Materials: Stolmen
Description: Inspired by earlier hacks (such as this) we decided to hack IKEA for our cat, Billy.
We live in a rather small apartment and wanted him to use the height of the apartment as well, so that his living space is optimize (especially since cats love high viewing points). We bought the Stolmen Post and Mounting Fixtures at IKEA, went to a DIY shop and bought: plywood, paint, glue, doormats and rope. Additionally we uses extra bolts and such, I think the photos say enough.
1. Design a shape and size for the boards/shelves.
2. Saw the plywood accordingly.
3. Drill or saw a hole in the shelves (the pole must fit through it later on).
4. Sand the plywood shelves.
5. Paint them.
6. Design and cut the doormats (or some other material).
7. Glue them onto the shelves. It's softer for the cat plus it prevents them from slipping off the boards.
8. Mount the shelves onto the pole (which you already installed). A bit hard for me to explain, just take a good look at the photos I'd say?
9. Wrap rope around the pole (we used 8 mm on the lowest part (took 10 meters) and both upper parts are 8 mm (took 2x 20 m!).
Billy absolutely loves his tower. he reaches the top in no time (he jumps and climbs as well), loves scratching the rope and when he's not sleeping on our laps on the coach, he's asleep on the top shelf.
See more of the Stolmen cat tower.
~ Kelly, The Netherlands
