kitty hack

When you don’t have $100 for a hidden litter box…Above is the inspiration for my Ikea kitty hack– it’s the Petsfit Pet House Litter Box Enclosure Night Stand.

Note: Since publishing this post, many reasonably priced (and decent looking) hidden kitty litters have hit the market. Check out the latest hidden kitty litter roundup here.

Unimpressed by the steep prices and terrible designs of hidden kitty litter boxes available for purchase, I decided to take matters into my own hands and went straight to Craigslist. I found an Ikea “Corras” side table for $15 and immediately saw its DIY potential. Since I originally wrote this post, Ikea has retired the Corras table but you could do the same thing with this  Ikea Rast nightstand or this South Shore nightstand.

The entire construction time came in just under 30 minutes and cost less than $20.

And this is how I made it… I removed the four casters by removing the screws fastening the casters to the underside of the table. Then I made the shelf into a door by attaching two hinges to the front of the table (see top photo for reference). Since the shelf came with the table, it was a perfect fit– no need to trim or resize. I didn’t mind the visible hinges,  but you could buy hidden cabinet hinges from the hardware store.

Then I placed the litter box inside as so:

The cat accesses the litter box from the back of the side table, which rests a about eighteen inches from the wall.  To clean the litter box, I can access it from the front by opening the newly installed door.  So far the kitty seems to like his new digs!

SUPPLY LIST:

Ikea “Corras” side table*
2 hinges (like this one)
8 screws (for hinges)
drill 

UPDATE: Since originally writing this post, I’ve ditched the traditional litter box for the the Breeze Litter System which makes me so happy.  This is what the Breeze litter system looks like:

This setup is really the best thing out there if your cat is somewhat flexible with their litter situation.  The pellets are a bit different from traditional litter materials, but my cat caught on immediately.  The Breeze Litter box is relatively small and still fits in my kitty-hacked side table. The Amazon reviews are really helpful in deciding if this would work for your feline situation.  You’ll also want to follow some or all of the recommended transition steps.

While you’re here, you may also want to check out my post on cozy cat caves!