Need ideas and pics for a cat room (low budget)

[daryl the cat]

I still have to separate my cats during the day. They're getting along better, but not ready to be left alone together when I'm at work. The lower level of my tri-level house is mostly unused and currently just collecting junk. It has two high windows with a cabinet under one of them. Dodger has been jumping up on the cabinet to look out the window. I put a cushion there for him to lay on. He loves it. This gave me the idea to turn this room into a cat room for his daytime hangout. It'll be cooler than being upstairs too.

I've googled pics of cat rooms and found lots of gorgeous and fancy ones. But they are way out of my price range. The main thing I'm looking for is a way to put in stairs and a platform to connect the two windows so he can walk around up there and hang out. Any ideas how to accomplish this on a low budget and little to no construction skills? I have a carpet remnant I can lay down. Pic attached. Would love to see pics of your setups for inspiration!

 

[Robyn5678]

What about getting brackets and put them on the wall and just get a plank piece of wood.
https://a.co/d/5oJrKVe

 

[susanm9006]

One thing that your cat needs is a nice cozy place to snooze. It doesn’t have to be expensive but something like a big beanbag chair, a large cat bed that is off the floor or similar that Dodger can sprawl out or cuddle in to.

 

[Furballsmom]

There might be something here;
How To Make Your Home Bigger (at Least For Your Cats) - TheCatSite

 

[Jem]

What about a bunch of these pushed up against the wall? They will act like stairs for the cats, give perching areas for them and they'll be great storage for you. You can secure them to the wall to make sure they won't fall over and put cushions across the tops for lounging. You could even staple and glue gun some sisal rope or carpet on the "stairs" and sides for cat scratching.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I was going to suggest ikea furniture. We bought several pieces last year for our homeschool space and they are much more sturdy than the cubbies we have for toys. But those would also work fine for cats.

Ikea even had pet beds that turn the cubbies into hiding places for pets.
LURVIG Cat house, white - IKEA Of course any basket might do; but my girls liked hiding spots in their cat trees and the collapsable cubes we had too.

You might find cubbies and shelves secondhand too. Just secure them to the wall for safety.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

I don't know what type of tools you have, but I'm pretty sure you can get lumber cut to the sizes you want at most home improvement stores and then you can use the boards with some brackets (as someone already suggested) to have a little shelf. I'd also check out Facebook Marketplace to see if someone is trying to get rid of a cat tree. You could get some jute twine and wrap it around just about anything as a way for a cat to climb up to things. I also have this saved on one of my Pinterest boards that might be a good option too. Oh and here's another option for a climbing wall.

 

[daryl the cat]

Thanks everyone for all these great ideas. I didn't even know where to begin before, but now I have lots of options. These are great!

 

[Furballsmom]

Let us know how the project goes