NYC Cat Shelter Makeover by HGTV’s Emily Henderson

As someone who believes cats should live in spaces that take their needs into consideration while still being aesthetically pleasing and practical for the to the two-legged (that’s us!), I was thrilled to hear that Arm & Hammer was providing downtown NYC shelter, Animal Haven, with a cat room makeover by famed HGTV celebrity Emily Henderson.

Emily Henderson with Piper, one of that cat up for adoption at Animal Haven

Why Emily you ask? She was the season 5 champion of HGTV’s “Design Star”, a former New Yorker, and yup, she’s got two cats – Mimi and Bearcat! She and her husband initially went it to adopt Mimi, but as Emily describes on her blog, “Bearcat started meowing and kinda bit me in a sassy way.” I guess he had her number because I’m not so sure that would have worked in his favor had that been me!

Mimi (left) and Bearcat (right), look how they are holding paws! Too cute! I guess even cats of designers tear TP. I don’t feel so bad! (Photo from Emily Henderson’s blog)

She and I arrived at Animal Haven at the same time and she couldn’t have been sweeter. Or had nicer hair. How does one look so fabulous at 9am? It made me totally self-conscious. It was frigging humid outside! OK FOCUS Tamar. But come on, did you see the hair?!

Arm & Hammer’s was promoting their new “Clump and Seal” litter because hey, what’s the point of a nice looking space unless it smells nice too.  Apparently 77% of people know you have a cat because of the litter box smell – yikes! They did a demo with a sardine that was very impressive. Sadly, I’ll forever remember the girl initially holding the sardine as “sardine girl.” Sorry.

Oh dear.

Before the makeover the “cattery,” as they refer to it, used black dog cages to house the cats and kittens. UGLY and UNINVITING! Let’s face it, pictures don’t lie, the place looked drab.  But as you’ll see, Emily did am amazing job with it!

When Emily was originally approached about doing the makeover she responded, without missing a beat, “Absolutely!” “It sounded like an interesting design challenge, and for a good cause. If it will draw more people to the shelter and adopt out more sweet kitties than it seemed like not a job to turn down.” (quoted from her blog).

Emily takes about the redesign before the big reveal!

In this case the space wasn’t made over for the purposes of aesthetics, or cat-comfort, but to draw-in potential adopters and have them stay longer, hopefully resulting in more cat adoptions – yay! As an added bonus, the volunteers and vets will also benefit from the have a more pleasant working environment.

AND, HERE IT IS! 

For starters, Emily added a sink area that can be used by the volunteers for their own use or for washing cat bowls etc. (don’t you just love the huge MEOW signage and the oversized balls of yarn?).

She also added a table and chairs for volunteers and employees to eat lunch and socialize. It also provides seating for potential adopters, so they’ll feel comfortable, hang around longer, and hopefully fall in love!

Playing while waiting for their forever homes!

Gone are the ugly black cages, replaced with bright and airy white ones (you can see them in a photo later in this post). There’s a large orange “human-sized” cage where potential adopters can hang out and interact with a particular cat or kitten they’d like to get to know better (it’s virtually impossible to get to know and see a cat’s true personality from a tiny cage.)

Love this idea for keeping toys organized. This I could use at home for sure.

Emily created “cat chandeliers” for the cages, but none of the cats were using them until all of a sudden one kitten went bonkers for it. You have to watch the video, it’s short! (not sure those chandeliers were built for longevity but they sure are cute!)

The cat wallpaper is from local artist Aimee Wilder,  isn’t it fabulous? I got excited about putting it up in my apartment, but ultimately decided that idea was better in theory.

We’re holding kittens but they’re a bit hard to see because of their color.

[Gratuitous non sequitur: Just check out all the colors the kitty wallpaper comes it!!!! On the down side is that they’re $165 a roll!]

My little Photoshop experiment convinced me that the cat wallpaper looked much better in the shelter!

Emily wanted to include a live tree in the cattery but was worried it might become more of a hassle for the workers to care for, so she employed installation artist Kathryn Godwyn to craft a representation of a tree to add some movement and visual interest to the room.

In the back you can see the installation by Kathryn Godwyn, and in the front, the table and chairs for meeting, eating and lounging! (you can see the spanking new white cages in this pic too!)

The folks at Arm & Hammer, Edelman (PR) and Animal Haven didn’t let us leave empty-handed. No, sadly we didn’t each get to pick the kitten of our choice to take home. But we got these fabulous parting gifts!

Of course Kip thinks everything is for him! We receive cat grass seeds to grow from scratch, a kitty face mask (too bad it’s not noise/meow canceling too!), blue M&Ms – i need someone to tell me why blue – and these amazing cat cookies from Eleni’s in NYC (they are waaaaay to cute to eat!)

PS – In case you were wondering. Yes, her (hot) husband is a total cat man (sigh), and as Emily put it, “Charlie – their young son – doesn’t know it but he’s a cat/animal person, too.”

LOVE IT! Go Emily!

Hottie hubby with Bearclaw and Charlie using a very tolerant Bearclaw as a pillow – go black cats! (Source: Emily Henderson’s blog)

And just to be fair, here’s a photo of Mimi all grown-up as well.

Mimi’s so poised (Photo from Emily Henderson’s blog)

Oh, and if anyone is looking for a cat who can stand on his back legs, there’s one at Animal Haven just happens to have one!

Get your very own circus kitty!

This is the kitty from the video above. Talk about a bundle of energy!

I hope you enjoyed the tour of Animal Haven’s new cattery. Be sure and stop by when you’re in town (they have a great boutique too!)! What was your favorite part of the makeover? Anything you would have added? 

***FTC Disclaimer: I HAVE CAT was nominally remunerated for writing this post***