DIY Chez the Buddabuns - U/D finished!

Well we have been busy over the last few days making an 'activity centre' for the cats. We saw a fantastic one in the pet shop but it was over $400 (about 150 GBP) and we thought "no way". So we bought some 4x4, some plywood and a power saw/sander (yes, after one day spend sawing and filing we both had sore arms and decided to splash out ) and came up with this. I reckon the bunnies might like to try it one day (supervised of course) as they are adventurous little so-and-sos

Please note - the whole thing is not yet secured in place, just balanced etc and the 'ramps' are not secured to anything and so won't be at such a sharp angle (ha!). They are for illustration puposes only




Aside from that, I have been trying to think of a way to dilute out the horrible white strip lighting we have on the ceilings. Our lamps don't give off enough light if we have people round in the evenings so we have to light a zillion candles

In the end I came up with this. I am quite proud of it as our stepladder is made of jelly and I nearly fell several times. My fingers are blistered from screwing tiny hoops into the ceiling but I like the end result



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UPDATE!

Here is the finished cat/rabbit activity tree thing! It was painted, wrapped in rope and the platforms covered in carpet (colour coordinated to match the rest of the room of course ) and screwed in place. It is just over 5' tall with a 4' x 3' baseboard in case anyone's interested (and it cost us roughly $200 or 80GBP to make).

We are chuffed



Levels (note the corner level - my baby :luv:):


All 3 top platforms have lips round 3 sides for kitty snoozings:


Keeping the upright posts secure with more rope:


Rope, scratching posts used as ramps:


We had fun making it but are both knackered with skinned hands from all that banging and screwing

loving the activity centre! can see them leaping all over that! v. clever with the ceiling - looks professionally done.

Wow I love the activity centre. I wish I could make something like that. The one Ollie has cost me about £70 I think and that was reduced by a lot as they'd had it ages and wanted to get rid of it. I bet the bunnies will love it to.

And I love the things on the ceiling (what would they be called?).

The activity centre looks great, how tall is it?
The drapes (?) look really nice, I would have thought they were professionally done if you hadn't told us

OMG - you are so clever.

The cat play tower is brilliant. Are you sure you are not keeping all the kittens

And as for the drapes, what a brilliant idea

PS Mr B is very clever too!

That look amazing. Wow H, the house is looking wonderful! What a fab idea for the ceiling!

That all looks brilliant. You are so clever and creative. Well done on both your projects.

I must admit the drape thingies were nicked from a shop (the idea, not the fabric ) but it's a right pain in the bum to put up! Makes a difference though. For reference, here is a 'before' shot. This was just after we'd moved in. Maybe 2 weeks?


As for the activity centre, there are so many cheap hardware stores around that we reckoned we could do it ourselves. It is currently outside drying off its first lick of paint. It's going to be chocolate brown with dark red carpet on the horizontal bits (if we can find carpet that is!).

Its like changing rooms. You should be a designer.

Looks fantastic and your kittens will love the activity centre.
Sallyx

Catswhiskas wrote:Its like changing rooms. You should be a designer.

PMSL I think not my dear! All we did was buy our own stuff. TBH I HATED the colour of the sofa when we bought it but it was the only one we'd found in a fortnight of searching that was even vaguely comfortable. So we bought it thinking we would have it reupholstered (apparently it's quite cheap) and ended up using it as a 'theme' colour I would never have pegged myself for a red kinda gal.

Charl I have to say I love your front room - light blues and cream they just go so well together.

I think the kittens are going to have to treble in size before they will be able to use the cat tree - the big timber is 5ft tall! But it is fun making it and the cat might well use it.

The drapes are great, they really make a difference, the lights looked a bit cold before!

Just shoed Dame these pics and he couldn't believe the difference! He says that now, it looks like an Indian Palace.

oooh very opulent!

Sadly it's still a tip. can't wait till we have our own dining table and bed then it'll really be 'home'

check out the new photos on post 1 - we have FINISHED IT :D:D:D:D:cheers:

thats some handy work! looks like its shop bought! (not undermining your skills ) its reeeet good!

coco wrote: thats some handy work! looks like its shop bought! (not undermining your skills ) its reeeet good!

that my friend is one hell of a compliment!

We are chuffed at how good the rope looks tbh. the bunnies have been on there and love it, Fatty has had a go and was unimpressed as there was no caviare at the top

blimey thats awesome Helen....I want one of them myself and I don't even have a cat. Its very fancy and really does look like its been professionally made.

Those are some skills you have there

OMG H that looks incredible............

It was bloody hard work building that yesterday and my head is still spinning from glue fumes but we are both chuffed to bits.

And it matches the house. Big bonus