The Cat Hotel

For the first module, I started at ground level, with the simplest of designs: a straight ramp.

I've carpeted wood platforms in previous projects, so I had a good idea what my process would be at the start. This time, I added in a layer of padding beneath the carpet, to really spoil those cats. The padding gets glued to the wood, and the carpeting is stapled down on top of it. 

The hardest part of the process is figuring out how and where you want to cut and wrap the carpet, to minimize bulges and/or visible cuts in the final form.

As a side note, almost all of the project material at this stage came from my local buy nothing group, which I have found to be a wonderful and amazing community!

We have a bookcase that I planned on incorporating as one of the "platforms" in the cat structure -- the ramp (in theory) enables the cats to easily climb between the floor and the top of this short bookcase.

To cap off phase 1, I build a quick carpeted topper and fastened it to the top of the bookcase. Leaving the topper hollow in the middle allows it to function a bit like a hammock: the natural stretch in the carpet supports any cats on top comfortably.

I wanted the top platform to be the cornerpiece of the build, placed with good sightlines through the doorway into the rest of the apartment (both cats seem to like spots where they can perch and observe as much of their territory as possible).

I designed the double-decker platform with a distinct top and bottom. The top would be a typical carpet platform with a hollow center, offering a balance of stretchy comfort and solid platform. I also incorporated a couple short walls, for maximum coziness.

I selected a thin, stretchy leftover fleece blanket as the material for the hammock, which was stretched and stapled across a circular hole in the bottom platform.

At this point, I'm calling the build complete. There may be annexes to add on in the future, but I don't want to get too carried away; I'll just let the cats enjoy the structure.