Hanging Cat Bed

There is now a second version of the cat bed, which does not require to hang from the ceiling.
The new version is more compact and elegant.

Check it out here:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Purrock-Hammock-for-your-purring-friend/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a walkthrough of a simple hanging cat bed that we made.

The project is easy to make, requires simple tools and will leave your little friend purring for ages.

Step 1: Materials and Tools Needed

First gather your materials

This includes:

• Wood (can also be scraps)
• Fabric (we used the fluffy kind, because cats like fluffy things! ;)
• Chain or rope
• Additionally Beer

Tools needed:

• Ruler
• Pliers
• Carpet knife or scissors
• Nails
• Wood glue
• Some sort of saw
• Hammer
• Stapler or glue gun

Step 2: Building the Frame

This process is really simple.

First, if you are using chain, separate it into four equal pieces. We used 3 meters of chain, which turned out to be more than enough.

For wood we used 1,9 cm thick birch. We cut four 2,5 cm wide strips using table saw. If you do not have access to table saw, then you can alternatively use pre-cut wood.

We decided to make our bed a square (40X40cm)

Step 3: Connecting the Frame

To connect the frame we made halving joints and fastened them with nails and woodglue.
You can also use screws to connect the frame but make sure you pre-drill holes to avoid cracking the wood.

If your nails are too long you can snip them to correct lenght using a pair of pliers.

Step 4: Cut and Attach the Fabric

First cut out the rough size of your fabric. Be sure to leave enough for overhang and the curvature in the middle.

Now your cat should be super excited. Keep her away for safety ;)

Figure out how to fold the corners, cut the final size of the fabric and start attaching it.

We used staples but a regular hot glue will also do the job.

Attach the chain to each of the corners using nails bent into U-shape (snip the head of the nail off)

To attach the bed to ceiling you can also use these U-shape nails or you can use screws.

Step 5: Introduce the Bed to Your Cat

At first our cat did not seem to like the swinging motion of the bed but later she got used to it.

Caution : You might get little jealous when you have to wake early in the morning and see that your cat can sleep in that comfy bed till noon.

As you can see the chain structure takes up a fair bit of space.

In the future we might build legs to make it more compact and movable.

If I were to ever make it again, i would consider a circular bed, which would match the cat´s regular sleeping shape (the fluffy circle) better.