Tree Room Divider — Cat Tree

We did this about 2 years before we got our cat. So it was not designed for a cat, but it is however very cat friendly and our cat loves climbing and scratching it.

Before we moved into our apartment we decided we wanted to bring as much nature into our home as possible. We had this large open dining room/living room space. So we decided to make a divider but without cutting off the flow of the space. As my husband is an arborist and climbs trees for a living he always has a collection of tree branches, lots etc. For this project we used 6 birch branches cut at the maximum height our ceiling allows. We cleaned them as best we could with an air pressure machine, but other than that just left them as is besides cutting to size.You could use various types of branches and you also could strip off the bark, but we choose to leave them natural.

We purchased two large logs of wood to hold “Our forest” together. We cut a L shape  bottom into the bottom of the branches as shown below. Using two long screws we drilled the branches into the log.

The second log isn’t drilled into the branches at all, rather just resting next to them. Really the second log isn’t necessary but we use it to create a base at the bottom to rest our potted plants.

A Potted climbing Pothos plant is sitting at the bottom and climbs up the branches. In this room we only have those two big windows so where “Notre Foret” is we do not get so much direct light and Pothos work great. It has grown so much it could take over all 6 branches but today I have it only on three branches because our cat only likes to climb the branches with no leaves.

He climbs it almost daily but never on demand of course so taking a photo of him in the act is very difficult. (sorry for the blurry iphone photos) Again this was not designed for a cat in mind as we did it years before we got him. So he climbs it very quickly but once he gets to the top he gets over stimulated and jumps down very quickly because there is no where for him to perch or rest. However he is a Persian and Persians are not the most agile cats and are not known for climbing. If you had a more active climbing cat they would be able to use it more.

An added bonus of “Notre Forêt” is that it also works as our Christmas tree. As I do not like fake plants or trees and my husband certainly does not support cutting down trees for Christmas, we decorate this forest with Christmas lights and all of our ornaments.