Moderncat reader Ashii from Minnesota was looking for a very specific piece of cat furniture to accommodate the needs of her family. Ashii and her partner Ippocratis recently adopted a Siamese kitten named Sasha to keep their little dog Remy company. The two get along beautifully, however, they needed separate places for mealtime, because there was too much sharing going on.
Ashii wanted just the right piece of cat furniture, and it had to have modern style to fit with their decor. Here are her design criteria:
- A stand which was high enough to place food out of reach from our extremely cat-like, tenacious, food monger dog.
- ‘Cats only’ area where Sasha can get an aerial view, soak up some sun, or take a cat nap without interruption.
- Modern design, so our apartment wouldn’t look like you took a wrong turn into animal alley.
After lots of searching, Ashii couldn’t find exactly what she was looking for so she took matters into her own hands. She designed this very unique and modern cat stand and found a local craftsman to build it for her. The stand is made of poplar wood stained espresso with brushed stainless steel bars. The pad on top is covered with sisal weave fabric and is attached with 3M Command Strips so it can be easily changed with the seasons or when it becomes worn.
The stand measures just over 4 feet tall, 13 inches deep, and 2 feet long. The total cost was $300, not bad for a custom design. It meets the family’s needs perfectly and Sasha (who might be the cutest thing ever!) absolutely loves it.
Thank you so much to Ashii for sharing this wonderful project!
April 6th, 2012 at 7:59 am
Cute! How does the cat get onto the top shelf though?
April 6th, 2012 at 8:09 am
Sasha jumps!
Sometimes when she is lazy, she will meow to go up, but the bigger she gets, the easier it will be for her to make the leap. She is only 12 weeks currently.
April 6th, 2012 at 9:44 am
That would be a nice place to display my cats.
April 6th, 2012 at 9:48 am
Wow, Rachel comment #1 …I came to the website to ask the same question!
April 6th, 2012 at 10:20 am
Love this. Would love some DIY directions as well!
April 6th, 2012 at 10:21 am
Plus – who was the designer – other Minnesotans want to know!
April 6th, 2012 at 10:35 am
Great design but I think the lack of ease to get to the top would exclude a lot of cats. I think I’m going to have to go the custom design as well as I’ve yet to find a cat tree that is ‘just right’.
April 6th, 2012 at 11:10 am
Just put a curout on one part of the shelf, alternate the sides and the cat would have a much easier time getting up… Or put a sisal strip running up the wall behind (if your cat has claws).
Great design!
April 6th, 2012 at 11:14 am
Sasha IS adorable, and her custom-made perch is gorgeous!
April 6th, 2012 at 11:55 am
I love it! My kitties NEED this !
April 6th, 2012 at 3:54 pm
That’s great! I’m inspired to make something similar, but probably from Ikea furniture parts.
April 6th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
I think it’s definitely eye-catching and inspiring.
April 6th, 2012 at 5:52 pm
This is an AWESOME cat stand!
April 7th, 2012 at 12:51 pm
This is absolutely ingenious! I have a siamese kitty named Sasha too. She also looks like she dipped her face in a bowl of chocolate.
April 7th, 2012 at 1:39 pm
1. A stand which was high enough to place food out of reach from our extremely cat-like, tenacious, food monger dog.
2. ‘Cats only’ area where Sasha can get an aerial view, soak up some sun, or take a cat nap without interruption.
3. Modern design, so our apartment wouldn’t look like you took a wrong turn into animal alley.
I’m still laughing about #3.
April 9th, 2012 at 12:41 am
The blog deserves well his name “Modern Cat”
April 9th, 2012 at 6:22 pm
Cool!
April 29th, 2012 at 12:56 am
I really like this. It is so very nice.
May 8th, 2012 at 9:02 pm
I admire your design and woulld love to find out how to make one for myself? Any specifics and details are very much appreciated!
August 26th, 2012 at 12:22 pm
This is great! I figure I can build other shelves leading up to this one to make access to top more of ease for cats. like floating stairway…