How to DIY Fancy Cat Litter Box in Closet

Where to put the cat litter box has been a big design conundrum for me while working out the remodel plans for the Fixer Upper Main House here at One Hundred Acres Home. This is a small house with one small bathroom, so we don’t have many places to put a cat litter box. While working on the bathroom tile, I had a stroke of genius and decided to tile the bottom section of the adjacent closet to make a DIY tiled spa-like cat litter box area in the closet.

Meet the Cat:

This is our lovely older female cat named Foxee for whom I am doing all this work. She is much loved and properly spoiled.

I snapped this photo of Foxee while she was sleeping and I gathered all her toys around to wait for her to wake up.

Here she is awake and looking very pretty. The cat litter box in closet is just behind her on the right.

If you checked out the, “How to Install a Cat Door in a Wood Screen Door” blog post, you’ll know that we had two much-loved cats. I’m sorry to report that Panda passed recently after some time with kidney disease. Now we are giving Foxee even more pets and attention.

Cement Board and Waterproofing:

I definitely could simply put the cat litter box on the floor area of the closet and leave it at that. But since I was tiling the bathroom anyway, I decided to use the leftover floor and wall tile to create a little spa area for Foxee to match the bathroom.

While I’m at it, I might as well use the leftover Redgard waterproofing and waterproof this cat spa. The tile and waterproofing might be helpful against any accidents outside the litter box!

Here is the applied waterproofing on the bottom section of the closet. I also installed a small cement board section on the closet floor where the floor tile will go. For full details on the floor tile, check out bathroom remodel floor tile post.

You can see the closet is right next to the bathroom. It’s kind of cute to have a mini cat bathroom next to the main one!

Tile Cat Litter Box Area in Closet:

Next I tiled the floor and wall sections in the closet to match the bathroom. The floor tiles are Carrara-looking porcelain 12 inch x 24 inch tiles from Home Depot. The wall tiles are white subway tiles.

Here is the placed tiles. The spacers are still in place while the thin set dries.

Next, I used non-sanded Polyblend grout in bright white. Here is photo of the grout.

Caulk & Seal:

Let’s finish this up by properly caulking and sealing the tile. You can see the Redgard if you look closely along the top of the wall tile and where the wall tile meets the floor. I ran a bead of white bathroom caulking along those lines to give this a completed look and add to the waterproofing of the closet floor area.

Next I sealed the grout lines with 511 Impregnator Sealer shown in he photo below. This will help keep resist grout stains if any accidents happen outside the cat box.

This is the finished spa-like cat litter box in closet area! Looking so fresh and so clean!

Completed Cat Litter Box in Closet – A DIY Cat Spa:

Here is the tiled spa-like cat litter box area in the closet today. There is just enough room for the litter box and a small trash can. I keep a small dust pan and hand broom in there because our girl can get messy. I’ve thought about putting a litter-trapping mat down on the floor to catch stray litter.

We leave the closet door slightly open and Foxee uses it without any problems. It’s great to have a hidden area for the cat litter box, and it’s fun that it matches the bathroom.