concealed!

  • Reply Kiely at 2:17 pm

    This makes me want to hide my litter boxes now! So easy and cute.

  • Reply Beautiful Habitat at 2:48 pm

    Great job! That looks fabulous and is providing me with much needed motivation.

  • Reply Kristin at 4:34 pm

    What a fabulously stylish storage space!

  • Reply James Reeves at 7:41 pm

    I think your area is now so awesome, l to like the kitty wall, l have 5 cats i dog and 4 kids lol but lovee them all .
    good job

    jim

  • Reply Kelly at 9:38 pm

    I never thought I would say ‘love’ and ‘litter boxes’ together…but I ldo love what you’ve done with those litterboxes. It’s like a kitty bathroom renovation. Great work…I’m inspired to get ours hidden away now too 🙂

  • Reply Michelle L. at 1:07 pm

    What great ideas! I love your take on this blog with the focus on re-doing rentals. So many people could use new ways to think about their rented places. You take great pictures, too. Nice to meet you, have a terrif weekend.

  • Reply Jenn L @ peas and crayons at 11:58 am

    ahhh great idea! I might steal this! my husband cat’s box used to fit perfectly in the closet of our last house but in the new one, its sitting right out in the open looking like a hot kitty mess. Thanks for the idea =)

  • Reply kalanicut at 4:37 am

    This is such a fantastic idea and I am totally impressed that you pulled it together so quickly. I love that you made the entire area so cohesive and super functional. And your kitties have some privacy too. 🙂 You’ve totally inspired me to think about building things occasionally when I can’t find what I need – and that it won’t be that difficult.Well done, well done!

  • Reply The Making of a Shipping Station | The Borrowed Abode at 3:13 pm

    […] basement into a totally functional pet feeding station, pet pharmacy and storage area – while building a strategic (yet simple) table that hid our two cat litter boxes and served as a supposed “gift wrapping […]

  • Reply Tips for rental decorating: Alternative to painting walls - curtains | The Borrowed Abode at 10:40 am

    […] can be used in so many ways around the house – from dressing up a bedroom to hiding the cat litter.  But they can do so much more than the basics – like covering up the antiseptic-white walls […]

  • Reply Reebs5 at 12:01 pm

    Yes that is what I want!!

  • Reply 9 Ingenius Ways To Use Tension Rods In Your Home at 6:04 am

    […] theborrowedabode […]

  • Reply Erin at 2:14 pm

    Which plan did you follow? I love this!

    • Reply Jane at 3:31 pm

      I basically did it myself! No real plans. Thank you!

    Leave a Reply to She Uses Tension Rods For This Brilliant Reason... I Never Would Have Thought! - Met Daan Cancel Reply

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