Cats on homemade cat tree we made

The carpeting was the most difficult part of this project - mainly the corners, but the girls seem to love it.

Holy $#@% I'm impressed

Wow! I'm impressed too! Is that pole naked wood or do you have rope running around it??

Great job.....you saved yourself alot of money on that one. I see ya got it by the window...thats where I got mine and the cats are on it all day. How much money have you got in materials if you don't mind me asking?

Sandi - what a beautiful job!!!!! I'm so glad they love it - how could they not, LOL! It's fabulous!!!!!!

Very very nice! Lucky cats!

Love that! You did a great job! We made one too a couple of weekends ago and its so wonderful to have something they love to sleep in and lay on, the little ones zip up and down it too.

Now Charm has figured out how to climb up on the very top of the house part. She looks like a true tiny queen up there surveying her domain/kingdom.

As far as the materials - we paid absolutely nothing. My hubby is a superintendent and master carpenter, so over the years he's been saving stuff and it really came in handy. He got the carpeting from a guy at work who just built a new home and gave us the leftover carpeting. We're planning on making another one (different style).

We did purchase the sisal rope which is on the top pole. The bottom pole is carpeted (as we ran out of sisal rope) and I couldn't wait to get it in the house for them to start using.

Anything for our fur/purr/babies.

I can't tell you all how VERY happy I am that Lucky and Charm seem to really like each other. Charm seems to be learning certain things from Lucky and just last night I told Lucky how she's such a good (mom/sister/aunt) to Charm. Kitty, on the other hand, doesn't want ANYTHING to do with Charm; and Lucky gives Kitty a pretty wide berth as well. Can't have everything...

Sandi that is one awesome tree!!! And I'm so happy Lucky and Charm get along so well.

Sandi you have some very lucky kitties! , One lovely tree!

that scratching post looks wicked! i bet your kitties really enjoy it!

I am in the middle of making my own tree. The ones you buy are soooo expensive. I have one question. How to put the carpet on and turn it under. My piece, and all I have been able to find, is so stiff. I ended up just glueing it on the board and not turning it under. Did you have any plans? I covered the upper board with a piece of material and stuffed it. It may not look too pretty but it will be serviceable. Yours looks fabulous. What did you use for the round part? Did you put shelves in the bottom one?

Owned by Teako, Bindi, Chewbacca, Rosie (Mittens?)Still trying to decide on Mittens or Misty.

sandi.. that is an awesome tree! I've been thinking about building one but I'm not very carpentrically inclined.. At least I don't think I am.. But u obviously r

Nope, not me, but Kevin is. It was a bit difficult at first, having to follow directions from him, it's a good thing we get along so well. I think he thought he was supervising his guys at work (ha,ha!).

As far as the tubes - I believe they were from large rolls of carpeting, but I'll double check with hubby.

The carpeting - ugh!!! We had the same problem with it being so thick. Actually, what I tried to do for the corners was separate some of the padded part so it was a bit thinner - it was still very difficult to fold under. The first time we attempted it - we used a staple gun, but I didn't feel comfortable that would hold. Then, Kevin thought about screwing it in. That's what we ended up doing. However, be sure the screws aren't too long that they go through the other side of the plywood and carpet. We didn't have any real plans for the tree - just went to the local pet store and checked out different styles. I did a rough sketch and we guesstimated on sizes and did a few modifications.

We did put a shelf-type (carpeted also) piece of plywood in each of the openings on the bottom roll.

I wish I could be of more help. If my girls didn't love this thing so much - believe me, I wouldn't be planning on making another one anytime soon. I'm hoping the next one will be a bit easier - I'll keep you all posted.

You can also get the tubes at a building supply store, like Lowes, they are hard cardboard cylinders that they pour concrete into for construction projects. You can find them on the aisle where the concrete mix is.

Thanks Sandi. I do know there is a site that sells the plans but I am cheap...lol...thought I could do it on my own.


Thanks for the tip about Lowes

Hermoine