NEED TO KNOW

• Meredith the ragdoll cat has her own studio apartment inside her owner’s Alabama home

• The feline’s pet parent has spent years sourcing and making furniture for the apartment

• Animal lovers can follow the routine updates made to the apartment on Meredith’s social media accounts

Meredith the ragdoll cat wants to give you a house tour.

The 6-year-old feline is the proud owner of her own studio apartment located inside her owner’s house in Alabama. Emily, Meredith’s devoted pet parent, first created the chic kitty paradise for her pet after noticing Meredith seeking out the solitude of an extra bedroom when she wanted to relax.

Meredith, nicknamed Mae Mae, shares her home with two humans and three dogs: a golden retriever and two Chihuahuas. And while the ragdoll loves her canine siblings, especially Kelso, the golden retriever, she sometimes likes to take a break from the dog energy to relax solo.

“Mae Mae prefers a little more personal space. Mae Mae is tolerant, but selective. She definitely has her preferences,” Emily tells PEOPLE about how her cat likes to socialize. “Mae Mae is very shy around most people, but with me, she is the complete opposite. She is incredibly talkative and playful.”

In July 2023, Emily was in a car accident that left her “unable to walk, drive, or do most things I was used to doing for several months” because of her injuries. As someone who does “not do well sitting still,” Emily says she started seeking out fun projects to keep her occupied during her recovery.

“During that time, I kept thinking about how much Meredith loved her little pet room, and how I could turn it into something special for her, a true space of her own,” Emily says of how she got the idea to transform Meredith’s hideout into the ultimate quiet retreat.

Emily set to work creating a miniature apartment for the feline, sourcing furniture from home goods stores and baby supply shops, and then DIYing anything she couldn’t find.

“Creating that space became an outlet for me. It gave me something positive to pour my energy into,” Emily recalls, pointing out that the project led to some interesting puzzles.

“I spent hours figuring out how to build a tiny fireplace. Then I thought, if she has a fireplace, she needs somewhere to sit and enjoy it, which led me to her couch. I quickly learned that realistic-looking pet furniture was going to be hard to find or extremely expensive, so I started looking at toddler furniture instead. The white couch and matching ottoman she has now is actually a toddler set from Amazon,” the pet parent shares.

Soon, Meredith had a fully outfitted studio apartment, made exactly to her specifications.

“Meredith is absolutely the project manager. If I am creating or decorating, she is going to be right there supervising. She has to inspect everything,” Emily notes.

So when Meredith and her family moved in September, Emily knew she had to make a fresh apartment for Meredith in the new house, and admits the cat’s room was one of “the first ones finished. The rest of the house is still coming together, but making sure she felt settled was very important to me.”

Emily offers regular peeks inside Meredith’s private studio on the cat’s Instagram (@meredith.ragdoll.cat), where commenters “are either completely all in” or “very skeptical.” The pet parents say the skeptical crowd often questions how much Emily is spending on the passion project for her pussycat.

“I think some people assume I am spending far more than I actually am on Mae Mae’s ‘apartment.’ I am a public school teacher in Alabama. This is not an unlimited-budget project. I love to DIY, thrift, and find creative ways to repurpose things,” Emily explains.

Some of Emily’s creative and low-cost furniture solutions include turning an old cake stand into the cat’s coffee table and hand-sewing the pet a sectional out of cardboard and foam.

“Early on, some people assumed Mae Mae was locked in her room, which could not be further from the truth. It is simply her space to retreat when she wants it. Mae Mae comes and goes as she pleases. I also spend a lot of time in there with her,” Emily says of other misconceptions followers had about the space.

Now that Meredith is fully settled into her new apartment, Emily is focusing on small, creative changes to the cat’s space, such as adding Meredith’s “degrees” to her wall — she proudly has her Master of Science in Microbiology from Purrinceton University and her Doctor of Philosophy in Parasitology from Purrrdue — and changing out the decorations on the pet’s year-round Christmas tree.

“People often ask why Mae Mae’s tree is still up long after December, and the honest answer is that she loves it. The first year I put a tree in her room, she absolutely adored it. I did not have the heart to take it down, so now I simply redecorate it for different seasons and holidays,” Emily says.

Meredith’s other favorite room accessories include her piano, which she plays for fun, attention, and treats, and her fireplace, where she often curls up for a snooze.

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“I really pay attention to how she interacts with the space. If she gravitates toward something, it stays. If she ignores it completely, I rethink it,” Emily notes about how she keeps the apartment updated to Meredith’s liking.

Emily plans to continue adding to Meredith’s apartment and recently put in a tiny garbage and recycling bin.

“I absolutely love creating content and will continue to do so, but my brain is always spinning with new ideas,” Emily says, noting that she and Meredith are working on a Microbiology with Mae Mae YouTube series where the pet will help break down complex science concepts “into something creative, engaging, and easier to understand.”

Perhaps, this means a lab will be added to Meredith’s studio soon. To learn more about Meredith and what she has in her apartment, visit the cat on Instagram and TikTok.

Read the original article on People