Mid Mod-ing the Cats

One of the difficulties of moving to a mid century modern home was that none of our furniture matched. So we got rid of most of it and started fresh. But the cats needed their cat condos so we brought those along. We have 3 cats – Annie the calico, Benny the terrorist, and Sunshine pictured below, who adopted us because our former neighbor did not take care of her. So she came along with us to Napa and, as you can tell, she is loving it here. We haven’t been able to completely keep her inside (she was left out 24/7) but she comes in at night.

I equate the carpet covered cat condos to Frasier’s dads chair – they’re tacky looking, but oh so comfy.

Martin Crane's Recliner - FRASIER

Our calico, Annie, lounges in this thing all day. What cat wouldn’t – with all the windows, she can gaze at birds all day! At least she isn’t on the furniture….

I could sleep all day in this thing!

I started to look for a more modern looking cat condo and found a website called Modern Cat! This German design caught my eye.

But not the pricetag $2000 and up – yikes!
So we asked Jeff, the Eichler Siding guy, if he could design one like it. And this is what he came up with:

 Of course the big question was, would the cats like it? I stuck different pieces of fun fur on it and waited to see what would happen.
 Obviously Benny loves it! It is still unpainted and we have been trying to decide on colors. Should I go bright art piece? Or blend into the room? Either way, we love it!!
Annie may be a tougher sell. She loves that ugly, ratty cat condo!
Sigh.
 
Michelle

Michelle

Welcome to The Napa Project, where I write about our five year remodel of a mid century home in Napa, California.

6 thoughts on “Mid Mod-ing the Cats

  1. OMG … I LOVE IT! It’s a work of art. Doesn’t that figure… cats never do what we WANT them to do or play with the toys we buy and want them to love. I bet Annie warms up to the whole “I’m a modern kitty” idea. It’s too cool for her to resist, I’m sure. AMAZING! He could totally sell these.

    Your cats are gorgeous!

  2. How did I miss this post? I cannot stand the carpet cat condos and we have had them for sure. I love your new one! Seriously love it. It is so sculptural and looks cool with a cat peeking out. The painting of it is thought provoking? Would you go multi-color? I wonder if your Eichler siding guy wants to make another one? AND, would our Calico Annie even bother with it. She sucks at climbing which cracks me up. Her brother gets away from her by jumping up to a shelf we keep newspapers on. Annie has a bit of a caboose and really never seemed to figure out jumping. She does look just like your Annie which is kind of cool as well.

    1. Hi Rebecca! Sorry for the delay in responding, I’ve been sick as a dog. I’m hoping Jeff will make us another smaller one, for Annie. I doubt very much both cats will share one condo lol. If you are interested in one, I would shoot him an email or call him. We sent it off to get painted, we decided to go with one solid orange color. Benjamin Moore Calypso Orange, I believe. Can’t wait to finish it!

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