Wednesday, November 3, 2010

6 Reader Space: Take Notation of this Pet Station!

I have been getting some questions and comments about pet stations, so I know that this week's Reader Space will definitely give many of you oodles of happy tingles.  And even non-pet owners can find insane amounts of inspiration from the project being featured today, because it's just that fabulous!

Jane {who is also one of my AMAZING sponsors!} wrote:

Hi Jen! 

I don't even know how I found your blog, but I love it!  I'm addicted to organizing, and it's nice to find that I'm not alone!

I wanted to share a little project with you that I know non-organizers might find to be silly - but for me it totally made my day.  There was an odd "nook" in our basement, in the area that led from the guest room and TV room to the guest bathroom and laundry area.


When we moved in in May we made that space home to the pet feeding station and the cat litter boxes. It was functional, but not attractive.  Last week I was inspired to dress it up on the cheap. Since the updates are spread over three blog posts, I've attached one "after" photo that has numbers.  Here are the explanations that coordinate with those numbers:

  1. I designed and built this work table to hide the cat litter boxes and create a laundry folding & gift wrapping station.  I used fabric and an old curtain rod to create a skirt to further hide the litter boxes.  There's a shelf under the top of the table that holds my wrapping paper and photo frame storage bins, and the little glass jars on top of the table hold ribbons, tape, pens and scissors.  
  2. Dog food bins - each dog is on a different special diet - are labeled with the dogs' names and their feeding portions, to make things easy for our pet sitter.
  3. The cats eat on this shelf.  The dogs were still stealing their food, so we created a barrier by inserting a coordinating drawer for the wardrobe / bookshelf.  A little opening is cut in the drawer so the cats can still jump in.  Now the dogs leave it alone!
  4. Both dogs and one cat are on medications, so I created a little "pet pharmacy that is both cute and functional.  The jars are all labeled with pet names and dosages - again, making things easy for the pet sitter.  And the boyfriend.
  5. I corralled all my candle junk into some white boxes, and added some colorful labels to pretty them up a bit. 
  6. (not numbered) I used more leftover fabric to dress up the small basement window, and I added a grid of 8x10 pet photos to the wall (not shown).  I just thought it was fitting artwork, and I already had the stuff on hand.
The whole project took me a few hours - spread out over a few days - and cost only $45 - for the hardwood boards I used to build my table.  Now, every time I walk in to feed the pets or do laundry, the space just makes me feel good.  Gotta love results like that. And now my overnight guests don't have to see a mess when they walk to their bathroom.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Here's the link to the "pet pharmacy" project: http://theborrowedabode.com/2010/08/pet-feeding-station-part-2-pretty-pet-pharmacy/

Here's the link to the final stages of the project: http://theborrowedabode.com/2010/08/before-after-multifunctional-basement-nook/
Here's the first part of the project - the least exciting bit. http://theborrowedabode.com/2010/08/pet-feeding-station-part-1/


Take care!

-Jane

Totally incredible right?!  Let's check out some more eye sugar from Jane's project, shall we?!


That under table storage really get's my heart racing!  So SMART!


Seriously incredible!  IHeart these labeled jars!

I can't even begin to explain how genius this whole setup is!  Her small time and moola investment, now gives her kitties a safe to place munch down their food, tells her pet-sitters all the necessary information to keep the pets safe and healthy, her space is personalized and beautified and has a ton of concealed storage, not to mention a whole work table!!!  I could go on and on, but her picture really says it all so perfectly!


Although pet's come with A LOT of extra stuff, such as foods, meds, grooming supplies, leashes, etc... Jane has shown an inspiring and easy solution to keeping it all under control, and look good while doing it!!

Thanks Jane for taking time to write and share your incredibly creative pet solution!





P.S.  Have an awesome story to share?  How about some organizing tips and tricks?  Maybe a project completed from an inspiration found?  Please send your story and photos to iheartorganizing@gmail.com and I would heart to feature them right here, on the blog!!

6 comments:

  1. Wow Jen - thanks for the super sweet words! I absolutely "heart" my pet area...I only wish it weren't hidden in the basement! Now I've got to tackle the other parts of our new house. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love this idea! I just wish I had the room for it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ooh- I LOVE pet stations, and this one is particularly fab! Nice work!!

    We just moved into our CA beach pad and having a dog, a cat, and a chinchilla- we have quite the assortment of pet supplies. And to top it off, our dog likes to eat our cat's poop. Totally gross and totally unacceptable! But in our new space, we didn't have anywhere for the litter. Until...

    I looked at the coat closets and thought to myself, I wonder if there is a way to allow the cat in but keep the dog out. And there sprung the beginnings of our "pet closet".

    I took out the hanging rod and added 3 shelves. In different baskets I have grooming supplies, medications, toys, litter, etc. Then on the bottom I have the litter box. I used a long hook & eye (used for gates) that kept the door open enough for the cat to get in, but kept the dog OUT (this is the kind of hook I used: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xhc/R-202034263/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053) Total success!!!

    I haven't blogged about this transformation yet as I want to paint the closet, get some more cute containers and shelf paper- but it will be coming in due time. :)

    http://tami-licious-life.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! That's fabulous! Jane did an amazing job organizing and beautifying her pet station. Way to go!

    For us, we keep all of our dog's supplies and clothes (yes, we are THOSE people!) tucked out-of-sight in a storage bench.

    ~Chelsea

    ReplyDelete
  5. Way to go Jane! It does look FABULOUS!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love me some Borrowed Abode! =) I have GOT to make a pet station like this one of these days! Litter-boxes are so heinous!!! Thank goodness for awesome solutions like this one!

    My kitty's days of potty convenience are numbered!
    dun dun dun!

    =)
    Jenn L @ Peas & Crayons

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking a moment to join in on the conversation! I read and appreciate each and every comment, however, I will remove any comment that I believe to be inappropriate, malicious, or spam-like. I would love for this comment section to be used as a place to engage in purposeful dialogue, I only ask that everyone remains constructive and considerate.

All comments will be moderated and may take a moment to appear.