Creative people, please read! I need some help. :)

[Cataholic]

I have a wall in my living room that I intend to make into a cat hang out wall. I am going to put 12 inch wide by 36 inch long plank boards, in a staggered pattern, so that the cats can, literally, hang out on the wall. It will create more vertical space in my tiny home, and help alleviate some spacing issues.

I envision about 8 planks. Two in the middle of the wall, and three on each side of them, so that a cat can start low on either side, right off the floor (maybe not right off, but about 12 inches off), and go all the way up the wall, on either side- like stair steps. Does that make sense?

I want to create a mural behind the wall first. I want it to blend in with the planks, or connect the planks to some sort of design. I have thought of a tree look...but the planks will need to be horizontal with the wall, and that isn't really going to look tree like, but it might work. I would paint a trunk (well, I sure wouldn't, but I would hire someone to do it!!), and then the planks might have a few branches coming off them, with leaves, a bird house or three, etc.

Any other ideas? I am not very 'country' or 'woodsy', so I don't love the tree idea...but I have NO ability to think creatively!!!

Thanks in advance~

[BitsyNaceyDog]

A pet trainer we really love suggested we do the same thing with planks/platforms mounted on the wall in our house. We're in the process of mapping it out. We're planning on mounting them near our laundry room door and putting one of the platforms over the doorway. I have no idea how to make a mural work behind it, but I love that idea of the whole thing. Good luck with your project!

[pomtzu]

Creativity is not something I was blessed with either, but I do have an idea.

Do you ever watch My Cat From Hell on Animal Planet? Jackson Galaxy (the cat whisperer) has had some folks do some very creative, yet simple, wall work for their cats. You might want to check out that web site and see if you can find anything there.

[Karen]

What's the rest of the room like in terms of colors?

[Randi]

Johanna, that is an excellent plan, I'm sure they'll be thrilled and have a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I don't have any ideas of how to do it, but check some websítes.

Can't wait to see the result!

[Karen]

If you wanted a forest theme, you could do two, or three trees, depending on the shape of the wall - A half trunk on either edge and one in the middle, with intertwining branches coming off it.

You could do a "cityscape" theme, with some buildings ending at one shelf and others continuing up behind it, and the bottom shelf being the "top" of a fence - we know cats adore walking on fence tops.

You could go whimsical, with a sea-theme, and painted "kelp" supporting the shelves, and fishes behind

or abstract and just Mondrian-like blocks of color behind the shelves, and intersecting them ...

or Asian - bamboo forest with a tiger lurking between the canes

or literary - paint a bookcase with some books with cat-themed titles on the spots where the shelves don't reach ...

Need more?

[Cataholic]

Pom- I LOVE that show. I haven't seen him do decor, but I know he does recommend the vertical space thingy. He is partially the reason I am doing it, and I saw another couple do their whole house like that..cut out, the whole thing. I am not going to go to that extreme.

Karen- those are some GREAT ideas. I love, esp the bookcase, the fence (which Jonah and I talked about this am), the city scape....LOVE it...... I am as unmodern and as unwhimsical as they come- so nothing like that, but even the bamboo forest....LOVE it. I

The rest of the room is beige/tan walls, white shutters on the windows, a fir-place (non working)...maybe I should take some pics of the room and put it up here, just in case someone sees something that really speaks to them. Though, I prolly will choose one of the ones Karen suggested.

[sasvermont]

Hi!

If I were going to do the plank/board thing, I think I would pick a few colors I love and paint the wall with the colors in a pattern I would like to see for years. Then I would paint the boards to blend in the wall colors. I might try to contrast them, but knowing me, I would match the color of the wall to the board. So lets say you do three colors up and down or side to side, then paint the boards accordingly. Does this make sense? If the wall stays white and you like green, maybe paint all the boards green and some door trim the same green..... or maybe paint the boards white? I like the idea of colors added, but don't know what you like.

[ChrisH]

Johanna, don't know if this is of interest but you can buy wall murals in a kind of large wallpaper form. They have various scenes on this site.

http://www.muralsuperstore.com/index.htm

I like this one.
http://www.muralsuperstore.com/catal...rd_4274571.htm

[Cataholic]

SAS- I don't think I do know what you mean, but I am interested in understanding it!!

Chris- oooohhhhhhh.....now you have me going in a totally different direction!

[kittycats_delight]

http://www.muralsuperstore.com/catalog/porch_9.jpg
http://www.muralsuperstore.com/00282_small.jpg
http://www.muralsuperstore.com/catal...arge_small.jpg

I think these could work. Just have to paint the shelves to match the colors where they lay against the background.

http://www.muralsuperstore.com/catal..._kat_small.jpg

or this too could work the same way.

http://www.muralsuperstore.com/catalog/UMB91025L.jpg

or even this one.

[Karen]

You could always hire a local art student to do the mural of your choice, or even draw it out for you and Jonah to fill in the colors on! That way you have a one-of-a-kind wall, for certain!

[Alysser]

I LOVE Karen's idea.

Maybe I'm a dork, but I think a space theme would be cool. The moon and some stars..I don't know that'd just be really pretty. Good luck and I really hope we get to see some pics when it's all finished!

[Husky_mom]

you might also use carpeting.. I bet it'd be fun for the kitties to climb the wall.. lol..

[Cataholic]

Husky mom- did you fall down and crack your head? LOL...truly, they would love it, and I would go crazy!

Kittycat delight, off to view more of your links!

Thanks, guys!