I have always been envious of people who can create the ultimate catifed environment, complete with perches, shelves, and superhighways. I always thought Lola and Lexy could not have a catified home because I live in a rental and I'm not able to make any permanent changes. Well, I was wrong! When I was at Cat Camp NYC last year, I attended a presentation given by the fabulous Kate Benjamin of Hauspanther entitled "Catification Challenge: How to Catify When You Rent."

Kate's presentation inspired me to write a post about catifying small, rented spaces. After drafting the post, I decided to take it a step further and make changes to my own apartment to show our readers that it can be done. Read on to see how I catified my rented apartment.

When you catify your home, you are making changes that meet your cat's needs but that are also aesthetically pleasing to you. As I delved into this project, I realized I really did need to make some changes for Lola and Lexy's needs to be met.

Disclaimer: I'm going to be getting real here and taking you behind the scenes. Some things will be embarrassing, but so be it. Please be nice!

How I Cafitied My Small, Rented Apartment

Before

This was our litter box situation. Years ago the box was in the bathroom, but because that didn't work out very well I had to place it in a corner in the living room.

This set up was not ideal for any of us. When I needed to get into that bookcase (which I often do), I had to move the box. This situation also led to some litter box stalking. If one of the girls approached the other in the box, they were "boxed" in (no pun intended) and had nowhere to go because the cat tree blocked an escape route.

This corner on the other side of the room was not very functional, and we had that ratty scratcher that drove me crazy.

This side of the love seat was also blocked as an escape route because I was using it for storage. (Apartment dwellers utilize every inch of available space possible!)

Lexy did not approve, that's for sure.

One of Lola's favorite places has always been on top of the curio. She loves to sit up there and watch what Lexy and I are up to. Before I bought the cabinet that is curretly next to it, I had a smaller one which was easier for Lola to jump up on and then make her way to the curio. This new cabinet is higher, and a little bit of a struggle for both her and Lexy to get up on. I didn't want them to get hurt, so I had to figure something out.

After

The first thing I addressed was the cabinet area. I created my own superhighway for the girls by first placing the Feline Meow House by Petique next to the cabinet. This created an additional area they could use to jump up onto the cabinet without struggling.

The Meow House is great because it is multifunctional. In addition to being a staple in our modified superhighway, it also serves as a scratcher and a hideaway. Lexy loves it!

I placed a sisal remnant on the cabinet to add another scratching surface, and to prevent the girls from sliding when running and jumping.

The next problem to tackle was the litter box area. I moved the box to the other side of the room and created a litter box privacy zone with some great PetFusion Products.

This is much better for all of us. The girls have plenty of room, they can get out of the box quickly if the other decides to stalk, and if I need to get into the bookcase I only have to move the screen to the side.

Visitors don't even know there is a litter box hiding back there!

I replaced the ratty old scratcher with a MaxScratch Post & Perch by Hauspanther. Everything in that corner matches nicely, and the girls love their new scratcher.

The item that was the most difficult to replace was the cat tree. I needed a tree that was open on the bottom so I could create a clear passageway from one side of the room to the other behind the love seat. The other requirement was that the shelves needed to be about the same height as the existing tree because they were at the exact spots that gave the girls an optimal view from the window.

I measured and re-measured, and looked at the specs of probably 100 scratchers online. I went back to the notes I took at Kate's presentation and realized that my best bet would be a floor to ceiling cat tree. I fell in love with the Contempo Cat Elevation-II, but it was a little out of my price range. That didn't stop me from wishing, though.

This fall I had the good fortune of winning the Fear Free Pets Special Award in the Cat Writers' Association's Annual Communications Contest, which came with a monetary prize. Now the girls and I were able to get the cat tree of our dreams!

I cleared out the junk from behind the loveseat and the girls now have a clear passageway from one side to the other. (I decluttered a lot of that stuff and was able to consolidate it to one bin that fits in the closet.)

The Elevation-II is totally customizable, and I was able to place perches at almost the exact same heights as the old cat tree.

Lola and Lexy love sitting there and watching the world.

I love having a sleek and stylish cat tree that the girls love. I've played around with different configurations, and I think I finally have the one that works the best.

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A Few Additional Things

Once the major changes were out of the way, I added a couple of extra fun things. I brought a little bit of the outdoors in by buying a cat grass planter.

This Cat Crib makes the empty space under my end table a fun cat hang out.

I'm very happy with the end result of my catification project. My living space is much more functional for Lola and Lexy, meeting their needs in a better way and making them happier. And my apartment doesn't scream "crazy cat lady" when you walk in. It's stylish and pleasing, and overall very comfortable. It's a win for all three of us!

Catification doesn't have to be a major, fancy project with lots of shelves and bridges drilled into your walls. Out of the box thinking, mixed with a little creativity, can make any environment catified (while still being stylish) in no time.