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Green Pet Furniture. Will you pay more?

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greenwashesEveryone 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.....

"We're going to maximize profits by selling irresponsible, toxic products and (for those trying to have a conscience), we'll offer something technically a little greener so that they can buy something too."  And it will all be made in our giant factory in China employing children, and dumping sludge into local waterways.  Ok, this is sounding like a rant, so let's get calmed down and down to brass tax, or even better, your money and how you choose to spend it.

Making quality pet furniture out of responsible materials and labor sources costs more (quite a bit more) than using cheaper materials that look basically the same to the casual observer.

Making quality pet furniture out of responsible materials and labor sources costs more (quite a bit more) than using cheaper materials that look basically the same to the casual observer.  I'm sitting right now at a (nearly brand new) table that I purchased from a local furniture store.  It looks great, but already the chairs are starting to wobble and if I try to tighten the screws, they just spin and spin.  I was going to make this table, but there was no time and this was convenient.  I really don't know what's in the finish, or if it's off-gassing right now.  I suspect it is.  But it was a great deal so I bought it anyway, shame on me!

So when you're shopping for a nice cat scratcher or cat condo, or cat tree for your good friend "Fluffy", how much do you really value what it's made of, or where it's made?  Having had some experience in this field, I can say "not much".  The vast majority of consumers still care about price above all, then style/quality (appearance), then if it doesn't cost any more, how eco-friendly it is.  It appears that those things that don't have a direct impact on us in the near term do not come into the calculus when the credit card is in play.  Maybe you are the exception! :)

So, here at WhiskerStudio, we don't push "eco-friendly" too hard, after all most companies that are too "out front" with that message are probably "green washing" their pet furniture, or making statements that are technically true, but misleading.  As it turns out, some of the greener materials available, while more expensive, are actually of higher quality!

So no "green guilt" marketing here.  If you like they way one of our pet products looks and functions, and you believe the price is fair and in-line with our competition, they by all means let's do some pet furniture commerce!  Just so you know, it will be made of cabinet-grade plywood with no added urea-formaldehyes, and high quality water-based stains and finishes.  But you don't have to bank on it!

 

 

 

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Whisker Studio Blog
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!

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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!!

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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?

greenwashesEveryone 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.....

Read more...
 
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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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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.

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P1010114We 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.

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