How to Build Cat Shelves That Your Cat Will Love

If you have a cat your goal in life is to probably wow them.   If it isnt, then you should get on it right away.  There’s a cat waiting!

Ways to wow them? You can try:
Singing and dancing to them, or even better with them. Most likely they won’t be wow’d at all and will ask you to put them down.

Buying them a new toy.  They might get wow’d, but most likely they are going to like the box it came in better.

Buying them a new bowl.  They don’t care, it only matters what goes in it.

Dressing up like a cat. Ok, I did this over the weekend and the cats were just weirded out by it.

What I found is that the best way to wow them is to make them feel special.  Rub their bellies when they provide it, rub under their chin for a few seconds longer than expected, or next time you’re reading snuggle up with your cat and let them sprawl out as big as they want.

What else do they love? Entertainment that doesn’t involve a human.  Sure, they love when you play “chase the fly”(best toy ever) with them but you aren’t always home.

They love to sleep while you’re going (so they can store up all their energy for when you’re trying to sleep)  but they also love to play by themselves.

DIY cat tree alternative

Instead of a cat tree, we decided that we were going to build cat shelves on our wall.  This would be a spot for the cats to climb, sleep and let the cats show each other who’s boss (answer always: Xanadu).

The outcome is a series of brightly colored shelves for our kitties to climb up.  Goblin loves relaxing on the shelves.  He’s a little guy so he doesn’t go very high.

What you need is:
Shelves: We got 18 inch and 24 inch shelves at Home Depot.  We got 2 different sizes to make it more interesting.   These shelves are great because they come with their own mounting hardware.

Wall Anchors: The shelves come with wall anchors but they only hold 8 pounds.  These wall anchors we got hold 50 pounds.  That means the cats are safe.  Heck, it means my dream can come true and all the cats can sleep together on a shelf! Oh, one day..!

Tools: Screwdriver and level

Carpet to cover Shelves:  This is important so the cat has traction to climb.  This also gives you a opportunity to add color to your home and make these cat shelves fit into your decor (unlike most cat furniture).

I found carpet squares at CB2 for $4 a piece.  They come in playful colors which was exactly what we were looking for.  We have 8 shelves but only needed 4 squares as we would be cutting them in half.

Now, time to get building.  Now grab your assistants.  Just kidding.  They will voluntarily help.
“Dad, is it level? I think a little on the right needs to come down”.

“That’s more like it.”

“What is going on?”

“We’re getting paid overtime, right?   We’re getting paid in Fancy Feast Broths, right?”

When the shelves are up, the cats will act like they did all the work.  Just suck it up and tell them they did a good job.

Now stand back and let cats do what they do; ignore everything.
“I’m going to sit on the ladder instead of the shelves because Mom and Dad are staring at me too hard.”

And then when you least expect it… cats will start to climb!

Watch out little buddy, that’s a little too high for you.

“Ok, mom, I’ll stay on the lower shelf.”

Hope your cat loves their shelves!

If you make these cat shelves, please leave a comment or share it on Instagram with tag #brooklynfarmgirl – I’m always looking for photos to feature and share!

Looking for more cat posts?  Here’s my top 4 ways on how to give a cat pill without bleeding!