In case my Instagram and the occasional cat presence on Fashion Bulb’s videos are not a dead giveaway, I love cats. I even have an online store exclusively for cat lovers – purrsandwhiskers.com – where you can find adorable cat themed accessories, decor and gifts for cat people. I decided to indulge the cat lover in me and work on some DIY cat furniture ideas. I have two kitties, Nemo and Nala, and, just like most of our four-legged friends, they love to snuggle. Making a cat bed seemed to be the most useful DIY cat furniture for them given their love for soft blankets and cat naps. The DIY cat bed was a success, so today I want to share with you a short how-to for making one yourself.
First, let’s cover the materials you’ll need – an old fleece blanket, a cardboard box, rope, drawer liner and hot glue. I already had all this stuff at home, so this DIY cat furniture project saved me from the sticker shock I get at Pet Smart on a regular basis. However, if you are missing some of the materials, I included links at the end of the post.
Make sure that the box you are using is wide enough for your kitty, as we all know some of them can get pretty chubby. You also need the box to be around 4″ high. If necessary, use a utility knife to cut the top and reduce its height.
You’d also want the box to have a neutral color, similar to the brown color of a plain cardboard box. If your box is bright or has writing on it, paint it with a coat of acrylic paint before you start. Brown, beige, white, or grey will all work.
Cut 4 or 5 pieces of fleece blanket matching the dimensions of the inside of the box (Tip: if you fold the blanket and then cut you’ll save some time).
Next, cut a larger piece of the fleece with the following dimensions:
length=twice the box length + 2″
width=box width + 2″
Wrap the larger piece around the smaller pieces and glue them together with spots of hot glue here and there. There is no need to perfectly glue the pieces as your cat is unlikely to try and destroy this DIY cat furniture (unlike all your regular furniture at home).
Now we need an even larger piece of fleece for the inside of the box. The dimensions of this one should be equal to:
length=box length + 2 x box height + 4″
width=box width + 2 x box height + 4″
Glue this larger piece of fleece to the box, leaving 2″ of fleece on the outer sides of the box. You will need to fold the fabric at the corners to make it neat and pretty.
To prevent the box from sliding when your cat jumps in, glue 4 patches of drawer liner at the four corners of the bottom of the box. Then, glue the rope around the box, starting at the edge of the fleece and making your way around the box until you reach its bottom.
Flip the box around and place the pieces of fleece inside. They will be our DIY pillow, providing extra softness to our picky four-legged friends.
At this point our DIY cat furniture project is almost completed. However, if you’d like to decorate the cat bed, try cutting little pieces of fleece and glue them to the bed.
I tried making a paw sign and writing “Snuggle” with little flakes of fleece. It takes a bit of imagination, shall we say, to actually be able to read it, but it matches the color scheme. Below you can see Nala with her brand new DIY kitten bed.
For more cat DIY projects, check out this easy to make water cup stand for cats.
Shop this project: