Moderncat reader Alexis sent in photos of some terrific DIY projects, all inspired by things that she read right here. First, she and her husband did an outstanding job creating this beautiful litter box hider. Due to space limitations, they needed a litter cabinet with an opening in the front, rather than on the side. They decided to build a custom wooden box (sized perfectly to fit their automatic litter box) using these directions from eHow. Then they borrowed an idea from this project on Instructables to place a grate inside the cabinet that helps reduce litter tracking. Finally, they used sticky-backed shelf paper to cut out the tree and bird silhouettes for decoration. After a little testing, Alexis noticed that the kitties were bypassing the grate and jumping straight out of the box, so she fashioned a barrier out of wood to create a passageway to the door.

I think the manufacturers of litter box hiders could learn a thing or two from this excellent design!

Alexis also made a recycled cardboard kitty pad and installed some nice climbing shelves inspired by several posts on Moderncat, including Julie’s shelves and this popular IKEA hack.

Great job!

IKEA Hacker recently posted two new litter box hacks. The first one is my favorite IKEA hack so far. Romina and her husband, who are both architects with an eye for modern design, made this beautiful litter box concealer with a Besta shelf unit, Besta Holmbo door, and Capita legs. By simply cutting the middle vertical panel in half, they created a passthrough for the cats to enter and exit their private litter box area. Well done!

The second litter box hack is nice, too. It uses the Norrebo storage bench with only the front panel of the drawer and a cute kitty face cut for the entrance.

Get all the details over on IKEA Hacker. Thanks to Moderncat readers Rupe and Rebekah for the heads-up.

Jake and Karen have done it again! Remember their awesome DIY Modern Cat Platforms? Well, this time they designed and built an ingenious windowsill perch. Odie and Suzy really enjoyed looking out the office window, but the accommodations (see below) were less than optimal. So Jake and Karen set to work. Their challenge was to design a perch that fit in with their modern style, worked well for the cats, and did not cover the vent in the floor directly below the window.

The perch is constructed from solid pine using biscuit joints. Careful consideration was given to the design of the perch. It makes excellent use of space by providing a comfy spot on top plus a cozy nook inside. Peep holes provide opportunities for paw pokes and all the edges are rounded to soften the look and make it safer for the cats. A nice soft cushion (made with reused feathers from an old pillow) tops off the perch. What a lovely spot for keeping an eye on the neighborhood!

For more photos and all the details, please visit Jake and Karen’s website.

Moderncat reader, and AT Unplggd contributor, Sonia sent me some photos of the cool kitty perch she made using a wine box and some Ikea shelf brackets. Sonia’s moderncats Dim Sum and Gizmo love hanging out next to their mom’s desk while she works. I love the photos below of Dim Sum peeking out of his perch!

You can see more photos here and check out the cool charity t-shirts for Sonia’s Brooklyn-based animal rescue Feral for Life.

It’s not exactly modern architecture, but this DIY Cardboard Cat Playhouse from MarthaStewart.com could be a good starting point for you to test your design skills. Follow the step-by-step instructions provided here to create this kitty abode using the simplest materials and tools.

Totally retro and very fun, take a look at these cat beds made from re-purposed vintage suitcases from Etsy seller Vintage Renaissance. Check your local thrift store for some languishing luggage and let your creativity go wild!

Thanks to Melissa for the tip.

Do you have a new feline family member? Well, make sure to let the world know, and do it with some Martha-approved style. You can get directions and download a template from MarthaStewart.com for these lovely DIY pet-adoption announcements. What a nice way to welcome your new arrival.

This cute bird pattern showed-up as part of a beautiful bird mobile last year on the blog for Spool, a nifty looking fabric shop in Philadelphia. Moderncat reader Carly sent in a link to the downloadable pattern and has made some herself, stuffing them full of catnip. They are a great way to showcase bits of your favorite fabrics.

Keaton and Scoochie decided to take matters into their own hands (or paws) by designing and building customized cat shelves to suit their climbing needs. They chose to use IKEA shelves with the stainless side down, topped off with some very nice FLOR carpet tiles. The photo below shows the duo planning the project. What excellent craftsmanship, considering they have no opposable thumbs!

Their mom, Julie documented the process here.

Two pieces of carpet, six rivets, some sisal string, and a little work will get you this awesome DIY car(pet) cat bed. Portuguese industrial designer Helder L. Santos just posted this to his Coroflot gallery, and I think it’s brilliant! You’d have to choose a carpet that looks good on both sides and has a substantial thickness, but the possibilities are endless. Can’t wait to make one myself!

Get the complete instructions here. Thanks to Moderncat reader Katrika for finding this one.

Moderncat reader Karen sent in photos of this fabulous cat-friendly installation in her office which she has dubbed the “CubiCat.” It was created with Cubitec shelving, a completely modular system that allows you to configure a variety of levels and depths. Karen assembled the shelving to include tunnels and perching surfaces along with storage areas for office supplies. The shelves are made of super-strong durable polypropylene with each shelf supporting up to 55 lbs. Available in translucent white, orange, and lime green.

Karen’s cats Rolling Stone and Peanut Butter sure do love their CubiCat! And it looks like the folks at Cubitec liked the idea of a CubiCat so much, they created a special CubiCat shelving package.

Here are a couple of my own DIY projects that I just completed. Above are photos of an installation I did at my vet’s office (Dreamy Draw Cat Hospital in Phoenix - hi, Dr. Oyan!) I used FLOR carpet tiles to cover the front of the check-in desk, creating a vertical scratching surface. Office cat Blackie is modeling.

