How many of you love spoiling your cat? I will freely admit, I loved getting special things for my kitty when she was younger, especially when she loved to climb. One of her most favorite cat items in the world was a little scratching post that mounted to the window, allowing her to stretch her claws while she watched the world outside. Now that she is older, I am sad that I can’t buy many of the cute condos, cat shelves, and scratching posts on the market, knowing that my 14 year old cat likely wouldn’t enjoy them, since she doesn’t enjoy climbing as much as she did when she was younger. Honestly, I wish there were so many cute items available when she was younger since I would have loved to have built something cute for her.
While she may not be able to enjoy them often, it doesn’t mean we aren’t researching for future gifts for other cats in the family. Not only does my mom have two cats, but my mother in law has another six as well. Rather than go searching for expensive cat items, we decided to looking into making our own cat tree, condo, or scratching post for the cats. Luckily, some of my favorite bloggers had cute cat crafts and DIY projects that we thought you would love too. Make sure to tell us what you think of these 15 DIY Cat Trees, Condos, Shelves, and Scratching Posts below!
About Susan Bewley
Susan Bewley is a professional writer who has been writing content online & in print format for over 10 years. As well, she is an alumni of the University of Louisville with a Masters Degree in Special Education. When not working as an online business consultant or ghost writing, she can be found writing on Budget Earth, on her own novel, or working with various entities in the pet industry.
My kitty is going to adore this. He likes to scratch everything else, but it is hard to punish him, he is so cute.
Such cute ideas! Cats love things to climb on.
My parents built a big scratching play yard for their cats. It is huge.
the cat hous i isee are differnt and t hen my cat has broken foot right now she can not climb but i would llove to make some of t hem
these are good ideas. we just adopted two kittens last month and i’ve been using temp scratching boards until i decided upon something more permanent
I wish that I could make these myself. I should take over pare of our garage shop.
Oh, and I pinned!
I really believe cat stands are essentials for every cat. Mine loves his and knows it’s his furniture and off limits to us. He’s cutely possessive of it.
We bought a carpeted cat “condo” for our cat. It’s comfy, soft and a scratching post all wrapped up in one. YES! We spoil our furry friends!!
I recently adopted an active male cat with claws. My other cat was declawed – all 4 feet – before I got her. (Good news: vets in my area are refusing to declaw cats!) Now I need a scratching post. There are several above and I think I”ll try the one on the door. Now to find sisal!
I love all these ideas, I have one good one at home right now for my cats but I do hope to be able to make them something, I really do love that idea on the wall one, like floating shelves..
I love the idea of having vines growing on the cat tree.I am thinking it might be interesting to use an old dried out piece of tree I was going to turn into a scratching post and plant some vines at the bottom of it.I just have to find what vines will be safe for my cat and I will have a living work of art and a tiny bit of outdoors indoors for my little fur baby.
Okay, so do you want to know why I am looking at cat scratching posts and I don’t have a cat? Well, I will tell you. I do have a dog and he itches all the time. When we are on the couch, I am so short my feet dangle, so he comes over and wants me to scratch his back. My legs get tired of this. I would not mind having one for my baby “Benji”
I really love the carpet covered climbing shelfs. I rescue cats and have 10 at this time. Those would come in handy here. I have been looking for some trees for them but making them would be better Thank you
I love #12. Lots of other great ideas for DIY too though. I don’t have a cat though.
I made a scratching post for my cat with some lumber and carpet.
Very very cool ideas! I really like some of these and I think we could tackle one for the kitties. The vines really add a nice touch.
I love the sewing machine setup! My cats would enjoy the window posts too. Thanks for sharing!
These are such cost effective ways to be crafty and to save money.
I would like to try the scratching post for my little kitty. I thank you for hooking me up with the information.
Wow…many awesome options here! Great to save money by making your own! Thanks for the great ideas.
Those are so freaking cool!! i know I’ve been wanting a cat tree/post for awhile now, but I haven’t been able to afford it. Are these cheaper than store bought? If so I may attempt at making my own.
Oh, my! Reading this article makes me want to get myself a couple of kitties. Since I don’t have any, I will be passing this on to my cat-loving friends and there are many!
These are great!! I love the one that uses real branches!! Super cute!
I love these ideas! I once saw a cat tower someone made for their cats and it was 6 feet tall. It was awesome!
My cat would love any of the cat trees, condo shelves or scratching posts. They look like any cat would be so happy to have these products.
Very cool ideas! I really like some of these for my cats. I am going to show this to my husband. Thanks!
There ate some cute designs here. Too bad we no longer have a cat. Our daughter’s also died this year. Our other daughter has multiple cats, but only one is inside and the dogs would probably destroy most of these. If we ever do get another cat, we will definitely be making something like these for it.
These are great ideas! I will definitely be passing this on to my mom, who works at several cat rescues. So cute!!
I volunteer at a cat shelter; it would be fun to make one of these for the kitties there. Thanks for posting!
The cat tree using real branches is so unique. I bet my kitties would go crazy over it.
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These are awesome! I am going to ask my husband to make them for our cats.
These are awesome! My cat likes my bed though so not sure she would actually use one of these!
I love this idea for a cat to scratch on. I know my cat would love to have one of these. She’s good about not scratching things, but loves to mess up all my rugs!
These are some great ideas, we have one cat and she two scratching posts and one cat condo. Hates her condo and only likes one of her scratching posts. Maybe if we make her one of these out of rope. Thanks for the ideas.
These are great ideas! My cat uses my kids loft bed as her scratching post and it has really worked for us.
I love the cat climbing shelves. Floor space is at a minimum here but I have plenty of blank wall space and I think our cat would love the shelves.
The prices of cat trees are crazy so I have been looking into making some for my cat. I am loving how simple some of these ideas are thanks for sharing
What great ideas for all kinds of spaces. My cat is 8 and still enjoys playing and climbing so he would like the cat tree and cat condo.
I love these ideas. Our cats love their scratching posts. These are very creative!
Back when I had a cat, my husband made a cat tree. My cat went nuts. At night he’d climb up on it and leap off crashing into, and knocking things over.
I love diy projects for the family and we have 4 cats that would love to play on these cat post. The cats need to pull out their old claws and these would do the trick thanks!
It’d be great to make some of these and donate them to animal shelters
So many fun things for kitties to do. Gotta keep them busy.
Wow, I want to make our cat a scratching post. I think he would love it!
nice ideas
Wow! Never knew there were so many great things for cats. Just adopted 2 kittys a few weeks ago and just started looking at these tree towers. Thanks for sharing!
My cat has got to scratch all day every day. He is a very nervous cat, and this really calms him down. He would be happy, and I would too, if he had one at every window. They keep getting more and more clever.
I really like #4 climbing shelves. That would be great for my boy. Easy too
I like the cat scratching posts. The playscapes are nice, too, but take up space that wouldn’t work in a really small place.
I love these. We have 5 rescue cats and a couple of smaller cat towers but I would love to make something bigger for them. These are awesome!