Cat Boxes and Half Baths

Let me start by saying, I hate the cat box. No matter what I do the litter is everywhere. It drives me crazy!

I never had an issue in the past. Every home we lived in the litter box found a spot that just worked, usually the laundry room. Out of sight. In our current home the laundry room was not an option because it is actually a laundry closet. The only spot it really made sense here, was the downstairs half bath. I second guessed this choice often. When people come over is this really what I want them to see? Ultimately, I decided that my day-to-day comfort is more important than what visitors see, so the choice stayed.

I still hated it. We always did a tote with a cut out for a cat box. This is a great solution when no one needs to look at it! Even me throwing some cute cut up cardboard to make cleaning easier was no help.

The first thing I did was add some artwork. It really was needed in the space. Not only did it make the room a lot less plain, but it also draws the eye up from the box on the floor. I searched “cat box furniture” on Amazon, and we ended up with a nice piece. The Birdrock litter box enclosure looked great. I will say if you had to move it often, I think something more solid would be better. This was good for our purpose and looked great. We also had to get a standard litterbox to put inside. (Check dimensions if you buy a little box to make sure it will fit the inside on your cat box furniture.) To top it off I added a spider plant. The plant was the most challenging. I had no idea how many plants are toxic to cats! This one was safe, ferns, succulents and parlor palms are also cat friendly.

I was incredibly happy with how everything turned out, however not everything is meant to last. My spider plant died (this is not a surprise; I kill all plants), so I bought a small faux plant on Amazon. Then our cat decided she did not like her box enclosed. She let us know by going on the floor just in front of it. After mats outside the door, a top opening box, a table over the box, a taller table, we landed on a high sided litter box and micro crystal pet litter. I covered the cat box in some pretty duct tape to make it less horrible, and the Ultra Pet Micro Crystal Litter is a lot easier to clean up when she gets it all over. I still hate it, but she isn’t stressed, and it isn’t as bad as it once was.

You have two options, accept it, or change it. I have accepted it (for the most part.)

We also upgraded to some nice Turkish hand towels.

Comments

Shared Bedroom and Personal Space

Our three older children are only a little over a year apart, so they wanted to share a bedroom (even when space allowed them not to). Then we got to the age where it was clear our son needed his own room. The need coincidentally coincided with a time when we did not have a room. That's when we bought our townhouse. The girls still shared a room. A few years in, when we asked what each child would like to make the house more enjoyable for them, our oldest daughter said her own room. We were unable to accommodate this request. However, when I asked why, she said she wanted a place to have some time for herself. That was a request I could make work. We started with cleaning the girl's room. Clothes were first. We did this Marie Kondo style by pulling everything out and putting the items on our kitchen table so the girls could understand the volume of what they had. Until now, the girls shared clothes as they were the same size and interested in the same style. My oldest daughter

Little Redo: Art Space

When we asked our youngest daughter what she would choose to make the house more enjoyable, she said she would redo her Art Space. We have a landing space at the top of the steps. The desk had been deemed the homework space, but our daughter and her Art slowly took over. Considering that no one does their homework in this spot, Ira’s art space was born. Our kids hang out in the landing space, so we try to have them reset it once a week. Everything returns to its proper home, along with dusting and vacuuming. If they stay on top of it, it never gets too bad. I took a trip to Target and the Dollar Tree. I was open to whatever they had available but knew I needed some small and paper-size bins. She made this super cute sign that I used as inspiration for a larger sign I made for the wall. I first pulled everything from the area, got rid of what we didn’t need, and then put it back in its new home. Plastic cups in long bins keep the crayons separated by color family. Copic markers st

Little Redo: Son's Room

After living in our townhome for almost 3 years, we discussed if we wanted something with more room, or to invest in our current home. We opted to invest. When it was time to work on the kids' rooms, we asked them to pick any one thing for their space. Our oldest son, 10 at the time, requested a desk. He said he would like a space to sit other than his bed, to draw, and to do homework. We looked together on Amazon. He wanted something minimal, but with an upper shelf. It was up to me to think through the coordination, such as size, and a way to hide cords. We decided on the VIPEK Computer Desk 42 Inch Study Writing Desk PC Laptop Table for Home Office, School Student Desk with Hutch & Storage Shelves, Corner Table for Small Space Bedroom, Easy Assemble, Oak . This desk no longer is available, but if we had to pick now, we would do the Aquzee Computer Desk with Hutch & Bookshelf, Home Office Desk with Space Saving Design, Metal Legs Industrial Table with Upper Storage Shel

Order Balance Being Well

Search This Blog