A Letter From a Reader
The Drawer, The Research, And What I Finally Bought
I sat down on the floor of my own living room to find a battery charger, and somehow didn't get up again for an hour. I wrote about it a few weeks ago, actually, the whole drawer of cat things I'd never once been proud to display. A few people asked what I ended up doing about it. So, properly, here's the answer.
When did I start apologising for how much I love this cat?
That's the thought that started all of this. Not dramatic. Just true, and apparently something I'd been carrying around for longer than I'd noticed.
How It Happens
The drawer had a mug, some novelty socks, a little ceramic figure I'd never known what to do with. None of it unkind. All of it made to be a joke, or a gift-shop impulse buy, something to laugh at politely and put away. Not one piece looked like it belonged to a grown woman who's been exactly this way her whole life.
I went looking into where “cat lady” actually comes from, after that. Turns out it's not a modern joke at all. It goes back to Georgian England, the 1700s, and even then it was always specifically about someone my age. Two hundred years of that particular joke, aimed at women exactly like me.
What I Had Wrong
Here's where I'd gotten it wrong, in two ways.
The first was assuming “cat decor” only came in one style: cute, a bit childish, made for a gift table rather than an actual living room. I hadn't really looked properly.
The second was thinking the fondness itself was slightly silly. Then I read about a study following older adults who'd lost a partner. The ones without a pet showed depression symptoms more than double the ones who had one. Not a slight difference. More than double. I sat with that number longer than I expected to.
Mine Is Garden Cats
Found it from a small Australian shop, Olivia Bennett Melbourne, which is actually closing after thirteen years. Mine has cats settled among flowers, properly illustrated, not a flat cartoon print. It's quilted edge to edge too, which I only trusted once I'd actually pressed my hand into it and felt it give the way good quilting should, not the thin stuff that looks fine in a photo and sags within a month.
What Happened After
I sent my sister a photo, not even trying to sell her on anything, just pleased with myself. She asked where it was from before I'd said a word about it. That's really the only kind of recommendation worth trusting, the kind nobody had to ask for.
Three weeks in, mine's holding up properly. I wasn't taking that on faith after the drawer.
Three Things I Learned
- There isn't just one style of this. Seven designs, so it's possible to actually choose the one that looks like your own taste, not just the only cat thing available.
- It arrives a little flat, that's normal for soft quilted fabric. Shape it by hand, give it a job to do, and it holds properly from then on.
- It's printed, not embroidered, which I'll admit I assumed wrong at first. That's exactly why it wipes clean and the colour hasn't moved.
About The Price
I'll be honest, the price gave me pause too, briefly.
Garden Cats starts from $64.95 AUD. It was $219.95.
Then I thought about the drawer. About how much I'd spent, over the years, on things I was faintly embarrassed to have out. This isn't that.
It's from Olivia Bennett Melbourne, and the shop's genuinely closing, the workshop's finishing the last of the materials it has left before it stops for good. Once this run's done, there isn't another one behind it.
What I Would Tell You If We Were Friends
If you and I were sitting at my kitchen table and you asked me about this, here's what I'd actually say.
Have a proper look through whatever's currently representing your own cat-person identity in your house. If most of it makes you laugh a little apologetically, rather than feel genuinely proud, that's worth noticing.
It's a basket. It's not going to change your life. But being the sort of thing you'd actually choose, rather than something you laugh off, matters more than it sounds like it should.
I stopped apologising a while back, if I'm honest. This was just the first thing that finally agreed with me about it.
— Sharon
The Closing Collection
Garden Cats | Quilted Storage Basket
$219.95 AUD from $64.95 AUD
- Soft quilted fabric with a finely illustrated cats-and-flowers design, all round
- Printed design — wipes clean, colour doesn't fade
- Holds its shape properly once filled
- Folds flat to store or take with you
- Three sizes, black or white interior
- Free Australia Delivery
Final closing collection · Available only while remaining materials last