you'll need:
1 akurum base cabinet with 2 arlig doors
a pair of shelves
4 tryggve shelves
"this is a really easy cabinet that requires no cutting tools (except a box cutter!)
i assembled the cabinet like normal except i cut the bottom third of the backboard off (use a box cutter and one of the shelves as a guide). i then pre-drilled some holes and then screwed the tryggve shelves in place. they lie flush with the front and sides, and overhang a good 6" off the back. this hides the fact that the cabinet is 6" from the wall.
i've seen many people cut holes in the side of the cabinet, but i don't have tools to do that. plus, if the entrance to the cabinet was on the side, the litter would still get tracked on the carpet. with the entrance at the back, any litter tracked on the carpet is behind the cabinet.
so far it works great. even with only half of the backing and cheap shelves for the top, the unit is very solid and stable. i am going to stain the wood and possibly paint a design on the melamine. right now i have a half of a bamboo roll-up blind serving as a place mat."
Excellent hack!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! Makes me want to get a cat just so I can do it, hehe.
ReplyDeleteDeanna, you rock. The only place in my house that will accommodate a litterbox is the front hallway, so it's the first thing you see when you walk in the door. I've been wanting to build something to disguise it for a long time, but lacked the tools and workspace necessary to do it from scratch. Thanks for sharing your awesome hack! (And what a cute cat...)
ReplyDeleteDo you leave the doors open for the cat to use the litter box or is your cat trained to open the cabinet doors when it has to go?
ReplyDeleteLove it. Would you mind posting the measurements of the shelves you chose?
ReplyDeletemelanie, the cat enters the litter box via the gap between the back of the cabinet and the wall.
ReplyDeletebrilliant idea! i bet the cat is happy with it, too :-)
ReplyDeleteI love it!This is the kind of home hacking I really admire.Now I need to get a kitty. Super blog!
ReplyDeleteI would like to know the measurements too. Also, I was unable to find that exact cabinet at ikea.com. Do you know if they still make it?
ReplyDeleteThe cabinets are available online, look for the plain Akurum base cabinets (Ikea homepage, Kitchen, built in cabinets, scroll past advertisement to find AKURUM/RATIONELL). You can actually choose any size cabinet--mine is 24 inches and easily fits an XL box but my mother bought a 36 inch cabinet and put two litter boxes inside. The trick is finding a countertop that will fit. I was lucky because 4 tryggve shelves fit for mine but you could always go down to your local hardware store and have them cut a long 1x4 piece of wood for you into 4 sections. Hope this helps! -Deanna
ReplyDeleteOops the cabinet pictured is 30 inches not 24. The dimensions of the Akurum cabinet is 30 wide x 24 deep and for the countertop each tryggve shelves is 7.5 x 31. So the entire cabinet dimensions pictured above is 30 inches wide x 31 inches deep.
ReplyDelete