Clevercat Litterbox

If there were ever a fire in our place (God forbid), I might grab the new litter boxes first and the cats second.  Because I absolutely LOVE our new litterboxes, and don't really want the cats without the litterboxes. I'm joking, of course...

But I do really love these new boxes.  They were a little expensive, but so worth it.  They're a perfect example of Rules to Live By #2: Think vertically, and make having cats so much easier on the cleaning front, too.  

Picture a plastic tub with a snap-on lid with a kitteh-sized hole in it. Simple, but brillant.  They're actually called "Clevercat," and don't think that didn't give me pause.  "Crap!  What if our cats aren't smart enough to use them?"  But even our cats were able to hop in the opening in the top of the box, do their stinky little business, and hop back out.  

Due to the top entry hole, there's no way Miss Cider can whiz out the back as she used to have the nasty habit of doing, poor thing.  The top of the box also has ridges on it which acts as a great mat, trapping the litter from their paws.  No more litter scattered all over the laundry nook floor!  This also means no additional space is taken up by its "footprint" due to a mat out on the floor next to the box.  

And since the lid snaps on the very top, there is no seam midway to get all gucky like most covered boxes.  Nor can Master Newton kick litter and poo out of the hole, as he used to like to do.  Malicious and adorable, isn't he?

The box came with liners (and they sell refills) but we find that it works fine without them.  We got ours at PetSmart for about $30 and they're also available on the company's website.  All hail the mighty litterbox!

Adding on Rooms DIY fabulous UPDATE

I saw THE COOLEST thing on RachaelRayShow.com.  Don't laugh. You watch her show, too; don't deny it...

One of her gurus did some armoire makeovers that were amazing! Check out the videos here and here.  

They transformed basic armoires into several creative things:

a home office (I had seen the IKEA version of this, but it was cool to see them using an existing piece of furniture, especially to keep stuff out of landfills when folks upgrade their TV to a flat screen)

a murphy bed for guests in a living room or a child's room (holy crap! We can raise several kids in just a couple of rooms someday!  Whoo hoo!)

a changing station for a nursery (heck, with the space we've got, that will be the entire nursery)

and even a bar for keeping and serving drinks at a party.  

I also thought it would be cool to turn an armoire into a few other things:

a game room (room to store games, a fold out table, maybe a dartboard at the back)

a laundry room (minus the washer and dryer, obviously, but a nice way to disguise laundry room clutter and a fold-down ironing board)

or even a bowling alley, complete with a fold-out lanes and snack bar!

I was just kidding about that last one.  Mostly. 

I would love to hear your ideas or even what you have already used an armoire or similar furniture for.  Brag away!

Adding on Rooms DIY

"What?!?" you say.  "I thought this was all about living well in the space you already have!  I live in an apartment--I can't add on!"

Oh, but you can, my friend.  In a sense.

If you ever come over to dinner, my hubby will give you an entertaining tour.  It starts with the "foyer" (Ha!  That would be the rug in front of the door...) and ends with the "Master Bedroom" where apparently "the magic happens."  But I'll spare you that.

Yes, living in a small space requires a sense of humor and creativity when giving the grand tour.  We have a "map room," "library," "china room," and "formal dining room" all within the 10' x 10' space that houses two bookshelves and our dining room table.  Miraculously, the nook that holds the washer and dryer also contains the "game room" (shelf with boardgames), "cat room" (litterbox, food and water dishes), and "tool shed" (shelf with a toolbox).  It gets more wonderfully and ridiculously grandiose everytime he gives the tour.  

But what about actually carving out space for a new baby, home office, craft corner, etc.?  For my new office, it was amazing what we managed to pull off with some bookshelves, an IKEA folding desk, a file cabinet, a folding screen, and some "L" brackets...

Basically, we took over 20 square feet from the existing dining room area, and partitioned it off with two bookshelves.  We moved the two existing tall bookshelves (remember the library and the china room?) out of the back corners of the dining room and set them at right angles to the side walls, about two feet away from the back wall and three feet apart.  The handy hubby anchored them into the wall with the "L" brackets for safety, and voila!  I had a little nook of my very own.  The backs of the bookshelves are now my "walls", upon which I put some pegboards and pictures.  

