10 DIY Cat Tree Plans to Make a Cat Tree (Free)

Cats are adorable and pleasing. But one of the downsides of living with them is, they might convert your lovely furniture into a pile of torn fabric. It’s not that the cats want to destroy your valuable possessions, but they just can’t stop themselves from scratching.

Therefore, to protect your furniture from getting scratched and to keep her entertained, give your cat her own DIY cat tree. Most cat trees are pretty ordinary. They all have similar structures and do not look beautiful enough to match your house interior. Hence, allow your creative mind to act and design your own cat tree with 10 different plans.

10 Plans to Create a DIY Cat Tree

Some amazing pet lovers design extraordinary pet houses and cat trees for their lovely pets. If you are one of those who are willing to create a unique cat tree for a beloved cat, then we have a few amazing plans to help you make one.

You can also check out these best cat trees available in the market.

Plan 1: Create a Cat Tree From Natural Branches

Using real branches and a tree trunk to prepare a cat tree is one of the best ideas. This piece of art would be amazingly beautiful to enhance your interiors along with giving your cat a splendid tree to play on.

To prepare such a cat tree you will require

• a real tree with branches that fits in your space
• a small saw
• drill
• staple gun
• sandpaper
• wood adhesive
• faux fur
• plywood
• decorative stones and pebbles
• a sisal rope
• artificial plants.
• screws and nails

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Steps to Make a Cat Tree with Real Branches

To begin making the cat tree, you will first need to find a real tree. If you have one in your garden then use it. Else you will have to get some fallen branches from the woods. Once you have all the tools and decoratives available, follow the given steps to make the cat tree.

1. Make sure the tree and branches are completely dry. If they aren’t put them aside to dry for some days. Strip off the barks once the tree is dry and rub it with sandpaper to get a smooth surface.
2. Attach the bottom of the tree using screws and adhesive, to a base made of ply. Polish all of the wood with semi-gloss or clear gloss polish.
3. To make the scratch post, take one or two branches of wood and finish them by scraping and polishing. A 4 feet high scratch post would be ideal. Now wrap and stick using glue, the sisal rope onto the branches. Let it dry.
4. Attach the scratch posts to the base in a similar way as you attached the tree. Now make two or three platforms with the ply. Finish polishing and attach those on the top of branches at different heights.
5. You can cover the platforms with faux furs as your kitty will like the soft and cozy feel of the furs.
6. Add stones and pebbles to the base and decorate the branches with artificial plants. The tree is ready for your cat to use.

Plan 2: Make a Cat Tower

This one is probably my favorite, with a tripod-like design and a platform on the top. You can choose to place a house or a sphere on the top of the tower. Let’s see how to make one.

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Steps to make a Cat Tower

You will require 3 wooden planks or pillars, cardboard, ply, wood adhesive, drill, screws, nails, faux fur, and sisal rope to make the tower.

1. Take three wooden planks or pillars, all with a height of 5 feet.
2. Wrap all of the legs with sisal rope for scratching.
3. Attach all the pillars to a base, placed apart from each other with equal distance at the bottom. But keep them close at the top like a tripod. You may even skip adding a base, as the planks itself can balance the tower appropriately.
4. Make and attach a round platform on the top. Cover it with faux furs.
5. You can even choose to make a house out of a cardboard box. Make an entrance in front of the house. Cover the house with sisal rope. Then attach the house at the top with the help of adhesive.
6. Add a dangling soft toy for your cat to play with.

Plan 3: Create a Kitty Ladder

Cats like climbing over heightened arrangements. Hence, a cat ladder is no bad idea to give her the amusement she deserves. Moreover, this fun design can easily be made at home.

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Steps to Make a Kitty Ladder

For this easy project, you will require an old styled ladder. A small baby ladder will also do. Other essentials are sandpaper, wood polish, towel, wood adhesive, sisal rope, tapestry, scissors, staple gun, and a cat bed.

1. If yours is a wooden ladder, then scrub and polish it to get a smooth surface. However, a plastic ladder will be ready to use.
2. Cover the legs of the ladder with sisal rope. Wrapping till 3 feet would be enough. Stick the rope using adhesive and let it dry.
3. Make a hammock at the bottom of the ladder with a towel. Make sure the staples you use to attach the hammock do not extrude else your cat might get hurt. Tap the staples with a hammer if needed.
4. Use tapestry to cover the steps. Stick it nicely with the adhesive and allow it to dry.
5. Stick a cat bed over the platform on the top of the ladder. If the platform is too small, you can make a bigger one using a ply and attach it onto the top.
6. Make sure the ladder is sturdy and does not fall when your cat climbs.

Plan 4: Make Kitty Tree of PVC Pipes and Baskets

A homemade PVC tree will provide your kitty with enough of the entertainment. They can be built with almost no cost as compared to the readily available cat trees.

