Living in the lap of (feline) luxury

The Loyal Luxe Cat Chalet is a recycled cardboard kitty cottage geared towards the pet owner with a serious case of cat fancy ... and an eco-consciousness.

Mon, Feb 15 2010 at 7:33 AM EST

With the 2010 Winter Games underway and all eyes on the Great White North, I thought it would be fitting to feature a remarkable work of Canadian sustainable design/architecture. Well, here’s a petite chateau from Quebec-based designers Maud Beauchamp and Marie-Pier Guilmain that boasts key tenants of green building: the use of sustainable/recycled materials, lightweight/easy-to-transport prefab construction, eco-friendly carpeting, and more. And if you hadn’t caught on yet, yep, it’s for cats.

The Loyal Luxe Cat Chalet is one of the better-looking pieces of eco-friendly pet paraphernalia that I’ve come across recently. This easy-to-assemble (no tools required!), flatpack cathouse measuring 18” x 22” x 15” with a 6.5 inch entryway is made from 100 percent recycled corrugated cardboard in Quebec. In fact, the design was inspired by traditional Canadian hunting chalets.

In addition to the cabin proper, the Loyal Luxe Cat Chalet comes with three cardboard playing balls, a textured cardboard carpet, and four interchangeable, decorative cardboard flourishes — a moose head, a fish, a bird, and a banner that can be personalized — to be placed above the entryway. These elements are made from leftover cardboard from the production of the cabin so not a single scrap goes to waste. Also included are nonslip rubber cushions to prevent the cabin from being subjected to unwanted moves around your home.

The exterior of the cabin is a blank canvas, unadorned to promote DIY customization particularly from the young, crayon-and-craft-supply-wielding set.

Say the Loyal Luxe ladies of their eco-friendly pet palace:

It is common sense that products intended for animals should not represent a danger to the planet the animals themselves live on. This leads us to conclude that minimizing the environmental impact associated with objects intended for our loyal friends become a priority in the development of every of our products.

This is why products from Loyal Luxe are proudly developed with sustainable design principles in mind. They are simple but efficient: minimize the impacts while shipping the products, use as few resources as possible, facilitate the recycling at the end of their useful life, favor local production ...

What’s more, this hairball habitat isn’t just for cats. Small dogs, rabbits, and other critters under thirty pounds can take full advantage of a perfectly charming, thoughtfully designed Quebecois cardboard abode.