If you happen to follow my Thrifty Thursday segment on Good Day Sacramento, or have read any of my blog posts, you know I am a big fan of Pinterest. Maybe it’s my competitive nature, or maybe I’m a Marta Stewart wannabe at heart. Call it what you will, but when a “pin” catches my eye, I become obsessed with trying to recreate it using thrifted items (and no instructions)…which brings me to today’s blog topic; Thrifty Cat Bunk Beds. Here’s my “pinspiration:”

 

Interestingly enough, I do not own a cat, but felt the need to recreate this project because it’s just that cool. I went in search for a coffee table that had the bones necessary for this project. I picked up this “vintage” piece at Thrift Town on their color tag sale for $10. Tip: Thrift Town has a weekly color tag rotation sale whereby one color tag is 50% off each week.

Next I hit the luggage section of the store in hopes of finding a nice vintage suitcase to serve as the bed section. I lucked out and scored this piece for $1.99!

 

Disclaimer: most of the time I do not look up instructions on how to complete a project. I like to let my mind work out the details. However, I frequently run into “snags” and if I can’t look up the answer to my snafu online, I must call in the big guns. Thus those are not my “man hands” in the following pictures, but those of my father aka Big Papa, who without him, many of my projects would not be possible much to his faked annoyance. Thanks Dad!

Assembly steps:

1. Unscrew all the table legs from the coffee table (which I completed all on my own, thank you very much).

2. Cut holes in the vintage suitcase where you wish for the legs to go, in both the top and bottom bunks/suitcase. You most likely will need a razor/sharp scissors, and if it’s lined like most vintage suitcases are, be sure to cut a hole in the lining or the fabric will get stuck on your power tools.

 

3. Reinforce the legs into place by screwing in, well screws, to connect the suitcase to the legs.

4. Insert luxuriously fluffy pet beds for your cats snuggle pleasure.

All done! Not too hard, and pretty close to the original if I do say so myself. If possible, it would be a very good idea to reinforce the top bunk with a piece of wood or the bunk beds can be a bit unstable. You most likely can use part of the coffee table. Here’s our finished project, complete with a real cat who loves it’s new bunk bed.

 

Here’s the link to my project’s debut on Good Day Sacramento’s Thrifty Thursday.

http://gooddaysacramento.cbslocal.com/video/8835655-thrifty-thursday-pampering-your-pets-part-1/

Happy Thrifting!

 

Gina Doglione-Nielsen is featured every week on Good Day Sacramento’s Thrifty Thursdays, and owns GNJ Consulting which handles Public, Social, and Media Relations for Thrift Town Stores. Gina lives in Northern California with her amazing husband Josh, and is constantly on the go with three “very active” and “strong personality” bambinos; aka Team Nielsen, and loves every minute of it.