How to Hide Your Cat’s Litter Box Inside Furniture // Inexpensive DIY Enclosure Hack

worstontheblockFebruary 22, 2021

Cats. What’s not to love? They’re amazing independent creatures that cuddle.

We have had several cats thus far. I brought two to the marriage and my husband worked at an animal shelter for several years, which meant that our home has been filled with many critters. It’s been a joy.

It’s also been a bit of a mess. Let’s face it, bringing any animal into your home creates new challenges when striving for that Pinterest-Perfect space.

And litter boxes. Cats bring several litter boxes.

Many people keep their litter boxes in the basement or tucked away in a laundry room perhaps, but those are hard to come by when you’re living in an apartment or smaller home.

So what’s a girl to do? We get creative.

My mom had this old storage bench sitting in her attic for years. I knew that it would be the perfect thing to house those nasty litter boxes AND fit perfectly on our landing in our charming Victorian apartment.

It has served us well for years. The cats like it and our guests don’t even know it’s a litter box.

Follow along to see how you can make your own!

Planning

What you’ll need:

furniture
measuring tape
jig saw
pencil
square
sand paper
paint or stain as desired (optional)
litter box(es)
Vinyl or linoleum (optional but recommended)

Obtain a piece of furniture.

You want to look for a piece that has some way for you to open it for cleaning the litter boxes.

Good choices include solid side tables with a door on a hinge, cabinets, dressers, storage benches, even a hutch would work.

But make sure you have that access inside.

Maybe you have this in your house already, or perhaps a relative has something hidden away in their attic that they’re willing to give to you.

Other great sources include thrift stores, Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist and yes, dare I say it, the side of the road. You can find amazing treasures on the side of the road.

There’s plenty of Ikea options as well but you’ll spend way less (often nothing) with a wood piece.

And a real wood brings more charm to a space (in my opinion).

Consider the amount of space you have in the area you want the litter box to live and measure it.

This may be obvious but you don’t want to do the work on a hutch if you don’t have space for it.

You will also need a few extra inches between the litter box and the side of the piece of furniture for kitty to get in and out, so add about a foot to the length of the potenital piece when determining if it will fit.

Determine how the litter box will sit inside the piece of furniture.

Most litter boxes are somewhere in the ball park of 20″x12″, so make sure there is enough space for a box inside the piece of furniture.

You also don’t want to put a litter box right up against the side because the height of the litter box will block part of the entrance.

If there’s not enough room inside a potential piece of furniture, find something else. It’s no fun to do all the work and then find out that it won’t work.

You also have to make sure that the potential furniture piece is a good height for your cat. If it’s too short, they won’t be able to comfortably use it.

Decide the best place for your cat to enter to access the litter box.

In my opinion, having the entry on the sides is ideal, that way you can back the piece against a wall, and kitty can enter from the sides without having a noticable hole in the front of the piece.

Open your access point (drawer, door, etc.) and eyeball the area you will create your holes.

Things to consider:

The inside of the piece may be elevated. Make sure you won’t be cutting into any structural areas.

The holes themselves do not have to be very large. Measure kitty from the floor to the top of his back. As long as the hole is this tall, They’ll be able to get in and out without an issue.

If they’re too big, it’ll be easier for the litter to be kicked out of the box and the box will not be as ‘hidden’ as desired.

Ours are 7-1/4″ tall and 6″ wide.

Two holes (one on each side) is preferred, especially if you have more than one cat, for a few reasons:

1. It can happen that one cat goes in the box to do their business, and then your other cat (perhaps the alpha) comes up and intimidates the first cat, who is now trapped with nowhere to go due to a one-way entry litter box.

This could be traumatizing and he may never enter the litter box again.

It sounds dramatic but cats are territorial. Then you have a bigger problem as cat urine in carpet is a tricky thing!

2. If you only have one cat, you could just make the one hole, however many cats feel vulnerable using their box and feel more comfortable with an alternative “escape route”.

Remember that while it is important for it to look good for us, the really important thing is that kitty actually uses it.

Also, if you move or decide to rearrange furniture, you may need the entry hole on the other side.

