DIY Cat Room From a Closet

22 October

It's been a long time since I've posted any new projects from the rental house that my daughter lives in. I go there every Sunday and we work on house projects but it takes us a while to complete anything.


But we have finished a new project that I'm sharing today. But first, I have to tell you a little story.


A few weekends ago, we were working on something at her house in the backyard when we saw a tiny black speck moving down the alley. It was a little black kitten, probably just weaned, and it was all alone, headed toward a busy road and the railroad tracks.


There are a lot of stray cats in the neighborhood and at least two litters of kittens. This kitten was a little skittish, but it did come to us. We gave it some soft food, and it seemed very hungry. I was finally able to pick it up, and when I looked to see if it was a boy or girl, I saw fleas—hundreds of fleas crawling all over this little boy.


We knew he was one of the strays and didn't likely belong to anyone because of all these fleas and some sort of skin condition causing little bald patches and flaky skin. Of course, we decided right then and there that we were keeping him but he was far too young for a regular flea treatment or flea collar and we needed these gone immediately because she has another cat and we didn't want her getting fleas too.


Luckily my daughter worked at a vet for many of her younger years so she knew what to do. We gave him two baths in Dawn dish soap (not only does Dawn remove oil from little baby ducks, but it also kills fleas 😃)! We then spent about an hour combing and picking dead fleas off him.


So, that leads me to today's post. My daughter has a giant litterbox with a lid and has been wanting to find a different spot for it rather than right in the main living areas of the house. We decided to DIY a cat room!


DIY Cat Room From a Closet


DIY Cat Room From a Closet

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We are transforming a coat closet and it has to serve multiple purposes. It has to house the litter box, the vacuum, and coats. Here is what the closet looked like after we took everything out (be sure to watch the video below to see what came out of this closet 😳) 





The previous renter had painted it dark red and used it as an office.


In this picture, we had taken out the two shelves, the clothes rod, and the panels that cover the access to the water heater and dryer vent. This space needs to remain accessible for obvious reasons.


DIY Cat Room From a Closet


Since this is where the litter box will be, we decided to remove the carpet to make the area easier to clean. Plus we were curious about what was under it 😉


DIY Cat Room From a Closet


Then we had to remove the subfloor that had been put over the wood.


DIY Cat Room From a Closet


Once that was all removed and cleaned up, we used the very last of some white paint we had as a base coat to cover the dark red color. We will be doing a special paint technique that she has been wanting to try. It requires smooth, non-textured walls and this is one of the only places in the house that has that.


That's her other cat, Bea.


DIY Cat Room From a Closet

DIY Cat Room From a Closet


For this paint technique, we used four sample-sized pots of paint in two shades of pink, orange, and yellow.


This is my daughter, Sydney working on the paint. We used sponge brushes and painted little sections of each color and then used a damp rag to swirl it all together and a spray bottle to make the paint colors drip and run.


DIY Cat Room From a Closet


It was really quite fun 😄


DIY Cat Room From a Closet

DIY Cat Room From a Closet

DIY Cat Room From a Closet


Any DIY cat room needs a scratching wall don't you think? We used some more of the vintage carpet that we scored for $5 at an estate sale and used it to cover the panel that goes in the back of the closet and covers the access to the water heater.


DIY Cat Room From a Closet


It just sits in the opening and the shelf holds it in place.


The floor didn't turn out to be anything that special and it had some stains from prior water damage so we opted to whitewash it, but with pink, it's a pinkwash!


DIY Cat Room From a Closet


I reinstalled the clothes rod, but I moved it up a few feet and I mounted her vacuum to the wall. Luckily this closet already has an outlet so she can plug the vacuum in for charging.


DIY Cat Room From a Closet


This coat closet is right in the middle of the house. It's under the stairs between the living room and dining room and you can see it from both areas so the door had to stay but the cats need to be able to get in and out.


To remedy this, I installed this interior cat door from Amazon: Classicmacher Cat Ear Flap Free Door


It was very easy to install. Ideally, I would have drilled a starter hole so I didn't have to cut through the bottom of the door, but I didn't have my drill that day so I used wood filler to conceal the cut.


DIY Cat Room From a Closet


In case you've ever been curious, this is what the inside of a hollow core door looks like, it's corrugated cardboard pieces inside!


DIY Cat Room From a Closet


I knew the cat door would hide most of the cut; the marks left from my saw came off with a Magic Eraser.


DIY Cat Room From a Closet


Tada, it glows from the pink paint! 😂


DIY Cat Room From a Closet



Now comes my favorite part, decorating!


For fun, we created a cat gallery wall with pictures she already had. The top one she got in the free pile at a yard sale.


DIY Cat Room From a Closet


This is a picture of her beloved cat Sprinkles. She passed several years ago.


DIY Cat Room From a Closet

DIY Cat Room From a Closet

DIY Cat Room From a Closet

DIY Cat Room From a Closet


We hung this small mirror that we found in a pile on the side of the road down low so the cats can see themselves 😁


DIY Cat Room From a Closet


We hung a small shelf below the big one. Our plan is to put a fake plant in the planter.


DIY Cat Room From a Closet


This is where the older cat likes to sleep on the bottom shelf.


DIY Cat Room From a Closet

DIY Cat Room From a Closet


The leopard print bag is a space bag with Sydney's winter coats. Once the weather changes from fall to winter, she'll switch out the jackets hanging on the rod to her winter coats.


We also hung up some twinkle lights since there was an outlet.


DIY Cat Room From a Closet


Here is the cat room (aka coat closet) all finished, what do you think?


She has some hooks inside the door with scarves, we added a leopard print mat that she already had to catch the litter when they get out of the litter box, and a little dish on top of the box to hold the scoop.


DIY Cat Room From a Closet


Here is the cat's eye view.



DIY Cat Room From a Closet


I don't know if you can see it, but there is a cat figurine on the floor on the right side of the closet


DIY Cat Room From a Closet


And here is the sweet baby that we rescued. Before we figured out it was a boy, Sydney had named him Polly after Polly Pocket because he's so small. Once we figured out that he's a boy, his name is now Pauly (as in Pauly Shore or Pauly from Rocky) or Paul for short!


He has been to the vet and has been treated for ear mites, worms, and ringworm which was causing the skin issue, plus the flea treatments we did ourselves. He is feeling much better and he and Bea are becoming friends. He loves this cat door too, in fact, he uses it even when the door is open 😂😺


DIY Cat Room From a Closet


I hope you enjoyed this update!


DIY Cat Room From a Closet



Posted by: at 22 October Tag:

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  1. I love how the room turned out Tania! So fun and funky. You and Sydney did a great job. Sweet little Pauly is so lucky to have found a loving home. Such a cutie. He could be the son of my Pepper girl that we took in a few years ago. Looks so similar. I'm glad to hear that Pauly and Bea are getting along.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Tuula! It was a fun project and Pauly is so sweet. Bea... not so much but she is softening up as she grows up.

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  2. This post gives this cat mama all the feels. How you transformed this space into a cat haven is brilliant. Also Paul is so adorable!!! Thank you for saving this little honey from a terrible life on the streets. Butternut is smiling from across the rainbow bridge.

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    Replies
    1. Aww, thank you Amanda. We just couldn't let him be all alone at that age. He's so happy now that all those fleas and worms and everything are gone.

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  3. What a lucky kitty to be rescued by your daughter and you! The Cat Room is just Purrrrrfect!

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  4. Those lucky, lucky cats! This cat room is SO fun! And exactly how I'd like my own cat litter closet to look like... I best get busy.

    ReplyDelete

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