Everyone always likes this idea when they see it, and I haven’t seen anything like it yet on Ikea Hacker. It cost maybe $45? The shelf was in the as-is section in Ikea for $20-25 because it has plastic stuck between the shelves that got caught when they nailed them together. I yanked/cut most of it away. The sisal rope I think was $10 from the hardware store, and no glue or staples needed to attach it. $10 Petco donut bed sits on the top shelf. Sweater and two random carpet samples on the other shelves were free. Not the loveliest, but easy, fast, and not really any uglier than those carpet trees that run $100-$200.
Although you could do this with a standard shelf, the corner one makes it super easy to stagger the shelves so the cats have easy steps (especially nice for my older cats).
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- The cat tower. This is before rewrapping the closer upright since the rope was split in one place. I reversed the direction it was wrapped so the worn parts (they look extra fuzzy) are at the bottom instead of the top and tied the two pieces back together in a square knot. Forgot to take photos while doing that.
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- Where the sisal rope is knotted at the base of one of the uprights.
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- The other side of the upright – the knot is mostly hidden under the bottom shelf.
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- Redoing the top of the other upright because I didn’t like how it looked and for more process photos.
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- No real plan, just wrap through holes in the upright and under/around the other strands of rope until it’s all nice and secure.
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- After I finished retying it.
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- The holes are great for threading string, or in this case a cat dancer through. Shelves have carpet samples and old sweaters in addition to one actual cat bed on them.
The cat tree/tower in use:
