How to build a cat tower

When planning your cat tower, start by thinking about your cat’s personality. Perhaps you have a cat that loves to climb, so you’ll want a tower with a variety of levels. Or maybe you have a cat that loves to scratch. Incorporating a few cat scratching posts will keep them happy – and away from your furniture. If you have a cat that loves to hideaway someplace secure, add a few snug boxes. Top off your design with a few dangling toys for them to play with.

Next, think about where in your home your cat tower is going to go. How much space do you have to work with? From there, sketch out your ideas. (We’ve gone with a three-tiered tower with two hideaway boxes and a few lounging platforms.) Once you have your design, get your materials together and start building.

To create a hideaway box for your cat, measure and cut the MDF to your desired dimensions. For our boxes, we used four square pieces measuring 350mm x 350mm, four pieces at 350mm x 318mm, and four square pieces at 318mm x 318mm.

When measuring, use a straightedge and a pencil to mark your lines. Once you’re done, cut each piece carefully with a circular saw. Next, cut a piece to create the top platform. Ours measures 600mm x 250mm.

Take three of the same sized pieces and assemble the bottom and two sides using nails or screws, forming a ‘U’ shape. Next, attach the top, back and front panels to form a box, repeating the same process for any remaining boxes you want for your cat tower.

Use a 3mm drill bit to make four holes in each corner of the bases of both boxes and repeat the process for the top of the bottom box; these will be used for assembling the cat tower later.

Now that the boxes are assembled, create the openings. Using a pencil, mark out the desired opening on the box. We’ve gone for 50mm up from the bottom of the box and used a paint tin to trace around to get a perfect circle.

Once your circle is traced out, drill a 10mm hole on the diameter of the circle to give yourself a starting point to cut from. Using a jigsaw, cut out the box holes for each box. Feel free to get creative and make different shapes and sizes for your design. Lastly, make sure it’s cat-friendly by sanding the edges with some 80-grit sandpaper, working your way up to 180-grit for a smooth finish.

To create cosy lounging platforms for your cat, start by measuring your timber project to your preferred width, keeping in mind your cat's size and your available space. We’ve gone for an 18mm-thick piece of timber and cut it into two 600mm x 400mm pieces using a circular saw. Repeat the sanding process from Step #4 to smooth away any sharp edges.

Support poles will give height to your cat tower. They’ll also hold the boxes and platforms and will serve as scratching posts. Measure and cut some wide dowel to your desired length with a drop saw. We suggest a minimum of 42mm in thickness. For our design, we wanted to create depth and different heights, so we’ve cut one length at 350mm, two at 250mm and two at 600mm.

Now for the fun part! It’s time to paint and decorate your cat tower. You might choose bright and fun colours or match your cat tower to the existing decor in your home.

Before painting, fill in the screw holes using filler for a flush finish. Paint your base coat, then add a topcoat along with any designs or decals you like - for example, flowers, patterns or even little mice. Once everything is dry, add a coat of clear varnish and allow it to dry.

You can leave the dowel pieces unpainted as we’re going to wrap rope around these to create scratching posts. If you’re adding cat-friendly fabric to any areas on the boxes, you can skip painting these pieces, too. Make it easy by marking the areas you don’t need to paint.

Once all of your pieces are dry, lay them out for easy assembly. Start with the base layer, then place down the first hideaway box on top of the timber base and secure this with screws or nails. Next, screw your 350mm piece of dowel into the base, as well. This creates the first floor of your cat tower.

To create the second floor, take your second project panel and mark out where you want the dowel to go. We’ve gone for 100mm in from either side. Screw in the longest dowel supports. This entire platform can then be screwed into the top of the first cat tower floor by lining up and screwing screws into the pre-drilled corner holes you created earlier.

Take your last box and screw in the final pieces of dowel. The base of this box is going to be attached to the middle of the second floor. The last piece is going to be the highest platform, attached to the top of the dowel. Screw it in and make sure everything feels sturdy and secure.

Check out how to build your own D.I.Y. cat wall shelves.