Baby Proofing the Kitty Litter Box

We have a cat. And a curious toddler....

A few weeks ago I was cooking in the kitchen when the house became unusually quiet. Any mother can tell you that a quiet toddler should not be trusted, and my child is no exception. I put down the skillet and went to investigate. This is what I found:

Yeaahhh. That's not cool. I knew this day was coming, and honestly, I'm surprised we made it this far without a "sandbox" incident.

Long ago I pinned this [click for direct link] awesome concealed kitty litter box as a potential solution for our home. The author brilliantly added a doggy door to an IKEA cabinet to hide the cat box. I tagged this idea in my "bookmarks" folder for months ago, but kept putting the project on hold. After our recent sandbox incident, I knew it was time for me to finally replicate the idea.

Imitating the concealed litter box idea with an old sink vanity cabinet seemed like the perfect gateway project into the DIY world of furniture renovation. Coincidentally, it was also a perfect project for the UFO Challenge that I am helping to co-host.

Remember that hideous laundry room photo I shared with you earlier this week? As much as it pains me to repost it, here is a reminder of my awful mess of a laundry room. Yuck.

As a part of the bigger laundry room renovation, we have since replaced that yucky cheap laminate vanity (and sink) shown on the left. As cheap and yucky as it was, I decided it still had some life in it and saved it to be repurposed as a concealed cat litter box.

Here's the vanity in my garage, waiting to be transformed. Without the sink top, the cheapness is even more evident. 

Unlike my inspiration, I chose not to use a pet door, but rather a simple open doorway for my cat to enter the cabinet. I cut the door on the far side of the unit, so it will be out of sight when entering the laundry room. My Dad came over with his jigsaw to cut this opening for me. {thanks dad!}

As a first time furniture renovator, I'll spare you the nitty gritty of my next few steps. I'm sure my novice technique would make many of you cringe anyway.

After adding a new top, and some new paint, here is the finished product. From the laundry room doorway it simply looks like a cabinet; aesthetically pleasing to me, contains some of the kitty stink, and most importantly, it hides the litter box from my daughter - triple score!

With a total cost of only $8 (the material for the top, we already had primer/paint), I am thouroghly pleased 

(and yes I bribed my cat to pose for that last photo) 

So how about you? Have you completed any long overdue projects recently? Projects of any size and any genre are welcome. (Doesn't necessarily need to be a DIY project) We'd love to see them at the UFO Challenge link party open now through Sunday night.

~Mischele

Linking up: Sugarbee Crafts, UFO Challenge, Mommy by Day Crafter by Night, Lines Across, The Kurtz Corner, Oopsey Daisey, Uncommon, Sew Much Ado, Someday Crafts, Sugar and Spice, Crafty Texas Chicks