Muddy Shoe Station

Recently the site www.unclutterer.com highlighted ways in which to help the problem of muddy shoes at one's entrance ways. I combined one of the ideas there with several of my own to create something that overlaps several categories here: home improvement, organization, and pets.

The website noted has links to Amazon.com, which sells (about $7-26) what looks essentially like a sink drainboard, you know, the rubber kind. That's what you see at the BASE of my picture, with my kitchen door on the right and my island counter on the left. Well, not Amazon's version, but an inexpensive drainboard from a dollar store.

Fortunately, that fit (kinda snugly) underneath a previous geriatric-sort of creation of mine that acts as a cat jumping-board onto the kitchen counters where some of the elderly guys eat, away from the pesky dog. This combines 2 elements. My mother's old cheapest-type shower stool as a pedestal, and an EmeryCat board (a flimsy product based on a good idea) that uses packaging tape to hold it on top. The cats, in using it as a springboard, have a good, rough emery scratching surface, should they want to use it as a scratchpad on their way up to the counter.

Overall, the 3 pieces together: drainboard, stool, and EmeryCat measure about 19 inches long x 18.5 inches wide x 22 inches tall. In my particular case, my door opens inwards on the left and isn't really compromised by the creation. It serves several needs for me, and looks decent too. Hope some of the thoughts spur even better ideas!

Source: the websites noted, a desire not to junk a shower stool in case of future need, my disappointment in the EmeryCat product, and dribbles of imagination over time.

By Nica from Big Bend, WV