It is helpful to already have this done than to have to go back later and cut another hole.

How to make it

Mark where you want the holes to be.

Making a template for where you will cut the piece is very helpful when you’re doing the actual cutting.

Trace the area you’ve determined you want the holes to be placed with a straight edge. Measure all sides and make sure they are even.

This will be your guide when cutting.

Cut the holes.

The easiest way to cut your holes is using a jigsaw. It allows you to make precise shapes in a solid piece of wood.

Always read the instructions
and follow all safety precautions
when using powertools!

If you do not have a jigsaw, ask a friend or neighbor to either borrow the tool or ask them to cut it for you.

I believe that anyone can learn how to safely use powertools, but DO NOT risk your fingers if you have no experience using a tool!

Ours was cut by a family member.

Clamp down a straight edge to use as a guide for the saw and cut away!

Sand any rough edges.

After cutting your holes there may be some rough edges left behind. Make sure to sand these down–kitty doesn’t want any splinters!

A course grit sand paper will get off all those rough edges. Follow this with a fine grit paper to smooth it out and prepare the piece for paint or stain.

Or just use what you have. I can’t be the only one with random pieces of sand paper all over my basement right?

…Right?

Finish your piece.

At this point, unless you want to paint or stain the piece, it’s ready to be set up for use.

After this project, we made another litter box from a dresser where we simply cut a whole in the side and it was good to go.

However, this bench was pretty beat up, so we decided to go the extra step of staining it.

This is completely optional. If you are thinking about updating your piece there are a ton of awesome tutorials out there about refinishing furniture with stain or paint.

Give it a try, get creative and have fun!

Here’s how we finished ours…

Sand entire piece of furniture.

The same family member also had a power sander, so it made this process pretty easy. Again, read the directions and take all safety precautions.

We used a medium grit sand paper to remove the old finish and then went over it with a finer grit sand paper to make it nice and smooth, sanding with the grain.

Paint or stain.

Use an old rag or paint brush when staining, focusing on one section at a time. Wipe away any excess stain with an old rag.

I like to just use the same rag when staining and avoid the paint brush altogether. I think it’s easier and faster to just have the one rag.

It also saves me from having to clean a paint brush.

We already had this Red Mahogany stain which looked great with our apartment’s decor (which was basically vintage Victorian AKA hand-me-downs 😆).

Consider using a poly after the stain to allow for easy cleaning. No matter what kind of fancy litter I use, I find that dust still gets everywhere. The poly makes it more “wipeable”.

Once it was all dry we moved it into the apartment. It fit beautifully on our landing and looked SO MUCH BETTER than those nasty boxes.

Update: May 2021

We painted the litter box! It’s a beautiful color called Deep Sage from Glidden. Check out the post about it here.

Setting it up for kitty.

Protect the inside.

This is optional, but older cats can sometimes miss the litter box, so putting down something to line the inside under the litter box will protect that stench from penetrating the wood and will make for an easy clean up.

Gross, I know. But this is real life with cats.

Check your local flooring store for free vinyl samples. Ours often has a pile of discontinued samples to be thrown out that they are happy to give away.

They typically measure about 1.5′ x 2′ and can help to protect the inside of your furniture under where the litter boxes will sit.

Place your litter boxes.

Use what you have or purchase a new box or boxes to fit the space.

If you’re going to purchase new, measure the area you will be placing the box in and try to find a box that fills that entire space.

Our bench was 15″ deep and 4′ wide, so we purchased two new boxes that were 15″x18″ which allows about 6″ from the entry to the actual boxes on both sides.

This extra space also allows for an area to store your scoop and/or bags.

Marvel at your work.

And that’s it! Now it’s time to appreciate your work and the lack of visible litter boxes in your living space.

We hope you enjoy this very simple and inexpensive project that will help you to keep a beautiful home, even as a pet owner.

Questions? We’re here!

Leave a comment below and let us know what you’ll use for your litter box.

How to Hide Your Cat’s Litter Box Inside Furniture // Inexpensive DIY Enclosure Hack