Darzy Great designs and ideas! I love the ones that look sculptural.

Rough Linen All my furniture is already cat furniture...

susanintoronto The biggest problem is knowing in advance what a cat wants - that's just about impossible!

Donald I've been using coir or sisal doormats through the house, cat loves to scratch and nap on them, they aren't as ugly as the old scratching posts and they serve the intended purpose of a doormat.

aeykelbo The "Little Lotus Tower" cat tree is oddly appealing. I was actually enjoying looking at it... maybe i can find room for a cat tree after all....

Hi-Lite Manufacturing Co. I read your article on Bullet Planters, but I didn't know you wrote this on also! I read this earlier this week.

I'm a fan of the Sophia Wall Mounted Cat Tree. I'd Love to have those all around my house and see what the cat comes up with.

darksongs Some cool designs in this article. You might want to check out catsplay.com. Here's a link to a cat tree on their site. http://www.catsplay.com/cat-resort-luxury-cat-tree I learned about them through the Scripps tv show "I Want That". It's a pricey $700

midmodfan I love the Miesian thing, but I'm not sure if our cat will recognize it as a 'cat tree'.
We don't have special cat furniture because all our furniture already belongs to our cat. He is happy to sprawl on the sofa, in bed, on the office chair and everywhere else.

cowgal9 Need suggestions for hiding the litter boxes. We have 4 cats, so experts say we need 8 litter boxes.

spacesprit A client had a very clever idea to house the litter boxes for her two cats and we created this custom built-in in the laundry room. The front panel pulls out and the top opens for easy access.

waterlynx These are pretty typical places for cats to sleep. A couple in San Diego did up their entire house back in the 1980s -- now that's inspiration for active cats!
http://www.thecatshouse.com/
I'd still like to see ideas for cat trees and other play solutions, as the original poster asked. It's easy to find nice sleeping spots. Harder to find good, sturdy, nontoxic play structures. If the cats don't go out, and they aren't elderly or infirm, a good play structure is important. They need exercise too.

gcanty We have 4 inside cats. this cat 'tree' is on the screened porch. My husband and I made this for them for their christmas present.

One Specialty Landscape Design, Pools & Hardscape These are some great, modern designs! @gcanty I love the work that you and your husband did on your screened porch - it looks like you have a pretty large yard and maybe even some acreage so the tree design suits your home (and cats!) well! We had the opportunity to design an outdoor Catio for a client last year, I'm hoping that we'll have the opportunity to see it realized in 2013!

Marcy Holmes waterlynx, square cat habitat (shown with a wall perch that includes a scratching pad) also makes stylish cat trees and play structures for cats.

leslieg2013 Similar to gcanty, our downsized driftwood tree is in our condo living room.

prospera Just remember when hiding cat boxes, they must be able to be totally cleaned out and disinfected, or they will never really be hidden, if you catch my drift.

Meghan Hammond This has long been on my "want" list: http://www.yankodesign.com/2011/03/03/100-cat-friendly-modular-bookshelf/. If anyone knows where to buy one, I'm all ears!

Arian Elsass We made ours from a juniper tree. Here's a pic of it decorated for Christmas. We have a tutorial on our blog in case anyone wants tips to make their own. http://laxcatcreations.com/category/cat-tree/

gcanty This is so cute all lit up. What did the cats think of that? We had talked about lighting it and just never got to it . i certainly will do this next year. Very cute.

Arian Elsass Thanks gcanty! I love the tree you made as well! Our cats loved the warmth from the lights, especially our heat-seeking Bombay.

Fine Art & Portraits by Laurel Oh, I so want to send this to a client, but I'm afraid the title says too much about how I feel. Most of your examples are really cute, but the flower and spotty 'gym' are the kind of things I want to replace. These furnishings become tatty and dirty quickly.

Becky Harris I tried to incorporate pieces for all tastes, realizing that it was highly unlikely that even half of these would appeal to one person - some of them are almost polar style opposites.

sclawson Wish these cool cat trees weren't so pricey!! I honestly don't worry about how the cat's stuff looks anymore (except the litterbox, which is enclosed in a cabinet). Kitty is queen in our house and spreads her toys everywhere. I'd be more interested in a cat tree that had lots of engaging stuff on it for her.

sashagrey It's not only the look of the cat furniture, but how it betters the cat's life. These trees from Pet Tree Houses are natural trees with silk leaves. They are great! I have 2 of them and my cat's love them. Not only are they beautiful, but very natural and healthy for the cats. Well worth the money. check them out www.pettreehouses.com Here's a tree I have http://pettreehouses.com/store/our-store/sycamore/1-6

sashagrey This is my Maggie in a Pet Tree House. She love's it and it's beautiful!!! www.pettreehouses.com

pimms1967 I'm with some of the others, my cat sleeps and hangs out on the regular furniture, and sleeps with me. I once bought a small dog bed for him, he sat in it for about 15 minutes and that was it, and that bed wasn't cheap! I tried an outdoor "chaise lounge" with an awning, that one he last about 5 minutes and laid on my ratty wood deck instead. The one thing he does like is his carpeted platform that I have in front of the sliding doors looking into back yard. He's 14-pounds and almost 13-years-old Maine Coon, so I have to be conscious of his jumping...and being able to squeeze is "husky" body in things (yes, I know they're flexible).

Becky Harris There are some fab photos showing up in these comments - PLEASE KEEP THEM COMING! Perhaps there will be enough for me to use them for another cat furniture/catio ideabook.

