We made plans for a few of the posts. We have 5 posts in total I think. One of the posts is a little shelf which has 3 floors (5 actually, but only 3 big enough for the kitties). I agree with you about store bought posts being too expensive! Some are $40 for a little post, that's not even stable!

We used Hot Glue and Nails to attach the Carpet, and Screws to attach the Main Post and the Base together. If you need anymore advice, you can PM me, or post here...Oh, and your kitties will probably trying to hop on the new post before it's even finished when your making it! Mine did