We then squeezed tall bookshelf in, perpendicular to the back wall, on one side, and a short bookshelf with a little file cabinet on top, on the other side.  On the back wall (the real structural one), opposite my open "doorway" between the two shelves that face into the dining room, we installed a drop down IKEA desk (actually a dinette) that I can fold down out of the way to allow access to my tall bookshelf.  As a finishing touch, a friend gave us a folding screen that I can use to block the open "doorway," allowing me to shut my work from view come dinnertime (since the dining room table is about a foot away from all this ingenuity.

It's tiny, and certainly doesn't have much room to maneuver.  But it's mine (no more squabbling with the hubby about who gets what shelf space in our current office nook or in the living room), and it really does feel like another room... ish.  :)

I would think something like this would also work well for partioning off the back of a bedroom for a nursery area (make sure those shelves are really well anchored into the wall!), or part of a living room for a craft area, etc.  It makes the existing room that much smaller, but I've noticed that unless things get partioned off, they migrate into the main areas, anyway (remember Rules to Live By #5.  When things don't have a home, they get everywhere).  

Nook Sweet Nook, I say.  Just don't try to come visit me in my office. There's only room for one of us in there!   

Rules to Live By #3: Find creative hiding places...

In a small apartment, you have to get creative. And I've realized that there is actually a lot of unused space lurking around, if you know how to use it.

Caveats:
--Remember Rules to Live By #4: But sort through stuff often!
--Keep track of what you hide where. Otherwise, you'll be frustrated when you know you have something that you can't find, as well as forgetting about a lot of what you have and then ending up buying more.
--This is not a license to be a packrat. I have to tell myself this often.
--This is not a license to be a packrat. I'm reminding myself again.
--Only hide things you use once in a blue moon! Efficiency is key. If I have to go through hoops to get to items I need more often, I get frustrated and give up.

One place that I've found to be especially handy is at the back of bookshelves. Most books aren't as deep as the bookshelf, which leaves a nice space for seasonal stuff, non-decorative but special occasion items, old paperwork that you only keep in case of audit, etc.

Another good option is behind any furniture items that are at a diagonal (thus creating a little triangle of space). Specialty boxes for your jewelry box, china, specific breakable items, etc. can all fit behind a tall bookshelf. You won't need these items until you move, so it doesn't matter that you can't access them until you move the bookshelf.

For other, shorter furniture, like sofas, chairs, or entertainment centers, the little triangular nook can be great for larger items (that won't fit at the back of a bookshelf) that you only need occasionally, such as extension cords, board games, and extra packs of soap, tp, etc.

Again, keep a note on the fridge, bulletin board, etc. that tells you where everything is. It is truly maddening to buy a huge pack of paper towels from Costco because you thought you were out, only to discover the rolls you already had stashed away but had forgotten about.

And make sure things are stacked neatly, in good, dust-proof containers, wherever you hide them. This will make it easier to vacuum and dust, and keep these nooks from becoming dumping grounds.

Rules to Live By #2: Think vertically.

Both of us grew up with pretty large backyards and floorplans. Houses, businesses, farms and ranches, all were free to spread out into the high plains. (Yes, we had lots of tumbleweeds.)

Horizontal space wasn't an issue, so nobody worried much about thinking vertically. The tallest things in our hometown were the grain silos.

Contrast that with New York City, where space is at a premium. Almost everything goes up because it has to. When your city is on an island, you can only sprawl so far.

Atlanta sort of has more room, so things aren't as vertical. It's sprawled pretty badly over the years. But here in Midtown, we're still pretty cozy. And with gas prices on the rise, traffic congestion on the interstates being horrific, and new condos springing up everywhere, folks are a little more willing to think vertically.

We're in a converted house that was pretty big and fabulous once (somewhat in length and width, but primarily in height) and has now been "carved up" into apartments. Being tucked away in the terrace-level apartment--which sounds so much more hip than "basement apartment"--our floor plan is pretty sparse. We affectionately refer to it as "Our Shoebox."

I've found the way to maximize our minimal space is to think of the apartment as New York City, and all of our furniture as buildings. The living room, with the sofas and main walkway, is like Central Park. There's not much you can do there except stretch your legs and enjoy. And you don't want it to be cluttered, so that you can enjoy the skyline. The bookshelves, desks, appliances, and even the walls are all fair game for turning into "skyscrapers." They are (mostly) around the perimeter, have lots of vertical room, and are of varying heights for visual interest.

Basically, they have to be tall, slim, efficient, and structurally sound. Good thing my husband is an engineer.

Onward and upward, friends!