Ideas for disguising cat litter tray in alcove furniture

[finefibrecall]

I'm trying to furnish the two alcoves either side of the fireplace in our dining room. Each alcove is large enough for a wide sideboard or narrow cabinet + chair.

The problem is I ideally need to factor in two cat litter trays. I would LOVE for these to be more discreet than they currently are (plonked on the floor in plain view) and wondered about a cabinet or tall side table with legs which the tray could slide underneath. The extra storage would be a bonus too. However, this is the only one I can find for less than £500: https://www.wayfair.co.uk/furniture/pdp/17-stories-kaleema-60-cm-wide-pine-solid-wood-highboard-u004503493.html?piid=2023117039.

Does anyone more design-inclined have any better solutions? We don't have a utility or downstairs loo for the box to go in. I've seen there's litter box furniture but my cat/boss is an exacting guy and I'm not sure he'd use a fully enclosed space. Help!

He may not use a covered one at first, but he will! I’d persevere with that as an open litter tray in a dining area is not ideal at all. There are many nice enclosed ones with doors at the front you can’t take off until they are used to it.

Is there not a hallway / understands cupboard or toilet they could go in instead? Cat litter trays in kitchens and dining rooms are grim.

I can't think of anything worse than having a cat litter tray in a living/dining/kitchen room. Why on earth aren't you putting it somewhere else?

We went through a phase of needing to use litter trays for our cats. We put the trays in the spare bedroom. Thank god they only had to be inside for a few months.

No, no space in understairs cupboard/hallway. He uses a covered tray at the moment, but it's not enclosed and I agree it's not ideal.

https://pin.it/4zbAlMJwn
this came up when I had a quick look just now. It looks a good idea, if you could get them to go inside that is!

Pinterest has loads of ideas.

In our previous house we had a cupboard with no bottom shelf and the door starting about six inches off the floor. (A modified kitchen unit). The first shelf inside was about 18 inches high. So the litter tray sat on the floor behind the doors and the cat could duck in though the gap and then have plenty of headroom for the business.

We also tried the litter tray under a bureau about 12 inches off the floor but there were quite a few misses, I don't think it was a comfortable set up for the cat.

I know you aren't sure about litter box 'furniture', but unless you are going to get a chippy to custom make something for the space I think it's your best bet, something like the option linked here. You could put shelving above it for your human things if you want more storage.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Feandrea-Enclosure-Furniture-Removable-PCL002P01V1/dp/B0D2HHVSKF/ref=asc_df_B0D2HHVSKF?mcid=ae4bd317351938aab32e0f3e69913043&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=710829559572&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16052284250304177623&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046293&hvtargid=pla-2356183366760&hvocijid=16052284250304177623-B0D2HHVSKF-&hvexpln=0&gad_source=1&th=1

I like the litter box 'furniture' as posted above. I don't recall those being available when we used to have an indoor cat (between 2006-2018). We had two 'hidden litter' boxes that resembled large planters complete with faux plant on top. Thinking back now, they looked bloody ridiculous and were a complete pain to empty and if I was getting a litter tray now it would be the furniture type, but still wouldn't want it in the dining room!

This is a great alternative I hadn't considered, thank you.