Zach and the Newly Transformed Guest Bedroom

As I type up this little blog thot, Zach the Cat sleeps soundly on the guest bed behind me on this Memorial Day holiday. It’s nice to have his presence in the house as I piddle on projects or as I jump on the computer and set my writing muse free.

One of my projects on this 3-day weekend has been accomplished—rearranging my guest bedroom that also doubles as a corner home office. I have longed for better “office” space and better aesthetics in general in my guest bedroom.

And so I dismantled the room.

Out went one of the two twin beds. In came a fake tree-type plant. Out went a night stand. In came a five-foot long bench. Out went one of my two book cases. In came an oval braided rug. What was against the wall is now open and turned towards a window. What was up against the window is now pointed towards the door.

The room is wonderfully more open, airy, light, and free of furniture crammed in all corners, against walls, and in front of the window. I love it.

Zach the Cat hated it.

When he first gingerly peeped into the new-and-improved guestroom, he stopped at the door and bellowed. Nothing looked familiar to him. His favorite window perch—which was the foot of one of the twin beds at the front window—was gone. His other window perch atop the two-drawer file cabinet was gone. The twenty-plus-year-old blue two-seater sofa/pull-out-bed which served as an alternate sleeping area for Zach was now on the opposite side of the room (which means the WRONG side to Zach).

For the last 48 hours Zach has refused to sleep on the one twin bed left standing. I would put him up there, push his hinny down, and say, “See, it’s a great place to sleep. You can even see out the window from this angle.” But as soon as I tip-toed away, down and out he’d go.

I brought in a five-foot long “church bench” in front of the window. I even put two blankets on it for a soft perch. In my mind, it's just perfect to sit there and watch the world walk and drive by.

Zach has hesitantly jumped up there and ponderously looked out the window for a few minutes, but I can tell he’s not excited about it like he was  about the end of the twin bed or the top of the filing cabinet.

“This looks really pretty,” I explained to Zach as I pointed to the church bench. He turned and eye-ed it for a moment and then turned back to slowly, disgustingly walk away.

The breakthrough happened today. As I was in and out of the house working on three other projects (which are impossible to complete in the remaining hours left of this holiday), I noticed Zach was nowhere to be found.

Not on the sofa in the living room (a familiar sleep spot).

Not on my bed or in my rocker in my bedroom (other familiar resting places).

Then I spotted him. He was in the guest room on the solo twin bed curled up on my newly cleaned comforter. I went over to him and whispered in his ear how happy it made me to see him ease up on the guest-room criticisms, judgments, and general unhappiness. Then I lightly kissed the top of his head.

He purred as he kept his eyes shut.

With my cat asleep on the twin bed, the newly transformed guest room is now prettier than ever.