As our knowledge of cat enrichment increases, there are a lot of people searching for indoor cat room ideas. This makes sense given that designing a space with both you and your cat in mind can be hard to imagine. When I’m feeling stuck like that, one of my favorite places for inspiration are cat cafes.
I recently visited Whiskers and Soda Cat Cafe and Griffin Rock Cat Retreat in my local area, and today's post is all about how they designed their cafe as well as their boarding area for when cat guardians go on holiday. If you’re local to Dallas, TX make sure to give them a visit.
Cat Room Ideas Floor to Ceiling
Here are some of the great design elements the cafe incorporated from floor to ceiling:
Easy to Clean Flooring
On the tour, they told me that they installed medical grade flooring for easy clean up and sanitization. This makes sense for a high traffic cafe with multiple cats because accidents inevitably happen. How does this apply to you?
Well two ways, when your cats inevitably make a mess — no matter the surface — you want to have the right products to clean with. And secondly, if you have a home where you can choose the flooring, update it, cover it if it’s hard to clean, or try to find a performance substrate that works for you. For instance, my aunts have dogs, so they put slate tiles throughout the house.
Some other ideas for easy floor cleaning include washable rugs, decorative vinyl peel and stick, and a good handheld carpet shampooer for spot cleaning.
How to incorporate into your home:
- Cat-friendly, effective cleaning products for different surfaces
- Update to high-performance flooring if you have the option
- Washable rugs
- Decorative vinyl peel and stick
- Carpet shampooer for spot cleaning carpets and rugs
Aesthetic and Convenient Litter Boxes
When it comes to space design and cats, one of the most important aspects is the litter box. One thing you might not notice right away about the cafe’s layout is the litter boxes placed throughout the spaces.
Just like how we want options for how our bathroom works best for us, so do our cats. What you use largely depends on your cat and their preference. That’s why it’s important to let your cat have a say in what options they prefer. Do they like automatic, top-entry, covered or uncovered? We want to cater to their preference because ultimately we want them to use it. I will write more on this topic of litter box preference in a future post. Remember you have options too. There are a lot of aesthetic litter box options available now, based on what your cat likes.
How to incorporate into your home:
- Offer different options: open, closed, automatic, etc.
- Spread them throughout the house
- Find an aesthetic litter box in the style your cat prefers
Seating with Cat Tunnel
The seating was also designed with easy sanitization in mind, with high-performance outdoor-like material for the seat cushions and resin chairs. At the cafe, there was also a corner sofa bench where there are tunnels for the cats to go through the booth.
Custom Carpentry for Cats
While at the cafe one of the owners, Rob Stovall, told me that they had the same carpenter that did the custom carpentry in the cafe install similar designs for the cats in their own home. If you have the resources and a good carpenter, this allows you to really customize you and your cat’s experience and needs in a room.
How to incorporate into your home — give your cat hideaways. Here are some examples:
- Custom tunnel under the breakfast nook
- A cat room under the stairs
- Covered heated cat bed if you live in an apartment
Cat Shelves for Cats & Kittens
If custom carpentry isn’t in your plans, however, the cafe also utilized many great cat shelves that can be bought online. The shelves pictured here are in the kitten room, so the layout and distance is designed with them in mind. I talk about this more in my cat shelf planning post, so if you need a few examples for your cat type, check out my post on what to think about when planning your cat shelves.
Cat Walkways on the Ceiling
This cafe used every inch of the space knowing their feline friends would use it anyways. Take a page out of their book if you have a cat that loves to look at their space from above. At the cafe, they built this stunning cat shelf bookcase that looks like a work of art. With all its different levels, the shelves give the cats access to the beams above.
How to incorporate into your home:
- Buy pre-made shelves based on your cat type
- Use smaller shelves for kittens and small cats
- Use all your vertical space by adding shelves up to the ceiling
Cat Room Ideas
This last tip is for all my small space and apartment people. Sometimes you just can’t transform your whole space and you need ideas for a cat room made specifically for them. If you want to create your cat their own special room or area, here is what one of the rooms at the boarding facility looks like.
How to incorporate into your home:
- Create a cat room that includes the following:
- Hidden litter box in a cabinet with a cat bed on top
- Different types of cat shelves to maximize vertical space
- Cat TV to prevent boredom
- A food and water station nearby
- Different places for sleeping and play
- A camera to peek in on them
The team at Whiskers and Soda Cat Cafe and Griffin Rock Cat Retreat did a fantastic job with the grand opening and with their cat boarding spaces. I am certain it will help more cats get adopted through their rescue, A Voice for All Paws.
Are you ready to design your cat friendly space? If not, what’s holding you back from taking that next step in enriching your cat’s life and making your space more functional? Leave a comment if you need more help.
Cat guardians in DFW, if you're looking to give your cat a safe and enriching boarding experience, this is the place. If you're thinking about adopting, getting to know a cat in a home-like environment is ideal. I highly recommend a visit to the cafe to find your feline best friend.
