Hol Cat Litter box with Sliding Top

Materials: Hol Storage Cube (Large), floor sliders, hardware, plastic cat box, mat, trash bag.

Description: OK folks, just like a lot of cat litter solutions, this one is intended to:

1) Get that nasty box of Cat poop hidden: we live in Boston’s Back Bay and have limited space in our wee little apartment.
2) Save space by making something functional, in this case a place to put a couple of houseplants.
3) Keep litter contained, instead of all over the floor. This is huge. Our cat likes to dig aggressively, scattering litter everywhere. What a mess, and required constant sweeping and vacuuming to keep up.

So, here’s what I did:


1) Build the Hol box as per Ikea’s instructions, except for the four little plastic plugs that go in the lid.
2) Cut out a the square entry way. (the wood is thin and this part was surprisingly easy.)
3) Line the bottom half of the crate with plastic. You could use a shower curtain or painting drop cloth; I used two large kitchen trash bags and a staple gun to keep them in place.
4) Take the box that the Hol came in and make a “litter back-board” around the end of the box opposite the entry way. (you may not think this is necessary, i did this as an extra precaution to contain litter)
5) Take a floor mat designed to get the litter off of kitty’s paws and lay it into the crate. I cut the corners so it would fit perfectly in the box and wrap up on the sides. Staple into place so it won’t move.
6) Put the litter box in it, hopefully you can find one that fits nice and snug, like mine. (18″ x 16″, it was a tight squeeze to get it in there)

FOR THE SLIDING LID:
1) Put two of the plastic plugs that come with the Hol cube into one of the ends–leave the other side “un-plugged”.
2) I used plastic furniture sliders to use as guides so the top will stay “on track” when you slide it open. works quite well. Place two sliders
3) I used two different metal brackets to serve as a locking mechanism, so when you slide the box all the way open the lid locks in place and will not fall off. This way you can have stuff on top of the crate and slide it open/closed without moving anything. One bracket is a 3″ long corner bracket, with one of the side bent over so it will catch on the other, small bracket. This is hard to describe the positioning of these brackets, but the pictures I took should be helpful.

~ AB, Boston