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Thursday, August 20, 2009

How to Hide a Litter Box

Apartment living with indoor cats can be challenging as it is often difficult to find a place to hide a litterbox. Well, with a little creativity and this easy Curtain Craft, you too can create a more discreet bathroom for your furry friends. Something you and your cats with both appreciate!


Materials:


Heavy cloth or canvas in the pattern of your choice (available at fabric stores).
Screwdriver or other tools needed to remove cabinet door
Scissors
Self Adhesive Velcro
Needle and thread
Sewing Machine or Fabric glue to hem the curtain


Process:

Step 1. Clean out a cabinet to use as your new kitty bathroom. We used the one under our bathroom sink.






Step 2. Remove one of the cabinet doors carefully by unscrewing the hinges. If you are renting , be sure to store the cabinet door in a safe place so you can replace it when you move out!


Step 3. Make the curtain. (This design was inspired by a Japanese curtain we have hanging in our apartment). My mother-in-law sewed it for us since we don't have a sewing machine, but you could use fabric glue like I did for my beach tote.


3a. Measure the width and length of the opening after the cabinet has been removed. Include the thickness of the baseboard at the bottom since you will want to hide this as well. Cut a piece of fabric that is about 4 inches plus the width by about 4 inches plus the length in size.

3b. Cut the piece of fabric in half along the length to make two panels.

3c. Hem each panel. Create a half inch hem along the sides and bottom and a one inch thick hem at the top.


3d. Stitch about 6 inches of the two panels together at the top of the curtain.




Step 4. Apply velcro across the 1 inch hem at the top of curtain on the inside. Leave about a quarter of an inch margin to the edge of the curtain. Important Note!!! Make sure you do not damage the paint with the adhesive. The velcro we used initially was so strong it ripped right off the cabinet when we went to remove the curtain, taking the paint with it! Use weaker velcro or nail the velcro to the cabinet (you can fill in the holes when you move out).






Step 5. Apply a mating strip of velcro across the top of the opening of the cabinet. The width of the velcro should be about 1/2 inch less wide than the curtain.


Step 6. Attach your curtain. You now have a removable (and washable) curtain to hide your cat's litterbox!

Ok, so it doesn't exactly blend in with the cabinet doors, but it does hide the litter box and allow the cats to walk in and out. To make the litter box more inconspicuous, choose a fabric color that matches your cabinets or teach your cats to open cabinet doors! :)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

If I only had a cat!

Danielle said...

What a great idea! Love the fabric design. :)

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

That's such a great idea! I love the fabric you used, it's gorgeous. I saw your coasters on Curbly today. They're fantastic. I don't know how I missed them before! I'll be linking.

Sarah said...

I picked up the fabric at Joann's if anyone is interested!

Anonymous said...

Just take off both doors and have it cover the whole area! It would look more intentional and less like your simply missing a door

Sarah said...

That's a good point Jen. Maybe at our next place :) If anyone does this, send a pic!

Anonymous said...

That is SUCH a great idea!

Anonymous said...

Or, use a small tension rod to hold up the curtain, instead of all the velcro mess.

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