Modern Cat Trees
Over the past 4-5 years, the selection of modern cat trees available has increased tremendously. However, what still dominates retail stores is scrap lumber wrapped in remnant carpet, the kind of cat tree that does not look at home anywhere but is tolerated for lack of availability of affordable, stylish cat furniture.
Well the industry is coming along, but as with most quality, stylish items they are produced in relatively low volumes at relatively high prices. And few are sold in traditional brick and mortar retail stores. The catch-22 is that if these quality, stylish, cat trees were mass produced, and available everywhere, then they would certainly lose some of their uniqueness, not to mention quality.
If more consumers would buck the big-box trend, and shop the many niche pet product retailers out there, they could get a product they really want many times for just a little more than what they were going to spend at the local retail store.
How do we get to a point where the small number of producers of quality, stylish cat trees can produced at a lower cost so that they are more accessible to a majority of consumers? And how do we get the word out to the masses about our product offering? Direct sales over the internet seems the only reasonable answer, that will allow this small group of proud artesans to expand their market share and compete against the big-box stores and large importers and distributors of cat products made in China. But more consumers need to take the effort to really look for what they want in a cat tree and not settle for the standard fare offered at Petsmart or Petco. If more consumers would buck the big-box trend, and shop the many niche pet product retailers out there, they could get a product they really want many times for just a little more than what they were going to spend at the local retail store.
Whether they be modern cat trees, or traditional (but stylish) cat trees, there are many options online, many produced with eco-friendly materials in small studios across the country. Square Cat Habitat makes some nice pieces, using eco-friendly bamboo plywood for their cat trees and other products. Urban Pet Haus also has some nice concepts on their site, but they don't seem to be coming to market in a hurry. The Refined Feline pioneered the concept with their Lotus cat tree made with curved plywood. WhiskerStudio has a fantastic offering of cat trees, beds, and scratchers, and is coming out with a line of lower cost DIY products that have the same style as the standard products, but are offered at a discount as customers will do their own painting or staining.
Not every company will make a product that suits the style of a particular person, but between all of the vendors in the space, whether it be WhiskerStudio or one of the others, shoppers will surely be able to find a stylish, eco-friendly piece of cat furniture to accent their decor while satisfying the most discriminating kitty! Keep a lookout at WhiskerStudio for some really modern cat trees and condos based on Ikea hardware, also know as Ikea-hacking, we will be providing DIY kits and components that work together with Ikea hardware to create some really amazing cat trees and other furniture!
| New Contoure Cat Tower! |
We are very pleased to introduce our latest in modern, eclectic, cat furniture design! The Contoure stands nearly 6 ft tall (68 in.) and is nothing like an ordinary (made in China) cat tree. It has organic curves ("contours") and a sleek design that make this a room showpiece that you will love as much as your cats do!
Four carpeted platforms allow your cat to lounge at whatever height she pleases, and the small 21 in x 26 in. footprint make the Contour suitable for apartments or anywhere space is tight. Some of you may have seen a previous product (called the SkyClimber) which looks quite similar. The Contoure is basically a re-design of this product, with a much more "open" construction which we feel enhances the shape as well as allowing cats more room to move up and down the platforms. We are now also offering additional material and finish choices. At the high end are our bamboo (amber and chocolate vertical grain) versions. This bamboo-ply material is a truly "sustainable" product (bamboo is a fast growing grass), and is just beautiful in it's natural state. On these versions, we apply an organic (100% vegetable based) oil that brings out the material's natural luster. This is a very old (newly re-discovered) way of furniture finishing that does not bring any VOC's (volatile organic compounds) into your indoor living space, and it actually has a very pleasing, natural smell. Ok, reality check. Bamboo-ply is about 5x more expensive than our standard birch ply, and our organic oil costs $120 per gallon!! These bamboo versions are therefore naturally more expensive, and our strongest hope is that over time the material prices come down as people really adopt this very earth-friendly material. For those of us who have a little more time than money, we are very pleased to announce an industry first for products in this class - A DIY VERSION!!
On our birch-ply models, the finishing process is very time consuming and detail oriented (thus costly). So, we've decided to offer an unfinished DIY version that you can stain or paint or even stencil yourself! At an affordable $299 + s/h, we hope to make this product accessible to a lot more of you. We show some examples of what can be done with this with our black/white and purple/green concept models. We are really looking forward to seeing what you come up with and hope that you'll email us your finished pics so that we can show others your creative masterpieces! We are very excited about this new product line, and please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have. -Brian |
| Green Pet Furniture. Will you pay more? |
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Everyone likes to think of themselves as being "green-conscious", but when it comes to parting with hard earned dollars and actually making sacrifices, we must separate the sheep from the goats. As we must with the manufacturers themselves. It seems everyone has a "green" line, or (i love this one), a "greener" alternative. This is basically double speak for.....| New Whiskerstudio Products on the Way! |
It's been a long couple of years, but we've been lucky enough to weather the storm with our initial line of popular products, led by the SkyClimber! But, be assured we haven't just been sitting around waiting for consumer demand to return. We've taken the past year to really think about some really innovative, stylish new pet furniture designs that we really hope you are going to like! |
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| Modern Cat Trees |
Over the past 4-5 years, the selection of modern cat trees available has increased tremendously. However, what still dominates retail stores is scrap lumber wrapped in remnant carpet, the kind of cat tree that does not look at home anywhere but is tolerated for lack of availability of affordable, stylish cat furniture. |
| Read more... |
| New Whisker Studio Products Enter Test Phase |
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We have been hard at work developing some stylish new products, with affordability in mind. Of course we won't release anything to our friends until our expert testers have scratched, clawed, and climbed every bit of them. Here are some shots of our upcoming product called the Elevation.
