Our cats are generally very good but sometimes when they have a bad day, they would hide under the bed or couch and don’t wanna come out (Note: it is not excessive hiding, we observed for 2 years). We totally understand cats like to hide and play, that’s why I built them cat tree and cat condo. However, this behavior disturbs our daily routine especially if that happens at LATE night, sometimes we have to wake up at 5:30 AM for work next morning and that’s pretty frustrated trying to kick them back to their own room so that we can sleep.
Blocking them from going in
I bought some 1x5x6 and 1x4x6 Pine from Home Depot, cut them and nailed them. Note that I re-used the scrap wood for middle support.
(All project photos were taken using iPhone)
One challenge for the Queen size bed is the metal frame that comes with several LEGS in the middle. To overcome this, I made 2 boxes as you see in the picture. Finally, to put it to the test, we have Mythos and Rini for QA. Mythos was really mad and tried so hard to push the wood. But Cats do not have a lot of persistence, so they gave up after 10 minutes. Project is so successful.
Notes and Side Benefits
I have intentionally made the boxes smaller so that people don’t see the wood from the standing angle, the other alternatives are: (1) add mirrors to create optical Illusion (2) stain/paint the wood with color. With this project, there is another benefit – I no longer need to vacuum the carpet under the bed or swiffer the floor under the couch! It saves a lot of time and effort.
Great website! Thanks for sharing your projects and photos. Regarding the ‘Blocking cats from hiding under the bed and couch’ project where you built boxes, have you thought of converting those to storage bins? Although items under bed is bad feng shui. I wished I was close by to help you with your paver project.
Hi, I just came across your post and it is a great idea! We just built two similar boxes for under our king bed. We made one modification because we realized that even though the boxes fit very snugly under the metal bed frame, the fabric material of the underside of the box spring could easily be pushed up by my cat, who could then fit inside the little sections of the box! So, we added a top to the frame, basically closing it off entirely. We used pressed composite material 1/8 ” thick and had it cut so there was one inch overhang on the outside edge and foot-end of the frame. It makes it that much less likely the cat can squeeze up there.
Just wanted to commend you on the idea and offer this modification.
Bingo! Exactly what I wanted to do. I will buy wood to make two boxes and join them together but I’ll do it so half length. Then I don’t need to bring home long pieces of lumber. Two frames 52″ x 42″ would work perfectly. Thanks for the pictures!
You are a genius I have been trying to think of something to keep my cat from getting inside my couch as im scared he will get stuck on ome of the springs while im not home. Currently i have it baricaded with a cardboard box contraption all around the couch and he is starting to eat it 🙁 .