How to Make Your Own Cat Furniture

Cats are wonderful companions until they start to scratch your furniture. One solution is to give them their own furniture--cats love to perch up above ground level. Buying furniture for them from a pet store can be quite costly but fortunately you can build your own cat furniture from items that you may already have laying around your home, in your shed, or garage. It takes a bit of time and effort but it beats spending hundreds on pre-made furniture.

Things You'll Need

• Hammer Nails (2 inches at least) 1 - 4 ft x 4 ft piece of plywood 1 - 3 ft x 3 ft piece of plywood 2 - 3 ft x 2 ft piece of plywood 1 - 4 ft tall wood post or 2 x 4 8 - 2 ft tall wood post or 2 x 4 60 Square feet of carpet (any kind or texture) Yarn Cat toys Craftsman glue

Instructions

1. Lay out your pieces of wood in order to determine the shape of your cat furniture.

2. Place the 4 foot by 4 foot piece of wood on a hard, flat surface. This will be the base platform of your cat furniture. Nail the 4 foot tall wooden post to the middle of this piece. This middle post will be the central column. Your base and post should form an upside-down "T" shape.

3. Assemble a 3 foot by 3 foot piece of wood as a platform on top of the "T" shape by nailing it to the top of the post. To prevent tipping, this piece should never be wider than the base.

4. Create small "tables" by nailing the 2 foot wooden posts to corners of the 2 by 3 foot pieces of wood. You should have two tables when you are finished. Use hammer and nails to secure these "tables" to the base of your cat furniture, beside the central post. The cats may crawl in and out of these structures and climb on them to reach the top of the platform.

5. Attach carpet to all of the platforms using glue. Attach carpet to the central posts as well. You may use different colors for the platforms and the posts if you'd like.

6. Glue yarn to the undersides of the platforms and use the yarn to hang cat toys.

7. Introduce your cats to their new furniture and watch them play.

Tips & Warnings

• If desired, place more central columns on top of the tables and place smaller platforms on top of them to create more climbing space for your cat. You could rub catnip on the carpeting to make it more attractive to your cat.

• Make sure that all nails are covered and that there are no pieces sticking out that could injure your cat. Check materials that you are using in order to be sure that they are safe for your cats.