we have two litter boxes, one in the basement and one on the third floor landing. both involve a standard litter box placed inside a bigger cardboard box with a wide opening cut down the side for the cat to go in and out and for us to scoop in.

the benefit is that the litter really stays inside the cardboard box and we can rotate the opening around so we dont need to see in to the litter box unless we're scooping.

your best bet is having the litter box in a really marginal area (cats don't know good real estate from bad). i wouldnt have a litter box in living space unless no other space existed.

We use a litter box table in the living room. Works really well. No issues with smells, cleaning, etc.

I like the idea of the table! What kind of little do you use to help cut down on smell?

I use OkoCat's clumping pellets. I adjusted my cat to it by mixing pellets with the finer stuff (which tracks badly, so I wouldn't use it permanently). I rarely change the litter, only scoop it daily, and it stays fresh without smelling.

It seems expensive, but in reality it lasts forever.