Georgia Blum I have a suggestion for an ideabook that's animal related, is this an OK place to do it? I keep animals in aquariums. Fish, tarantulas, small reptiles, these are my babies. I would love to see how other people have made their small creatures' homes attractive and incorporated them into the decor of the house.

designchallenged What a fun ideabook! I have two cats and enjoy new ideas to accommodate them.

Valeria Siemelink All of them are still really ugly!

prospera I always thought a step tansu chest, fitted with cushions, would work well.

hollyfhiggins I did an Ikea hack for a great cat tree. I purchased the GORM shelving system and put two units side by side. Then, I staggered the shelving on each side so the cats could scale the tower. I replaced two of the shelves with "hammocks" simply by sewing some canvas and wrapping it around two posts secured to the shelves. I left mine unpainted, but you could finish or paint the tree to your taste ... just make sure the finish is safe for kitty.

I always worry about getting my cats toys, beds, and scratching posts, as they'll often turn their nose up and ignore them. However, they LOVE this tree. It's eight feet tall and they love being at the top and napping in the hammocks.

I don't have a blog, or else I'd post a tutorial. If I can find a picture, I'll put it up here.

jagnicholas I don't understand how the lighthouse works. Can the cat get to the top? If so, where does she sit. Cats usually like to be @ the tallest spot in a room & they usually enjoy surveying the landscape below. I have a home @ the beach with a screened porch; that lighthouse would look adorable there!

Lisa Great collection, gives me ideas of what I could make, as I'm a welding metal artist. Would save me money because you never know what Wendy will do.

boogieshoes5 Our local animal shelter has a nice large "catio" for the cats. It really helps the cats to relax and makes them happier. They are far more likely to get adopted that way. It can sometimes be months before they are adopted and this dose of outdoors really helps them.

katewoo reviewed by
A Cat

1) The Refined Feline Kitty Ball Bed, Bamboo - $169.99
This chair is perfect... for post-modern-hipster-doofuses, that is. Give Muffy that and next thing you know, she'll be asking for a PBR and a dish of local organic pickles.

2) Sophia Wall Mounted Cat Tree - $155.99
Dear Manufacturer: an extra closed-box shelf for your plants and collectibles means only one thing: a complete and total laser-like focus on knocking items therein, out.

3) Square Cat Habitat by Buddha - $99.00
If you're going to go cheap and get me a square-foot shelf, there better not be polyester berber rug remnants on that slab of plywood. Might I suggest something more along the lines of a de Gournay silk print, nothing too fancy, it needn't be a castle or temple print, rustic scenes are fine, maybe some pretty birds to look at, that's really all I ask.

4) Sebastian Modern Cat Tree - $289.95
Hello, MC Escher called. He wants his cat tree back.

5) Refined Feline Little Lotus Tower Cat Tree - $377.99
Not bad.

6) Tall Modern Cat Condo - $249.95
YOU might think that would look smashing with some Barcelona chairs, I think it would look smashing with an accompanying full spa treatment and fish pate. But that's just me. Go ahead, get the useless chairs.

7) Tropical Flower Cat Tree - $300.00
Just because I'm under two feet tall doesn't mean I'm three years old. Have some respect. I just finished reading À la recherche du temps perdu for crissake, and you're going to give me a carpeted daisy?

8) Deluxe Lighthouse Cat Tower - $944.10
I once had a Maine Coon great uncle. We would sometimes visit in the summers, until he started hanging out behind the Commercial Street Pub in Portland. Last I heard he was either in rehab or the pound after he got caught trying to sell stolen lobster. Sad. But not unexpected. Those Coons, they're all kind of wild, no matter how long they've been eating out of the can.

9) Safari Cat Gym - $144.00
Does it come with a matching G-string and laser show?

10) Metropolitan Pet Bed by LazyBonezz, Ebony - $399.99
This is exactly why I am never moving to Florida.

11) Juliette Wall Shelf, Yellow - EUR 299.00
Here's the thing about stairs. They're "fun" when they "go somewhere." Try it some time.

12) Refined Feline Cat Clouds Cat Shelf, Titanium - $129.99
Let me tell you exactly what that cat is thinking: "where's the giant truck that attaches to these overblown steps"... or wait, I could be wrong... yeah yeah, call the media, har har. But seriously, now that I really look at it, that cat is thinking "SQUIRREL!!!!!"

Design Moe Kitchen & Bath / Heather Moe designer I know we weren’t the first person to do this, but my clients let me build them a “Cat Track:” we put crown molding (with a carpeted top) around the main rooms about 12” from the ceiling. We ran 2 sets of picture ledges up the wall as steps, one in the family room and one in the living room, so that the cats could do circles if they wanted or “escape” if another cat was coming at them. This client has 7 cats, and about half the cats really like the cat track. The other half isn’t at all interested. (I figure a 50% participation rate is a huge success when you’re talking about cats.)

prospera Oh boy! Now on my bucket list. I had another thought in this discussion. This is from experience. When building, buying or designing any kind of furniture for kitties to scratch on, never use anything similar to what you already have in the house. Trade remnants with a neighbor, buy a different scrap, etc. Some, if not many cats can't discern what is theirs and what you would rather have as carpeting. Best is a completely different texture. Cats are smart, but can be easily confused by things like that.

River City Tile Company This is such a fantastic idea- I love it! I experience many clients who are so concerned about the 'resale value' of their home that they forget to enjoy making it their own by adding eccentricities like this one. Well done!

Rachel Rosen Here is a link to a small apt cat box solution