Cat Shelf Tutorial

I assume if you’ve stumbled across this tutorial that you are a fellow cat lover, like me.  Also like Jackson Galaxy, the bald guy with ever-evolving interestingly-shaped facial hair who hosts that Animal Planet reality show, “My Cat From Hell”.  Y’all know the one I’m talking about–people go to him for help with their horrible cats (often as a result of said people being horrible cat owners) and Mr. Galaxy steps in and modifies human and cat behavior alike, in most cases creating peaceful coexistence and a calmer, happier kitty.  I’d heard about his show from several cat lover friends, so when it finally made it to Netflix I had to check it out.  I don’t do much reality TV, but his show really is both entertaining and insightful, despite being (hilariously IMO) melodramatic at times.

Now back to the task at hand–one of the many techniques that Galaxy employs to make a happier home for kitties is cat shelves.  These may be elaborate loops around entire rooms (or in some extreme cases entire houses), or simply a series of steps up a wall in a main room of your house if you’re short on space like I am.  I’ve always wanted to make a cat tree but don’t currently have the floor space in a room where the cats would be likely to use one, so these are the perfect alternative.  They build a cat’s confidence and provide a good means of exercise.  They can also serve as a scratching post of sorts if you use carpet or another fiber that’s durable and works for kitty’s claws.  Read on to see exactly how I made mine, as well as suggestions for substitutions so that you can personalize your set of cat shelves to fit the space, budget and decor that you’re working with.  Additionally, I will speculate on the things that Jackson Galaxy would like and dislike about my shelves, so keep your eye out for his opinions as assumed by me.  I mean, hey, I’ve seen all the episodes on Netflix; I’m basically a cat whisperer myself, right?!

 

Supplies (see details and substitutions in tutorial)

• 2 pine planks, 48” x 11.25”
• 9 metal L-shaped brackets, 20 ”x 2”
• short screws as needed
• long screws and wall anchors as needed
• rugs or carpet that match your room’s decor
• spray paint, optional
• acrylic craft paint, optional

Tools

• drill and/or screwdrivers
• heavy duty staple gun
• measuring tape/ruler
• level
• heavy duty scissors that can cut through carpet
• a strong person to assist you with hanging the shelves

Instructions

First things first, it helps to have an assistant with this project, especially when you get to the final step of hanging the shelves.  Quick shoutout to my partner in crime, Moses Casual, for his literal strong-armed assistance with this one!  He also took the lovely pictures so that you guys can see our process and the final result.

Now to begin you’ll want to select your boards and brackets, or pre-made all-in-one shelving units; what you decide on in this step will help you determine the rest of the supplies necessary to complete your project.  Premade shelving units are fine and save time as they often come with their own mounting supplies, but they turned out to be a bit expensive for my budget and I found that it was much more cost-effective and not terribly time-consuming to just make my own.  Other perks to making your own are the ability to easily add scratching/traction material such as carpet, and it also gives you more flexibility with color and design if you start with raw wood.

Before hitting the local home improvement store, we considered our wall space and how we wanted the shelves to work, then jotted down rough measurements to take with us.  We ended up selecting 2 pine boards, each 48” x 11.25” x 3/4”.  We used one whole board for the very top shelf to create a long walking space near the ceiling, and cut the other board into 3 equal pieces to use as the “steps” up to the highest shelf.  We have a saw so we cut the wood ourselves, but most places that sell it will cut it for you so a saw isn’t necessary.  Since we wanted to go the cheap route with this project, we selected plain white metal L brackets. We considered the estimated combined weight of the shelves plus the cats, as well as the depth of the shelves, to find the correct size brackets.  We also grabbed a bottle of spray paint that works on metal so that the brackets would match the color scheme we had in mind.  Before you leave the store, also make sure you have plenty of screws that do not exceed the shelves’ thickness for attaching the brackets, and long screws (and anchors if needed) for mounting the brackets to the wall.

The first thing we did to prepare our materials was to spray paint our brackets.  Spray paint can stay a bit tacky for a while, so we did this a week or so in advance, although I’m sure if you let it dry for 24-48 hours that should be sufficient.

Your next step is to prepare the individual shelves by painting (optional, depending on your shelves) and adding your rug/carpet material.  We knew we would be covering the tops of our shelves, so we painted the bottoms and sides only with acrylic craft paint to match our color scheme, and then allowed to dry for 24 hours before proceeding.

Now, Jackson Galaxy is semi-alright with slippery shelves (as in, better than NO shelves), but he generally recommends adding texture to give your cats traction as they jump, and just on the off-chance that he ever visits my blog I don’t want him thinking I haven’t provided proper safety measures for my cherished kitties.  I also wanted the shelves to serve as a scratching post to hopefully save what’s left of my partially-shredded couch, so I chose cheap synthetic fiber rugs from a local discount warehouse store.  You can also use carpet remnants (people and stores often give these away for free) for a cheaper/free option, though I was lucky to find perfect matching rugs that were only $2.50 each.  Just be sure you measure your shelves ahead of time and have plenty of material to cover the tops and wrap around the sides; my shelves took a total of 3 rugs, each 34” x 20”.

If you are using rugs, you can try to cut them according to the design.  For example, I liked the edging on the rugs I used, so I cut and placed mine in such a way that the red contrast edging slightly overhangs the front of the shelves and wraps around the sides (see pictures of completed shelves); incorporating the edging also helped with issues of unravelling/fraying.  Also, make sure the material does NOT overhang the back of the shelf as you want the shelf flush against the wall.  The cut edges of my rugs frayed a bit, so before attaching to the shelves I used a lighter to gently burn the cut edges which sealed them.  I know this trick works with synthetic fibers, but do your research or use a test swatch before trying this technique if you are using wool or another non-synthetic fiber to cover your shelves.

You could use a really strong glue to attach the carpet to the shelves, but I wanted to go the quicker route and used a heavy duty staple gun because it was less messy and faster.  I figure having staples sticking up for the kitties’ claws to potentially snag on is a bad idea, so if you use staples make sure to tap all of them down with a hammer if necessary so that they are as flush as possible.  This also helps hide them under the carpet fibers so they aren’t visible.

Attach brackets to shelves with shorter screws.  We used the power drill with a small bit to pre-drill holes as that makes it easier to get the screws in straight.

 

Now here is where you could really use a partner.  Hold shelves against wall and use a level to make sure they are straight before marking screw holes with a pencil.  We measured the distance between shelves for even placement, but you can also just eyeball it depending on your desired result.  Again, we used the drill to pre-drill holes in our marks in the wall to make sure the screws would go in straight, then attached the shelves using the long screws.  A long attachment for your drill is useful here if you have one, otherwise you may have to use brute strength and a screwdriver once you get to a certain point.  We didn’t need anchors, but use them if needed to make sure your shelves are safely secured to the wall.  Once we were finished, we used heavy books that weighed a bit more than the combined weights of our two cats to test the sturdiness.

We then lured the more adventurous kitty to the shelves with a toy as the final test of our success.  It didn’t take much convincing; she absolutely loves them!

In conclusion, I think Jackson Galaxy would be pleased, although I can imagine him chastising me for not having steps leading the cats down the other side (so that one cat can’t corner the other on the top shelf), however, my current space doesn’t allow for that, so hopefully the cats will share and play nice for now.  Someday I hope to have a house which allows for many more cat-friendly improvements, and thusly, full approval from the cat whisperer himself.