Upload of the Day: Catwalks Keep Pets Happy in a Candy-Colored Condo

How’s this for outside-of-the-litter-box thinking? When a candy scientist (yes, you read that right) approached DC Interiors & Renovations for help with her downtown Madison, Wisconsin, condo, she expressed concern about her two active cats’ being left inside while she works all day. (In case you’re wondering, she specializes in jelly beans.) The solution? Catwalks.

What: Catwalks in a downtown condo
Location: Madison, Wisconsin
Uploaded to Houzz: May 13, 2014

Rebecca Turner, an interior designer and the co-owner of DC Interiors & Renovation, used reclaimed barn boards to create shelves that the cats can jump on and climb up and around to the kitchen.

“We used simple brackets to affix them to the walls,” Turner says. “We made sure they would support the weight of them jumping up and down onto the lower ones, but other than that it doesn’t take much. Cats walk really delicately.”

The angled pieces have pieces of carpet attached to them to help Paxton, seen here, and the other cat climb.


Turner bought these glass-faced cabinet boxes above the TV as separate pieces and installed them to create steps up the wall. The cats can climb the scratching pole at the right and make their ascent.


Floating shelves take the cats along another wall and down more shelves. Another room features custom cabinets that were cut out for the cats to go through.

The feline-friendly setup was part of a larger design project that included renovating the fireplace; adding a new backsplash, furniture and cabinets; and painting. The paint is unironically candy colored. “She’s such a fun and bubbly person and specifically requested that brown not be used in her home if at all possible,” Turner says.

Turner estimates that her client spent about $1,500 on materials, not including labor. She estimates that if someone were just going to do the shelves, not the cabinets, it would cost about $100 ($200 with labor).

The project was completed at the end of last year; it was recently photographed and uploaded today to Houzz. “We like to upload our latest projects as soon as we can,” says DC Interiors & Renovations co-owner Deb Corning.

See more of this eclectic home

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More: Incredible Home Catwalks Make for Purr-fectly Happy Felines

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