Before/After: Cat Room

“A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not.” – Ernest Hemingway

What is a cat room? Every room is the cat room, as every cat knows! 

This particular cat room is for sweet Jorji the Cat's necessaries -- her food and water, and litter -- at the house I'm renting for the summer, my Summer Serenity Cottage. 

I wanted to get Jorji and myself away from the intolerable noise and vibration at our regular beloved home caused by a faulty and flimsy new roof. Jorji is a very relaxed being, yet even she couldn't stand the growling and shaking at home from the lack of soundproofing in the new roof, and from the neighbors' air conditioning condenser lines that were inappropriately installed into our roof. 

Jorji needed about two weeks at the cottage before she felt at home; she took over her new domain step by step, starting with the cat room. As you may have noticed too if you are a "cat person," cats tend to hate moving house, they sometimes prefer to be in a small enclosed space within a larger space, and, once they take over, they take over! (You can see Jorji in every room throughout this blog!)

Why a cat room? The cat room, and its nice dark closet, was Jorji's space to start to get her bearings in the house. Plus, there wasn't really another ideal space in the Summer Serenity Cottage for Jorji's food or litter. The kitchen lacks good ventilation, for example. And there was an extra room on the ground floor, this small room next to the ground floor bathroom, which did seem ideal. And anyway, why not a cat room!

Before

This little room, technically a bedroom, has a closet and window, and came with a vintage mirror. 

It also came with heaps of filth and grime on walls, window, and floor, like the rest of the house. (Here is the post with scenes of the condition of the house on June 1, the day my lease began. I'd thought the landlord was going to have the house cleaned before I moved in, but it seems he thought I was renting it as-is?) I scrubbed the room, as I scrubbed the rest of the house. I hadn't planned for serenity to involve scrubbing, but I'm sure you've noticed too that life is full of twists and turns like a cat's tail!

I decided to use the cat room closet to save and store my moving boxes and packing supplies, so that when it's time to leave the Summer Serenity Cottage, I'll have everything I need in order to pack up.

I also decided to get a special litter box for Jorji; cats love privacy, and this enclosed cabinet provides it. One side has space for a regular litter box, the other side is a storage area, and the whole thing looks like a piece of furniture. It's white, to match my Great Lakes beach cottage theme. 

A dear friend put together the cat cabinet once it arrived, and Jorji loves it! When she first saw it, her eyes grew wide, and she looked at me with an almost incredulous look of "is this what I think it is?" mixed with a bit of "why did I not have one of these before!" Emotional honesty. She jumped right in!

She also uses her cat cabinet to climb to the window and birdwatch -- or to bug-hunt such as when a large fly got into the cottage through means unknown.

After

With cat cabinet in place, sisal mat in front, cozy mat on top (I put one of Jorji's favorite blankets from home on top of the cat cabinet when we first arrived, thinking it might help her settle in, but she didn't care; cats decide what they care about), and cat necessaries and paraphernalia arranged and stored appropriately, plus closet filled with moving supplies, I added a bit of decor, for fun.

I started with a sheet of thick colorful wrapping paper by artist Adrianne Hawthorne, aka Ponno Pozz, as a simple and inexpensive way to enliven the room. I have prints by her in the dining room, and a pillow covered in her art in the guest room. Filling this cottage with woman-made art has been a joy!

I added a couple of shopping bags: one held a housewarming gift of delicious watermelon from a friend, and the other is from the best bakery closest to the cottage -- and one of the best bakeries in Chicago or anywhere else, as Chef Bobby mills his own flour: Lost Larson. The bakery specializes in Swedish heritage baked goods, plus classic French pastry with a twist, because the Andersonville neighborhood used to be a village of Swedish immigrants before it was incorporated into the city, and because Bobby has Swedish heritage which was "lost" when his family's name was changed upon immigration to the US. 

The shopping bag theme carries over to the staircase to the second floor, and I'll show you the staircase soon; I've had some fun with it, and so has Jorji!

Back to the cat room:

I considered adding a chair to the cat room, or Jorji's cat tree. But her cat tree stands just outside the space and she likes it there, and it's not a room for a reading nook but simply an area for sweet Jorji's necessaries, with some extra brightness and cheer for me at the start of each day when I give Jorji her breakfast! 

For this one summer, the cat room is perfect.

By the way, some who've been following this blog throughout the season have asked me how Jorji reacted to the landlord's peeping, unannounced visits, and unannounced entry into the house. (Here is the main post about that drama in case you missed it.) Thank you for asking! She actually slept through the unannounced entry, despite the shouting (mostly landlord, though I shouted back to throw him back out) and crying (landlord only). 

What Jorji didn't like was when he would come in and pet her while she was sleeping. We are here to be serene, not to be disturbed! 

My motto this summer: contemplation, relaxation, decoration!

Here's to emotional honesty, respect, space, and sweet Jorji, who has taken over not only every room (you can see the doorknob to her cat room behind her in the below photo) but every surface (yes, including the dining room table, in the same below photo).

Onward and upward! 

Your friend in decorating,

Valerie

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Thank you!