SIDE TABLE TO HIDDEN LITTER BOX (HOW TO HIDE THE LITTER BOX)

The litter box has been the thorn in my decorating side for years, and I can't believe I didn't come up with this idea to hide it sooner!  I told you about it a few weeks ago when I shared our freshly organized laundry room, but I today I wanted to share just how simple this little design challenge solution was.  

For this project, you only need a few supplies.  A small table that will fit over the litter box while still allowing room for the cat to move around, some fabric, hot glue, and depending on the finish you want, possibly paint.  

I have always admired this Moroccan style table that I found at At Home, and when this idea dawned on me I knew it would be the perfect piece for this project.  However, the colors available in the size I needed weren't right for the room, so I spray painted the table.  

Here's a quick run down of that process.  I always start by wiping down the piece I want to paint.  Believe it or not, baby wipes work well for this task!  Just let the piece dry for about 5 minutes after you've wiped it.  The original finish was very smooth and slick, so I used a primer this time to help the spray paint adhere well.  A couple of light coats are best, then when it's completely dry sand lightly with a fine grit (220 or higher) sand paper or sanding sponge, just to remove any grit the primer might have left.  Then, spray several light coats of your color.  It won't look good after your first coat... keep them light to avoid runs and drips.  I propped by table up a little so I could spray the top straight on rather than angling the paint down.  I feel like that gave a little more even coverage since sometimes it can be tricky for spray paint not to look blotchy.

  

 Primer  ||  Sanding Sponge  ||  Spray Paint  (affiliate links)

While that dried, I worked on the skirting for the table.  I only skirted 3 sides since the back would be against the wall, but on the front side I left an opening down the middle, so I cut 4 pieces to size.  I allowed a little extra on the top, bottom, and sides to hem the fabric, and I added some extra width because I wanted to put a few pleats in.

After hemming all four sides of each piece (you could use fusible hem tape if you don't sew), I added a couple of pleats and stitched those in across the top, which will be hidden by the apron on the table.

Then, I just hot glued each piece to the back side of the apron.  I wasn't quite sure how I wanted to attach the fabric because I thought I might need to wash is at some point, but I went ahead and glued for now.  If I find that I might need to wash it regularly, I thought about just hot gluing a few pieces of Velcro so the pieces can be removed easily.  So far so good, though, it's staying clean.

So, the sides are covered and there's a split down this front piece for the cats to come in and out of.  As I mentioned in the other post, they are in and out from under our bed through the bedskirt all the time, so I wasn't worried about them navigating their way through the fabric or it being "dark" inside... they have night vision!  I did clip the side panel back for the first few days we used it just so they could see how they were supposed to get in there, and they caught on like champs!

Side note- found this photo in the middle of the ones I was editing for this post and thought I'd share!  Visitors on our patio one night chowing down on bird seed... eek!

Have you ever tried to get a cat to pose in a certain spot?  You should have seen both kids and me behind the camera trying to get a decent shot... now THAT would have been a funny instagram story!

I know a litter box isn't the most glamorous topic and project to be blogging about, but this one sure has made me happy!