DIY Litter Box Furniture Cabinet & Laundry Room Cleanup
This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group®, Litter Genie® and Fancy Feast®, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #Catparents http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV
Many of you may already know that we have a sweet Labradoodle puppy, Sophie, as part of our family, but some might not know we also have two sweet kitties! Our oldest, Jessie, is 16 years old, and bringing home Sophie was certainly a nuisance for her. Our other kitty, Jasper, is 6 years old and he hasn’t shown any dislike of Sophie, but I’m sure her trying to chase him around the yard and jump on him at the door does not make him happy. Since bringing home Sophie they have had their food and litter box stationed in our messy laundry room. So, I decided that I would take on a project that would 1) make the litter box be a little less noticeable, 2) purge and clean up the room, and 3) I’d pick up a yummy treat for our kitties.
First, I had to just purge a lot of the stuff in our laundry room and put the other needed stuff up in the cabinets where they belonged.
It took a long time to find the perfect piece for what I wanted to do, which was contain the litter box to help with the smell and contain the pellets. I finally found a closetmaid cabinet at Home Depot and the dimensions worked perfectly for our little room and I could modify it into a litter box furniture cabinet.
After building the cabinet, which was easy except aligning the doors was a bit of an issue, I measured and cut a circle hole (10″ diameter) in the side of the cabinet. I considered cutting the circle before building, but felt I wanted to see how all the pieces came together and how the litter box fit before deciding on the placement.
After a quick bit of sanding it was ready to go and I loaded up our new litter box furniture cabinet. The interior shelf still allows enough room for the kitties to enter and use the litter box, while also holding the dry cat food.
I also picked up a Litter Genie pail for the cat waste to help keep the odors down. With the closed cabinet and the Litter Genie pail, I feel more comfortable having our litter box on the main floor without worrying about the cat odors being noticed by visitors. The Litter Genie pail has a continuous trash liner that you can lock off the waste with a pull/push of the handle, and it just keeps going, lasting for two weeks for one cat.
When I picked up the Litter Genie pail at Target they were running a bundle special (from 2/15/15 – 4/11/15 : while supplies last) where if you buy two items of Fancy Feast 24 pack OR Litter Genie Pail / Refill you can pick up a free cat toy or Friskies Party Mix treat bag. Many of our cat and dog toys end up behind our couch, so I bought the Litter Genie and Fancy Feast pack, and chose the Friskies party mix for my free gift.
The kitties loved their special treat and I’m so happy to have the room cleaned up, plus knowing the cat odors will be contained with the litter box furniture cabinet and Litter Genie pail! The cabinet also has a top drawer which is perfect for holding treats and medicine.
I love this! We keep the litterbox in our laundry box in our laundry room, too, and it is such an eyesore. Plus providing storage for other cat items… brilliant!
Thanks Kelly! I’m so happy with how it turned out and even though it makes it a bit tighter in the space in front of the dryer, it’s so much better!
This is the most fabulous idea! Our litter box is in the basement, by the laundry. It’s just yucky to see it out in the open. I’m going to have to convince my hubby that we need one of these!
It was honestly a fairly simple project Krista! You could spend more time perfecting the circle on the side, but it really just took a weekend day to build and set up. Hope it works out well for you too!
We aren’t pet people, but that is the coolest pet haven I have ever seen! Great job!!!!
Thanks so much Becky!
I really love this idea. I have three cats and two dogs. I have to keep the dogs out of the cat litter and the cat food.
Was this cabinet very expensive? Would love to have one.
That’s exactly why we had to make something, because of our new puppy! I purchased this cabinet at home depot, but many have mentioned that you can find base cabinets at Habitat for Humanity ReStore stores. I had tried to get a piece to repurpose from Craigslist, but was unable to find the right size since our laundry room is very limited in space.
This is a brilliant idea! I a solutely must steal it for my kitties. How much headroom do the kitties have (i.e. how much space between the floor shelf and the overhead shelf)?
Thanks so much Julie! I just went and measured, and from the bottom of the cabinet to the shelf is 18″, if you remove the shelf, there is 26.75″ from bottom to top. Then you just have to know how “tall” your litter pan sits from the ground and that’s the space you’d have.
Thank you for sharing this idea!! It’s a must try for us.
We have two girls so I may double up on the cabinets/boxes. Our vet recommends one more litter box than the number of cats you have.
Also just a tid bit, and please don’t think I mean anything rude by this, our vet also said it is best not to keep the food/water in the same room as the litter box(es) as cats can’t get very finicky and you can end up with either a potty problem or food problem. I only learned that when we got a rescue that was too little to be around my first fur baby, and we had her confined to one room for the first little bit. We couldn’t figure out why she wouldn’t potty in the litter box, well it was cuz her food and potty were in the same room. After we rearranged a bit all was well.
Thanks again love your creation!!
Hi Jen! Thanks for the tips – not rude at all! :) My kitties have been fine with the current food and litter box setup, but one of the reasons I wanted to get the cabinet is to help create more separation from the food & litter. Hopefully once our puppy gets a bit older we can figure out a better spot for the food, but right now, we’re stuck gating off the laundry room. Thanks again for commenting! :)
Love this idea! My hubby and I are always trying to come up with where else we could put the little box and how to keep our dog (a golden doodle! ) out if it. This is the perfect solution! Do you have a little door over the hole?
Glad you like it Cristine! We had to come up with something after our labradoodle kept eating their food and getting into their box! I don’t have any door over the hole – it’s just open.
This must be a lab thing. LOL. We have 4 labs and they’re always foraging for kitty truffles. We have one box out in the garage, (there’s a kitty door in the wall so everyone is always inside and we don’t use the garage for cars), but the one in the house is ALWAYS a hassle to keep clean and dog free.
I’m in the process of making an enclosure now. Kudos on the jigsaw! That thing hates me! LOL The cat food storage is genius, btw.
Haha – perhaps Marceia! Thanks so much for commenting and sharing. Good luck! :)
I wish I had space in my laundry area. Maybe in the future we will replace the tank water heater with a tankless and use that space. My question: even though I have a lidded box my kitty manages to get it wet on the outside when it seeps between lid and box. What might you use to line and protect the interior cabinet box?
Hi Cynthia – I haven’t had that problem. We use the Breeze litterbox system (http://amzn.to/2j5AA2f) that has a side wall part. Maybe that’s what helps? Otherwise perhaps some product at home depot that is a liner or something might work?
I have one of my three who is very wary of being trapped by the others, who tend to stalk her. This is a very attractive way to house the supplies and box, but for 3 cats, it wouldn’t work for me. I have 2 littermaid boxes and one extra large outsmart box. I check all of them several times every day.
Hi there! I can’t seem to find the cabinet on Amazon or Home Depot. Do you possibly have a link to it? Thanks!
Do you have issues with your cats peeing outside the box? I had a cabinet made using similar materials and our boy cat sprayed just enough to disintegrated the particle board along the interior walls.
We did notice after a couple of years that there was an issue with some splatter but it was very minimal and I wiped with vinegar, however, I can see that over time it could be an issue. One thought could be to cut plexiglass plastic sheeting to the size of the walls and under the litterbox and use sticker tape or glue to mount those inside the cabinet. That would be easy to wipe and protect the boards. Just a thought?
The best way I have found to not have odor is to clean the box twice a day. It takes 3 minutes and makes everybody happier. Especially the kitties!!
@Marsha, cats take as much care as a child, but I guess they are worth it. My kids are grown with children that are grown so my cat is a lot of company!