Free, every Sunday · 3,100 readers
A free letter every Sunday: what I built this week, what the cat made of it and one plan to try.
Free · every Sunday
Shelf Notes
A new post every Thursday: one idea for a home where a cat can climb, sleep and look out of the window.
Perches
A window perch a cat will actually use
Height, a firm seat and a view of the street: what makes a perch the favourite spot.
Shelves
Planning cat shelves on a flat wall
Where the first shelf goes, how far apart the rest should be and how to end up with a route.
Plans
Drawing a shelf plan before you drill
Paper, a pencil and a cat paw for scale: how I sketch a wall before touching it.
Plans
Printing the plans at full size
Why I print every plan at 100 per cent and tape it to the floor first.
Rooms
Where the cat sleeps, and why
Four weeks of watching, and what the sleeping spots told me to build.
Safety
Which houseplants are safe with a cat
A short list of plants I keep, and the ones I gave away.
Shelves
A route across the room, shelf to shelf
Planks that lead from the floor to the top of the wall without one big jump.
Rooms
Keeping the sofa and the cat both happy
A blanket, a perch beside it and the end of the scratched arm.
Plans
Measuring a cat before you build
Length, jump and how wide a plank has to be for a heavy ginger.
Rooms
A flat with a cat, one year on
What worked, what I moved and what the cat ignored completely.
Downloads and courses
Shop
Download as soon as you pay. Yours to keep.
About
About me
Our flat has high ceilings, a tall window and one very opinionated ginger cat. When we moved in, he lived on the sofa and the top of the fridge. A year of shelves, perches and a lot of watching later, he has a whole route around the room and the sofa has survived.
I post what I build and how I plan it: the drawing, the measuring and the mistakes. People kept asking for the plans, so I now sell them as printable PDFs, with a few guides and two video courses for anyone who wants to build the shelves themselves.