Modular Cat Condo

An original concept for cat furniture designs

2 week Industrial Design Capstone project

Industrial Design | Product Research | Sketching

My goal was to come up with an original design for cat furniture that is modular, space-saving, aesthetically pleasing, and easy to clean.

Beans, a tuxedo cat, sitting in a cat hammock attached to a window

This is my housemate's cat, Beans.

We absolutely adore her and naturally couldn't help but spoil her

with all sorts of cat trees, beds, and toys. With all the space her things took up, we jokingly dubbed our small living room area as "Beans' Room" — it had quickly become a colorful obstacle course of mismatched cat furniture.

Our situation presented an interesting design challenge, and

I chose to explore it for my Industrial Design Capstone Project.

Tools used: SketchBook, Blender (3D modeling), Photoshop

PRODUCT RESEARCH

First, I familiarized myself with existing cat furniture options through market research and then interviewed 3 cat owners to identify pain points they experienced with these products. Examples: cat trees, condos, beds, scratch posts, tunnels, etc.

I decided to narrow down my target population to cat owners renting or living in small apartments (and, of course, their cats). Their unique needs ruled out furniture designs requiring permanent fixtures or major modifications to walls and such.

SKETCHING AND EXPLORATION

Concepts I explored: modularity, window attachments, storage space, built-in toys

Sketch Page

I chose a design direction and looked at more products to further visualize and define the various elements of my idea:

Moodboard of images that inspired my design

My final design concept borrows elements of the above images.

I explored this "Bike Chain Concept" in different configurations and made 3D models on Blender to use as underlays to depict the design in various perspectives.

Sketch page exploring the bike chain concept in various configurations

FINAL DESIGN

Inspired by bike chains, this furniture concept has a modular, flexible design that can be arranged in different configurations, allowing for greater flexibility in the amount of floor space it occupies.

The wood finish does not trap cat fur, and the cushions can easily be washed or cleaned, making maintenance easy.

The materials used and the ability to switch out the cushions help this cat condo blend into the owner's home decor.

Design in context: a cat curled up on one of the cushions and the silhouette of a person standing next to the cat furniture

REFLECTIONS

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out realistic, feasible mechanisms that would allow the flexibility to arrange the cat furniture in various configurations and still be taken apart with ease.

It was really interesting to have found that inspiration in bike chains!

I love cats. I love furniture. I love IKEA. I loved my Industrial Design course.

I enjoyed working on this project so much that I continued exploring more colorways, materials, and finished, even after we'd gotten our final grades.