How to Assemble a Cat Condo

Providing furniture specially made for cats can be a big help to a home owner. It can help keep cats away from your nice furniture. Making your own kitty condo will give you a chance to make something that matches your decor as well as keeping your cat happy. Make an inexpensive kitty condo using old electrical wire spools that will make you and your cat happy.

Things You'll Need

  • Plastic sheet
  • Empty wooden electrical wire spool, 30 inches in diameter by 20 inches high
  • Carpet remnant, berber weave, 18 inches by 54 inches
  • Utility knife
  • Staples
  • Staple gun
  • Industrial strength glue
  • Paintbrush
  • Empty wooden electrical wire spool, 18 inches in diameter by 10 inches high
  • 50- by 12-inch curtain valance
  • Dead branch without bark, approximately 66 inches long by 3 inches in diameter
  • Tree trimming saw
  • Duct tape
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Instructions

    • 1

      Place the plastic sheet on the floor. Place the 30-inch spool top down on the plastic. Trim the carpet remnant to fit around the inside reel of the spool so the ends of the carpet overlap one inch, using the utility knife.

    • 2

      Staple the carpet to the wood of the inside reel. Place the staples at one-inch intervals along the overlapping edges, using the staple gun. The carpet acts as a scratching pad for the cat.

    • 3

      Apply a layer of glue to the top of the 30-inch spool, using the paintbrush. Glue the 18-inch spool to the 30-inch spool by placing the 18-inch spool on top of the 30-inch spool so the center holes align.

    • 4

      Staple the valance, placing a staple every two inches along the long edge of the valance, so the top edge of the valance is flush with the top rim of the 22-inch spool, to create a curtain wall for the cat to hide behind. Leave a seven-inch opening between the ends of the valance to act as a door where the cat can enter the hiding space.

    • 5

      Trim all protruding branches below 30 inches flush with the trunk of the branch. Insert the base of the branch into the hole at the top of the 22-inch spool. Push the trunk all the way through to the base of the lower spool until it touches the floor on the bottom so the branch won't tip.

    • 6

      Wrap duct tape around and around the branch until it is thick enough to create a plug that will hold the branch securely in place at the spot where the branch exits the center hole at the top of the 22-inch spool. The duct tape plug should fit tightly in the hole.

    • 7

      Trim the top branches of the dead branch so all branches are least one inch in diameter and are no longer than eight inches long. Trim branches smaller than one inch flush with the trunk of the branch.