Homemade kitty shelf!

So me, being the intrepid person that I am, decided that Imogen needed a new scratching/playing/napping place. As I didn't want to spend a bookoodle of money, and since power tools are awesome sauce, I decided to build my own! (With much help from the boyfriend, of course.)

A little bit of plywood, a 2x2 inch wooden dowel, some screws and nails and a $5 carpet remnant later...







I think she likes it

(No, it doesn't have a base yet. Right now it just rests on the corner of the couch; it's pretty sturdy that way, but I have materials for a base ready and waiting to go if it needs it. If not...I think those spare materials just might make another shelf somewhere...)

She's so cute and she looks like she loves it!!! Nice!

Well done, and that is definitely a look of satisfaction on her cute little face.

Aww, what an adorable face!!

Great job on the kitty shelf!

Aww, thanks guys! It's hard not to love a face like that, isn't it?

Wow good work ! Yes your cat sure does seem to like it. Plus that face is so cute. I would like you to make my cat tree's .

It looks like an absolute hit!

that's awesome! If my dad didn't have arthritis, I am sure he'd love to make something like that for my kitties!

Great little play area! Kitty is super cute and lovin it well done!

What a lovely, homemade kitty shelf you've got there! If only I could be that handy!

May I ask how much it cost to make that shelf? I know that you offered up your list of supplies and that you were able to purchase a $5.00 carpet remnant, but I am curious as to how much the plywood, sisal (is that sisal on the legs?), and other items cost. If it's not wildly expensive, I would love to see if I could find someone willing to construct something similar for me. I know my kitties would love a mini shelf here and there throughout the house -- we have a tall cat tree, but I'd love something smaller for them in the main portion of the house as well.

Your shelf is kitty-approved by Imogen. And, it looks great! Congratulations on making such an awesome space for your cat. I can only hope to be as creative (and successful) as you!

No problem, Alison Joy! Let me see if I can remember...

I got a 2' x 4' piece of basic pine plywood at Lowe's for about $9 -- I cut that into a 20" by 20" section, then halved it diagonally to make the two shelves. (You could make it bigger or smaller, of course, but I was limited by my window frame, which was just over 20" away from that corner, lol.)

The sisal rope, which came in a 100' roll, was about $10 at Ace Hardware, and was plenty long enough to cover all three posts...I still have some left over, in fact.

The dowel/post thingie was an 8' long 2" x 2" dimensional lumber piece at Lowe's that only cost $3. I cut each piece into about 14 1/2" sections. But again, the height is up to you

A package or two of screws ran about $2 apiece -- I forget what size I used...I think it may have been 1 1/2 or 1/34" length and size 6 or 8 gauge...

And again, the carpet remnant was just $5. It actually came in a roll of 2" by 12", so I have pleeeenty left over. Thinking about throwing some down as a throw rug somewhere...

In fact, with the exception of the sisal, I have enough materials left over to duplicate this shelf again and make a whole new one! So, all told...just around or just over $30 spent on the project.

Oh, and other essential items that you should have on hand (not worth going out to buy just for a project like this!) would be a circular saw, a good utility knife (or two, as that carpet resents being cut!), a drill with a very small bit, a good power driver, and a staple gun that actually works, lol! (The staples didn't last long in that top back corner -- see first picture; I had to take the shelf down and tack down the carpet again with a plethora of tiny nails that I had on hand for hanging lightweight picture frames. Poor Imogen didn't know what to think of that )

Also, the one difficult part of this was figuring out how to get the carpet edges folded over and attached on the sides of the very thin plywood (i.e., how to make it look seamless). I thought at first I would try sewing the two overlapping edges together, but I couldn't find a thread strong enough, so I ended up folding it very carefully and hammering a ton of those tiny nails very close together to hold it in place. If you take the shelf away from the wall you can see it looks a bit rough in places, but hey, Imogen doesn't mind!

What a pretty girl and a great shelf for her!

Good job!