All in one Kitty Center with custom litter box.

Everyone deserves their own space.

Including the kitties:

I have two little kitties with big personalities. They pretty much have the run of the house. Everyone that has a kitty or two (or more!) knows that there are a few undeniable facts that you have to deal with. Food, water, toys, records, and, of course, the litter box.

I wanted to try to find a way to organize it all and still have it look clean and contained. I have gone through a few different configurations and I think I finally figured out something that works great for all of us, and maybe it can work for you too. So, this post will walk you through what I did

Materials:

Cabinet
Hinges
Corner Molding
Construction Adhesive
Litter Box
Floor mat (x3)
Food and litter containers (x2)
Storage Bins

Basic Process:

I have gotten this project together over the course of about 6 months so I don't have the exact directions. If you have any questions, I will do my best to answer. This will just be an outline.

1) Locate the side of the BESTÅ Cabinet side that you want to have your opening on. Mark out the size of the opening that you want for your litter box opening.

2) Use a drill to drill a hole inside the area that you've marked for your opening and then use a saw (I used jigsaw) to cut the opening.

3) I cut pieces of vinyl corner molding and used the construction adhesive to attach it to the rough cut of the opening to give it a cleaner finish. If you're able, you can miter the edges to get a cleaner frame but I didn't do that with mine.

4) Assemble your BESTÅ subbing in the soft close hinges if you choose to use them. I didn't want the doors to slam and startle the cats when they were eating. Mine came with teflon feet so it's really easy to pull away from the wall to vacuum and mop around the box when I clean.

5) I chose to use a very high box for the litter box because one of my cats has a habit of making a bit of a mess with shorter boxes. Put the box in the cabinet on the side of the opening and mark out where you need to cut your opening. Note: I actually used two of these boxes from Home Depot because I hadn't seen the IKEA ones yet. If you want to know how I modified the boxes I used, please let me know in the comments below and I'll write it up for you guys.

6) Use a blade to cut the opening out of the front of the litter box and I used a lighter to melt the raw edge to smooth it over. If the top edge keeps your door from closing, you can trim it off too.

7) Once you've assembled the cabinet, it's just a matter of putting everything in place where it needs to go.

8) I used the containers from Walmart to store food and litter. The fabric storage containers hold toys, brushes, treats, and cans of soft food. Records and their travel bag are stored in the small space above the litter box. The box I use to store the litter scoop is no longer available but you could use a tall narrow cereal box or something similar.

9) I used two of the floor mats to create two eating areas on top and the third to help cut down on the litter scattering as they exit. These are great because they have a rubberized bottom and don't slip. They also protect the surface of the cabinet.

10) That's it. I like having 10 steps but really, you're done! Enjoy a more organized space.

Always evolving:

Well, guys, this is my outcome. I am always open to ideas and if you've got any improvements, additions, or ideas, I'd love to hear them

Happy Crafting!

Silhouette 4.0 Follow-up

That'll Do Pig.

Two weeks ago:

It's been about two weeks since I installed the newest version of the Silhouette Studio software (designer edition) from Silhouette America and I am happy to say that things seem to be going well.

In my last post, I covered "the good, the bad, and the ugly" of updating and mentioned that I'd come back to update you on my experience. So, here goes!

The Good:

I have been playing with many of the new features available and plan on throwing together a few new tutorials for you guys on these features. But for now here are three of the things that have worked well and I am liking about the new update so far.

1) Cut time progress bar. This is so great. There is now a progress bar at the bottom of the cut screen to show you how much longer it will take for your cut to complete. This is great for time management and has already helped me a lot. I know how long each cut is going to take so I can work on other things (like making a cup of coffee!) while the machine is grinding away.

2) Mirror reminder. Forgetting to mirror HTV is something I know we have either all done or will do at some point in our cutting careers. This can be a costly mistake when it happens with our last piece of hard to find glitter or the only bit of that one color we had left. The studio software now includes a pop-up reminder to check if you mirrored your design. If you haven't, it will do it automatically for you. If you have, just click "Send As-Is" and your cut will start.

3) Warp Function. This works for both text and images. You select the warp panel and then select what object you want to warp and then you can play around with the number of columns or rows and pull the handles around to warp your image. Note: This feature is available in Designer edition and up.

The Bad (and the ugly):

I mentioned in my last post that I had some concerns about things that might not work correctly with the new update and I have discovered a couple of glitches so far. Keep in mind, this is NOT a beta version. All of the features have been tested and this is supposed to be a complete and finished product. Nonetheless, there are still issues. Here are a few that I have noticed.

1) Tracing issues. Tracing can be difficult even when everything works the way it is supposed to. It can be a little tricky but thanks to some great tutorials like Tracing without Tears from Kay Hall at CleverSomeday on YouTube, it isn't as hard as one would think. The issue I have been running into with Version 4 is that I will select my trace area and adjust my settings and when I click "trace" nothing happens. The yellow fill disappears as though the trace has completed but it doesn't give me a cut file. The only thing I can do is start over and hope it will trace the second time. It doesn't happen every time but it is often enough to be a bothersome glitch.

2) SVG drag-and-drop issues. Having Designer Edition means that I have been able to open SVG's in my design studio. This has been an awesome feature and allows me to pull all of the elements I need to create my design directly into the studio space that I am using and design on the fly. With version 4, I will drag and drop my SVG into my studio space and it will simply "stamp" itself onto the background and will not allow me to select, move, or modify it at all. I have had to open each element into a separate studio screen and then copy it and paste it into the space I am designing in. It's not impossible to get around, again, but it makes things take far longer than they should have and I am afraid that I will accidently save a modification to an original element if I forget to close WITHOUT saving changes.

Final thoughts:

Overall, I am pretty happy with the update. There is still a TON of room for improvement but there is also a huge list of new things to play with.

What about you guys?

What are your thoughts on the new update? Are there things you're super happy to see included? Other problems that you've noticed? Other things you wish were possible? I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Happy Crafting!