Litter box magic!

A few ideas to hide your litter boxes

We got two kittens last summer. I had never had a cat before, and one thing that I dreaded was the litter box being such an eyesore. I went to the internet for ideas to hide litter boxes. I try to repurpose and reuse as much as possible and not generate waste in my home design, so I didn't want to buy the expensive albeit attractive versions made out of plastic. I started hunting secondhand local stores and Facebook Marketplace.

Cut a hole in a piece of storage furniture

At Habitat for Humanity Restore, I found this trunk right at the doorway greeting me! It was in rough shape, but from my research and measurements, I knew it would be perfect for hiding a litter box. I asked my amazing carpenter to cut a "mouse hole" in the side and clean up the feet. Then I sanded and refinished the beat up areas using Watco danish oil. Voila! Litter box hidden away in plain sight, right in our foyer!

Oliver modeling the mouse hole.

Did you know that it’s recommended to have as many litter boxes as you have cats, plus one? Let’s do the math (*calculator beep boop boop beep). Since we have two cats, it’s recommended to have three litterboxes. Yuck! And you might think I’m grossed out from a smell perspective, but that actually isn’t the problem (hasn’t been for us anyway). It’s that litterboxes are ugly! So I have to find ways to hide all the litterboxes.

Modify a bench with repurposed materials

Once we put the trunk above in the front entry, we moved our former entry bench into the mudroom to be a window bench for the kitties. I soon realized with a couple of modifications, this bench could hide another litterbox. I still had wood shelves from our kitchen mini-makeover. They were a pretty close match to the frame of the bench. I measured the shelves, and wouldn’t-ya-know-it, they were the perfect size to enclose the bottom of the bench. 🙌

I enlisted my expert carpenter to cut and assembled the pieces. The bench fits perfectly under the window and over the litter box. It's also hefty enough to keep our dog away from you-know-what (dogs and litter boxes 😒 IYKYK).

Repurposed materials + function + beauty = my heart. Even better if it’s inspired by pets… or kids, or family, or real-life! What are your home challenges that need a solution? I love brainstorming this stuff so reach out and let's chat. Use the link to set up an initial, free, no pressure call with me, and we can talk about your project!

~Rachel