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Here’s a little Catification inspiration for turning an empty bedroom into a kitten paradise! I was thrilled to help my friend Mary Tan of Whisker Media transform this space in her Minnesota home into the ultimate playground for her foster kittens. Read on for more details about how we did it.
Modern Meets Marvelous
Mary’s home is fairly minimal so she wanted to keep that overall aesthetic but make the room fun and playful. We stuck with light grey and white for a clean modern look but added all kinds of elements for climbing and playing. The goal was to create a beautiful, inviting space with lots of enrichment for the cats.
Catify To Satisfy
The carpeting was replaced with vinyl flooring for easy cleaning and we added a washable Johantan Adler rug from Ruggable, perfect for messy kittens! A long shelf under the window lets the cats enjoy the view and a deep desk surface running the width of the room gives Mary a place to work while kittens lounge nearby. The space has a nice flow with a cat superhighway running around three sides of the room. We used a combination of custom-built elements and pre-made pieces to create a very unique design. AJ Penkert of Pagoda Home Maintenance did a fantastic job building all of the custom pieces and installing the whole room.
Eye Catching Accent Wall
The wall opposite Mary’s desk is her Zoom background so she can do client calls and presentations with kittens playing behind her. We made a fun climbing wall with Armarkat hexagon climbers painted white with a custom shelf and logo sign above. This wallpaper was designed by illustrator Patricia Lima and custom printed from her collection at spoonflower.com. I just love Patricia’s designs and was so excited to include her wallpaper in this project! Covering just a single wall like this makes for the perfect accent.
Climbers and Scratchers and Beds, Oh My!
There are so many fun elements in this room for the cats to explore. Over the desk is a climbing wall with Lotus Shelves from The Refined Feline in Smoke Gray. Because the room usually has smaller kittens in it, we added little cat-head step shelves painted white to make it easier for them to get up and down. Wall-mounted sisal scratchers give little claws a place to scratch and two cozy cat hammocks are suspended under the desk. Other fun elements in the room include a clear pod bed mounted on the wall to the right of the windows and a small modern cat tower from Chewy in the corner.
Lots of soft beds and cat caves scattered around the room give kitties plenty of places to nap and cute cat bins allow kittens easy access to toys while keeping things tidy. Don’t forget the food and water station with a Catit PIXI fountain by the accent wall and litter boxes under the desk. For human and cat use we have a seating bench with storage inside and for the finishing touch, some beautiful mid-century modern cat art on the walls.
This was a very fun project to work on and Mary is thrilled with the results!
Kate captured my design aesthetic perfectly. She took the time to really understand what I wanted, knowing that it is also a home office where I can showcase cats and kittens when meeting with my pet clients virtually. My house is very modern, so I wanted a room where I could foster kittens that matched the rest of the house.
I adore the whole room, but my favorite elements are the lotus shelves and the Jonathan Adler Ruggable rug. That pop of color on the floor really lights up the room. As for how cats like it, I have yet to see a cat not play on its features. I have been shocked at how kittens as young as five weeks can climb all the way to the top! It’s also unbelievable how easy it is to clean. The room is a work of art yet practical. It’s a favorite hangout for myself and my three cats.
– Mary Tan
I hope this inspires you to do a little Catification in your home! If you do, please send photos!
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Really nice. As always, Kate, your design sense is suPURRlative >^^<
Thank you for sharing this “Catification” project designed for foster kittens. During the time I was able to be a volunteer for a small cat rescue group in MN (Cause for Paws) we actively worked with St. Paul Animal Control and many understanding vets in our area. We specialized at kittens too young for Animal Control and injured or ill adult cats.
I have been living in FL for many years now due to my parent’s health issues and then my own. My days of fostering kittens are over, but I love the room created in this project.
One question: Where are the litter boxes/Litter-Robots? Our group often did orphan kittens as young as nearly newborn. Litter box training/encouraging was an important part of our days. Our house had four bathrooms (on different levels) and my husband did complain kittens were housed in his bath all too often to keep any possible kitten diseases from spreading and so their litter box/Litter-Robot when it came into existence could be isolated.
Our current family of cats are nearly 19 years old (from my last foster litter– adopted and then returned on the death of their adopter years later). They will be my last cats. I added 20 years to my age when they came to us and knew it would be time to stop.
Many thanks for posting this room. I hope it is an inspiration to many potential fosters; I miss the joy of watching kittens grow to be healthy and finding them their homes.
Kate I am looking for someone to design a cat room / craft room, I live in Upland, CA do you offer this kind of service?
Yes, I do! I will email you with more details.