Litter Box Fit For A Fancy Parisian Cat

by Guest Blogger Ali Leaindi of Charleychic Furniture Refinishing

My daughter and her fiancé are young trendy couple living in young trendy apartment in Paris city center. And naturally a plastic litter box for their cat Belle was not cutting it. So Momma Ally put on her thinking cap and this is what I came up with.

After having an idea I went and searched online on local sale sites and located this blanket box.. It had Paris written all over it so in a way it really was meant to be.

I started with stripping the box of all the hardware- tacks, handles and the “lock” (purely decorational so not an actual lock). Removing tacks is a tricky business. I used an old blunt knife but had to be extremely careful not to damage the surrounding surfaces, so I did take my time and did it very slowly. Using a big drill bit and then jigsaw I cut the round hole in the back and sanded the edges to smooth it. I then hand sanded the whole box with 240 grit sandpaper just to give the paint a key to stick to, hoovered it and cleaned it with white spirits.

My daughter and her fiancé are young trendy couple living in young trendy apartment in Paris city centre. And naturally a plastic litter box for their cat Belle was not cutting it. So momma Ally put on her thinking cap and this is what I came up with.

My daughter and her fiancé are young trendy couple living in young trendy apartment in Paris city centre. And naturally a plastic litter box for their cat Belle was not cutting it. So momma Ally put on her thinking cap and this is what I came up with.

Before and after

After having an idea I went and searched online on local sale sites and located this blanket box.. It had Paris written all over it so in a way it really was meant to be.

I started with stripping the box of all the hardware- tacks, handles and the “lock” (purely decorational so not an actual lock). Removing tacks is a tricky business. I used an old blunt knife but had to be extremely careful not to damage the surrounding surfaces, so I did take my time and did it very slowly. Using a big drill bit and then jigsaw I cut the round hole in the back and sanded the edges to smooth it. I then hand sanded the whole box with 240 grit sandpaper just to give the paint a key to stick to, hoovered it and cleaned it with white spirits.

 

 

 

I had worked out a colour scheme in my head to fit in with their interior and I turned to my old reliable General Finishes Milk Paint. The tone Dark Chocolate available here

was just what I needed.

I rolled it all over the box with a foam roller. I did 2 coats in total. Then I painted the edging strip black. I never really opt for masking tape in cases like these I just do it very carefully. When it was all dry I did 3 coats of General Finishes High Performance Top Coat in flat finish to add extra protection. Available here

 

 

And it was time to put back all the hardware that I had spray painted gold. I used my favourite Rustoleum spray paint. Old tacks were silver colour and I needed gold so I had to replace them. I did consider spray painting the silver tacks gold but I was afraid hammering in freshly painted tacks might not be such a good idea. I am keeping the silver tack for future, I’m sure I will need them sooner or later so nothing is lost in the end. I go to Woodies for my tacks. This Suki brand is the best in my eyes. They are so strong and colour is really good and the choice (of metals and sizes) is just wonderful. It was only the legs I now needed, I had these old couch legs on coasters. Who would like a moving restroom? No, me neither. So the coasters had to go and legs got another coat of new black paint. Then I masked off the tips and sprayed with the same Rustoleum gold paint to get the on trend dip dye effect. Legs before and after

Now I only need a flap of rubber that I will cut into strips and use as curtain on the doorway to keep the odours in. I have one I’m eyeing up but my other half is reluctant to part with it. Battle is still ongoing 🙂

Hope you enjoyed my latest creation.

Ally x

 

Follow Ally and see more of her Blog Posts HERE