Creative Cat Door

Meet Betty, a cute, cuddly, ball of feline fun.  I ADORE this cat.  So what's the problem? Her litter box. Specifically, the fact that wherever we put the litter box, our darling dog manages to find it and indulge in a snack...

To summarize: 1) we LOVE our cat 2) our dog enjoys eating "kitty crunchies" 3) we need a litter box solution

The solution was to put a cat door in one of our closets.  This could have been a quick fix of cutting a hole in the door and installing a prefab cat door, however, we have these beautiful solid wood doors in our home that we could not bear to chop.  Solution: Buy a cheap, hollow door for $20 and chop a hole in it!

Before my husband and dad cut the hole in the door, we creatively measured the size of our slightly obese cat.  Once the hole was cut we were able to stain the door.

This MinWax PolyShade stain in Antique Walnut was the closest match to the other doors in our house.  Make sure you give the stain at least 6 hours to dry before working on the door.

 Starting to look pretty good!  Now it's time to make the cat door.  I went to home depot and bought a piece of decorative trim and asked my dad to cut four sides to make a frame for the door. I used a spray primer before adding color.

 I found this awesome decorative paint by Martha Living.  I wanted something funky and decorative but not too bold that was an eyesore.

Once the paint was dry it was time to attach the frame to the door.  Because the cheap door was hallow, we decided to use glue instead of nails because we did not want to splinter the wood.  Elmer's Carpenter Wood glue worked great. 
***Make sure you do NOT attach the top piece! We will need it later when we attach the fabric flap!

Set the frame in clamps so that the glue dries while the frame is tight. While you wait for the glue to dry it's time to make a cloth door!

Disclaimer: I am NOT a seamstress! My sewing skills are minimal. My stitches are not straight. But hey, this is for a cat door and I don't think little Betty will judge me.  

I chose a fabric that was complimentary with a dash of character.  After measuring the size of the door opening, I added a 1/2 inch and folded over.  After I had ironed the folds, it was time to sew.  

Once the flap was done, we used a staple gun to attach the fabric flap to the top frame piece that we did not attach earlier.  Once the flap was stapled, we just had to glue the top piece to the door. 

Once the decorative door is dry, all that's left is to attach the new door to the door frame.  We used the hardware from our old door so we didn't have to buy any new hardware.

My work here is done.

M.