These Clever Renters Came Up With a Purrfect IKEA Hack: A DIY Cat Tree
Name: Tiffany Eiff and my husband, and cat, Cat
Location: Beverly Grove — Los Angeles, California
Years lived in: 2.5 years, renting
My husband and I have been living here for about two and a half years. As soon as I saw the apartment, I knew it was special. Over the past year since we got married, we’ve been upgrading a few things and finding things we want to keep for the long haul. Our style is colorful and eclectic; we have random collections of things that we are sentimental about or that people gave us. We spend a lot of time at home, so we like it to be comfortable and full of things that make us happy. Our cat, named Cat, lives there too and loves the many windows the home has, and so do we!
Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Colorful, eclectic, boho-maximalist, personalized
The cat tower is made from the IKEA LACK side and coffee tables. They were my now-husband’s and I upcycled them when we moved in together by spray-painting the legs gold and covering the tops with marble contact paper.
After we got married we were upgrading our furniture and no longer needed them, so I decided to turn them into a cat tree! They are stacked on top of each other with heavy duty mounting tape at the bottom of each leg, and it’s very sturdy. I wrapped one of the legs with purple rope for Cat to scratch. It’s a combo of hot glue and a staple gun and has held up nicely. I had the pom-pom garland laying around and added that to the front—I think it’s this one from Target. The bottom leg also has a mounted self-groomer because she loves to scratch her face on things!
[You can see more of Tiffany’s crafty skills on her custom wedding decor Etsy shop, Detailed Studio.]
What is your favorite room and why? The living room is where we spend most of our time so we’ve invested more into decorating it in a way that makes us happy to be there. It has artwork that was featured in the venue where we got married, collections of pillows and books that we can’t seem to pair down, and a growing collection of plants that we are trying really hard to keep alive!
If you could magically change something about your home, what would it be? It would have modern conveniences most people take for granted like a dishwasher, washer and dryer, and central A/C.
What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? An elephant basket from Target that now houses a plant!
Any advice for creating a home you love? Choose items that you naturally gravitate towards, not things you think you should have or what’s on trend at the moment. I also think your furniture and decor should be a curated collection of things you’ve found over time, not a matching set picked from a showroom floor.
Thanks, Tiffany!
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