I used the same Lane Change striped carpet tiles to cover a shelf on my new catio. I installed the shelf to cover the litter area and plan to make a curtain to hide everything. There’s also a sisal wrapped climbing pole that goes all the way to the ceiling. Ando is demonstrating. More catio details will be posted soon over at Catio Showcase.

TIPS

On both projects I cut the carpet tiles in half to create a better looking pattern, since both areas required one full tile plus another half. Another big lesson: FLOR carpet tiles DO NOT stick to carpet tape! I tried to install the tiles on the wall using the stickiest carpet tape I could find, and they all fell down that night. The carpet tiles have a plastic backing that won’t stick to the tape. I went to buy adhesive glue and found that almost all of the super-strength adhesives that work on plastic or rubber are EXTREMELY toxic and have warnings about eye and respiratory irritation — not good for use around cats! I kept searching and found a non-toxic adhesive that worked really well. It is an all-purpose adhesive from Ace Hardware and it has almost no odor at all. This is a great product for permanently attaching carpet tiles.

Here’s a new one from IKEA Hacker. It’s an adaptation of the Duktig doll bed for use as a sturdy cat bed, designed especially for a slightly hefty tabby, Titina. Titina’s mom Paola bought two Hedda Rak cushion covers and sewed them to the correct size to make removable, washable covers for the existing doll bedding that comes with the Duktig. And there you have it! A less expensive alternative to the somewhat pricey Bastis Krona cat bed from IKEA. And Titina loves it!

An excellent way to be thrifty and eco-conscious is to use old cardboard boxes to make your own scratching pad. Here’s a great design for a homemade kitty scratching pad found over at Design*Sponge.

Here’s a nice moderncat IKEA hack from Joachim in Stockholm. The project uses the good old Bjarnum brackets and Jarpen shelves (in oak) topped off with pieces of an IKEA wool carpet. On the very top shelf sits an IKEA Bastis cat bed, which is, I’m guessing, the most coveted spot in the house.

More details and photos here.

Jake and Karen from Brooklin, Ontario created these custom climbing and perching platforms for their cats, Suzy and Odie. The platforms are made from 3/4″ stained oak veneer plywood. Extra care went into creating the joints to make the platforms extremely sturdy (check out the close-ups below) plus they routed out the surface so the carpet tiles would sit flush. Nice details!

Each platform is 18″ long so it can span two wall studs and attach securely with L-brackets. Jake and Karen really thought through the design of the platforms, adding something enticing on each shelf. The first shelf has a sisal scratching area, plus it lines-up with the window for a great view. The second shelf has a little nook for napping, and the top shelf has a vertical scratching area. Plus it’s the top shelf, an enticing feature all on its own.

See more photos and get more details on Jake and Karen’s website.

Remember Ben & Stu? Well, their mom Brieanne (creator of the DIY charging station) decided that the boys needed a private space to chill out so she got creative again and made them a cozy cubby using one of the compartments in her bookshelf. All it took was a fleece blanket for a bed and a curtain on a little rod for privacy and now the troublemakers adorable pair of kittens have a hidden hangout all their own.

Just so you don’t think they’re always causing trouble, here are a few of Brieanne’s pix showing the pair snuggling sweetly. More on Brieanne’s website.

Do you remember Colin’s Custom Kitty Catsle? Well, Sari from Helsinki, Finland was so inspired by Colin’s creation that she made one of her own for her Egyptian Mau named Mauno. Sari used the same structure but painted hers and added some fun grass stickers. Great work, Sari and thanks to Colin for the inspiration!

If you read Finnish, you can get more details here.

This project to convert an IKEA organizer into a charging station (for all those electronic gadgets) originally appeared in ReadyMade Magazine, but thanks to Moderncat reader Brieanne, here we have a terrific cat-friendly variation.

Since Brieanne’s cats like to chew on cords, she and her husband decided that this would be a good project for them to tackle. The idea is to create a drawer for each device and to feed the cords through the back. Breanne chose to make drawers for Pod (iPod), Click (camera), and Chat (phone), plus an info drawer for the manuals, warranties, etc. The bottom opening happened to work nicely for a laptop docking station, but only with the drawer removed.

What to do with that extra drawer? Pop it on the top, line it with a soft blanket and, voila! an in-box for your cat. Here are some process photos: testing and supervising.

Thanks, Brieanne!

As we all know, there are lots of dangers awaiting our beloved pet cats when they venture outdoors. But we also know how hard it can be to watch kitty as she looks longingly out the window, wishing she could play in the grass and get a breath of fresh air. One possible solution is to build a catio, an enclosed outdoor area that is safe for cats, usually attaching to a home or enclosing a portion of the yard. Catios come in all different sizes and styles and people everywhere are building these structures to keep their precious pets safe.

There is a wealth of informaion available about catio design, but it has been scattered across countless websites until now. I’d like to introduce you to a brand new website, Catio Showcase. This site provides a single source for catio design and construction. Catio Showcase features cat enclosure projects from around the world that will inspire you to design a catio for your feline friends. Whatever your style, your skill level, or your budget, there will be something for you, so check it out and sign-up to receive email updates so you can see all the latest projects as they post. And if you have a catio design of your own, we welcome photo submissions so you can share your ideas with others. Visit Catio Showcase for info on how to submit your project.

Catio Showcase is a new venture by yours truly, Moderncat. Not everything on Catio Showcase will be modern, but I’ll be sure to cross-post any modern designs that I find.