How to Build a Cat Wall

Cats enjoy watching the world go by from the comfort of their favorite perch.

Cats are creatures of habit. They enjoy lying in the same sunbeams, eating out of the same dishes and sitting on the same windowsills. One of their favorite things to do is to lounge in a high-up location, for example, on top of the refrigerator or fireplace mantel. You can help your favorite felines indulge in this habit by creating a cat wall. While a cat wall sounds complicated, it is just a series of carpet-covered shelves anchored to a wall in a stair-step pattern, giving your cats another place to lounge while they view the world beneath. Although you can assemble the basic shelves yourself, help is needed to hang them.

Things You'll Need

• 2 boards, 2-by-4 inches by 6 feet
• Measuring tape
• Hand saw
• Carpet remnants
• Utility knife
• Polyurethane glue
• Bricks or other heavy objects to use as weights
• 12 sturdy mouting brackets (2 per shelf)
• Cordless drill
• 12 1/2-inch flathead screws
• Stud finder
• Level
• 12 1 1/2-inch flathead screws

Instructions

Making the Shelves

1. Lay 2-by-4's flat on a hard surface. Unspool a measuring tape and place it along the larger side of the first 2-by-4. Mark off 2-foot lengths with a pencil. Repeat with the second 2-by-4.

2. Cut each 2-by-4 into three equal pieces with the hand saw. These are your shelves.

3. Lay carpet remnants on the floor with their backing facing up. Place the shelves on top of them and trace their shapes onto the carpet. Move the shelves off to the side and slice the carpeting down to size with a utility knife.

4. Spread glue on the backing of a carpet section and press a shelf down onto it. Flip it over so the outer side of the carpeting faces up. Place a brick or heavy weight on top to help the glue adhere. Repeat with the remaining shelves. Allow the glue to set for 24 hours.

5. Measure 3 inches in from the edge on the bottom side of each shelf. Mark the spot with a pencil. Hold the bracket up to the bottom of the shelf in this location so that the bent right-angle of the bracket is flush with the back edge of the shelf. Screw in a 1/2-inch flat-head screw to mount the bracket onto the shelf. Repeat until each shelf has two brackets.

Hanging the Shelves

1. Run a stud finder along your future cat wall. Mark the locations of the studs with a small pencil mark.

2. Measure 2 feet up from the floor over the first wall stud on the right-hand side of the wall and make a small pencil mark. The first shelf goes here. Move up another 6 to 8 inches and over to the left 8 to 12 inches and mark where the second shelf goes. Repeat, constantly moving up and to the left until there are locations for each shelf.

3. Hold the first shelf up against the wall horizontally with the carpeted side facing up and so the back of the bracket against is against the wall. Have an assistant hold it in place.

4. Place the level on top of the shelf. Adjust the shelf as needed until it is level.

5. Mount the shelf on the wall with the 1 1/2-inch screws, using a cordless screwdriver. Repeat until each shelf is hung.

Tips & Warnings

• Rather than hanging all the shelves horizontally, position one or two at 30 or 45 degree angles to give the cats something to climb and hang from.

• Cats will chew on loose carpet fibers, so be sure to use an indoor/outdoor or other loop-free variety.

References

• Apartment Therapy; My Design's Dreamy: Cat Stairs 3; Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan; July 2006
• IKEA Hackers: Build Your Own Cat Furniture