Whose fur this is, I think I know.
We had two problems. One was that Very Hairy Cat, otherwise known as Downyflake, tore open the underside of the box spring (a misnomer - they rarely, if ever, put springs in them anymore) to crawl up into. After living over the years with several cats who discovered this, I'm pretty sure that it's a favorite cat-thing to do. We tried to block access with a messy and dust-collecting little village of boxes which, obviously, didn't even work.
The other, more superficial problem was that the ugly bare box spring showed. (Last photo, inset.) We gave up the bed skirts, for both access and cat-related reasons, long ago. Neither our light summer blanket nor the heavier winter comforter dangles down far enough to cover it.
I honestly don't know whether I read this idea someplace, or made it up myself. But it occurred to me that:
nice sheets over the box springs would disguise their upholstery, and ...
putting those nice sheets over the undersides of the box springs -- i.e., sheeting them upside down -- would block Downy from his little cave.
So we did, after as much fur removal by hand and vacuum-cleaner as we could manage. This should work on any size bed. I individually sheeted each of the 2 twin beds we have pushed together to make a king-size, and used plain ones of a generic color to blend with the linens and the room, but there are plenty of ways to use the idea with anything, from K-mart's cheapest to designer patterns. Here, there's not much point in trying to make it look all HGTV-y since the stored items under the bed are still exposed. It looks good to me. This is a hard-working living space.
With cats.
4 comments:
Hey Ruth,
The next step....if you need one....is to go to a fabric store that includes fabrics for furniture. Locally, we go to Joann's.
Such stores should have a heavy black material that is commonly used on the underside of couches and chairs. You should be able to use a staple gun to tack down that type of material around the underside of your box spring.
Another option might be a thin, dense layer of felt.
I'm willing to bet that either of those will last longer than your sheets.
Regards,
Dann
Wow - that was a lot of work! Makes me glad our only furry pet is a hamster who lives in a cage on a bookshelf.
Hope you checked for cats before sealing it all up.
8~) Thanks, Dann, we considered that but discarded the idea. Larry's done upholstery and refinishing and that fabric, tough tho it is, plus its stapled edge, is actually easier for cat claws to shred. Tight-woven, flexible sheets might actually thwart him better.
And, if you're right, it may not matter anyway - we're looking at Mission Oak blueprints and considering building our own bed in a platform-style that'll end the box-spring dilemma altogether.
As for sealing a cat up in it -- Downy would joyfully dispose of His Awful Sister and live in peace thereafter, so i don't want to give him any ideas!
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