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Steps to Make a PVC Pipe Kitty Tree

All you will need to make this cute kitty tree is a 6 feet PVC pipe and 4 baskets. Make sure the baskets are big enough your cat can fit in. Other essentials are cat carpet, adhesive, drill, lamp brackets, screws, and nails.

1. First of all, cover the PVC pipe with sisal rope all over. Attach the pipe firmly on a wall of the room. You can choose to fix it in a corner as well.
2. Attach four sturdy baskets at different heights and on different sides on the pipe. Use brackets to fix them tightly so that they do not fall with the weight of your cat.
3. Cover the base of the baskets with cat carpet or faux fur. Make sure to cover the nails too, else it can hurt your kitty.
4. Fast and simple. Ready to use.

Plan 5: Arrange Stacks for Your Felines

This is one of the simplest of all the methods and does not require carpentry skills. Moreover, you might be having the essentials readily available at home.

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Steps to Arrange Stacks For Cats to Climb

You will first require 10 sturdy cardboard boxes to make the stacks. Keep handy a cutter, paint, brushes and adhesive.

1. Make holes in all of the cardboard boxes with the help of a cutter. The holes should be made on 4 sides of a box leaving the top and the bottom. Make sure they are big enough for your cat to enter.
2. You can choose to decorate these boxes using paint. Make sure the paint is safe to use and should not harm your kitty.
3. Choose a place in your house to arrange the stack. Place 4 boxes at the bottom.
4. Place 3 boxes above these. Stick all the 3 from the base to the other 3 at the bottom.
5. Similarly, attach 2 over them and then 1 at the top.
6. It’s not mandatory you make it the same way. Just stack the boxes one on the other in many different ways. The whole structure will form nice steps to climb on and beautifully decorated boxes with holes for your kitty to play in.

Plan 6: Create a Cat Climber

A cat climber will acquire only the corner of your room and will fulfill your cat’s desire to scratch and climb. Items you will need to make a climber will include PVC pipe/wooden plank, sisal rope, adhesive, nails, and screws.

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Steps to Create a Cat Climber

• Make a slope with the help of a wooden plank or just a straight climber with a pipe.
• Cover it with tapestry or sisal rope.
• Attach the slope or the pipe properly using nails and screws to the ceiling or the floor so it does not fall off.
• You may add a dangling soft toy to it.

Plan 7: Build a Cat Tree-House

Prepare a cat-tree in a similar way to the first plan using natural tree branches. Then make a house by using thick cardboard. Things you will need to make cat treehouse include

• sturdy cardboard boxes
• cutter or scissors
• cat carpet
• Refer to Plan 1 for all other essentials

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Steps to Make a Cat Tree-House

1. Once your natural tree is ready (refer to Plan 1), make a house using cardboard.
2. Make an entrance big enough for your cat to enter.
3. Place a cat carpet and stick it using adhesive on the base of the house.
4. Make a roof using another cardboard and paint the house as per your desired colors. A wooden color would suit the best.
5. Attach the house on one of the platforms on your tree. Preferably on height. And your cat treehouse is ready.

Plan 8: Make Cat Shelves

If you are finding that a cat tree is consuming a lot of space in your house then you can opt for this design. Make cat shelves that can be wall-mounted hence, leaving all of the ground space clear. You will need ply, polish, drill, nails, screws, and brackets.

Steps to Make Wall-Mounted Cat Shelves

• Use wooden ply to make 5 shelves. You can choose to give them all different shapes and sizes.
• Scrap them with sandpaper and polish them.
• Mount the shelves on a wall randomly at different height and distance for your cat to climb and play on.

Plan 9: Construct a Cat Castle

Building a cat castle is just like building a dollhouse. Use may use thick cardboard to make the castle. Other things you would require are scissors, cutter, tapes, paint, cardboard boxes, and wood adhesive.

Steps to Build a Cat Castle

1. Make different shapes like cylinders, cubes, and pillars of the castle using cardboard and boxes.
2. Cut holes like that of castle gates for your cat to enter.
3. Create bridges between shapes for the cat to walk on.
4. You can paint the castle to make it look more beautiful.
5. Arrange cat beds, cat carpets, add some danglings and place a couple of soft toys.

Plan 10: Make a Cat Playground

If you have an extra room that can be utilized to make the cat’s play area, then this one is for you. You can even convert your entire house into a cat playground.

Make a Cat Fort, Arrange Steps, Create Bridges, and Slides using cardboard and wood. Add dangling soft toys and towel hammock. Add cat beds, scratch posts, faux fur platforms, artificial grass, and faux plants. Combine all of the above methods to make an amusement area for your kitties.

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Cats Love Tall Structures

Build any of the above cat trees, your cat will be very grateful to you. Our feline furry mates just like to be on heights thus on tall structures. Scratching and climbing are their instincts, so don’t stop them doing so. Rather give them options to explore and enjoy their time at home.