So I just did something that Martha Stewart would be so proud of. I re-carpeted one of my cats cat trees. It was a little daunting but once I started I was forced to figure it out and finish it quickly. I had two very angry and curious cats wondering what the hell I was doing to their beloved cat tree. So this is what I did. I went to a carpet store and bought a good sized carpet remnant. I picked a low pile plush in a neutral color. The four wide by 10 foot long piece of carpeting cost me $64. Then I bought wood screws, a new utility knife and Gorilla glue to use along with my industrial stapler that I own. I can never find my utility knives when I need them. I think I put them away for safe keeping then can never remember when I need them where I stashed them. Then when I don't need them, there they are all ten of them. So after gathering my materials and doing a quick internet search to ensure that its possible to take apart your cat tree and re-carpet yourself I started pulling out the original staples and nails. Oh man, this was the roughest part. I thought it would be the easiest part but those staples and nails were dug into the wood. My hands and fingers are all ripped up and bloody. Plus, the original carpet on the cat tree was old and decaying and created a huge mess on my floor. Let's just say that as I removed the carpeting and dismantled the tree my cats got more and more pissed off. They love their tree. They have torn it up since they moved in. They love it and hang from it and sleep on it everyday and night. I've never been meowed at so much since I got them. It took me two days to completely strip the tree then re-carpet it and reassemble it. Two days of cat hell. And it's not like they didn't have another much larger much plusher tree to use. Chloe and Ursula wanted both trees in circulation. So I dismantled and de-carpeted the trees and saved the old carpet pieces to use as a templates for cutting the new pieces. The carpet cutting, gluing and affixing the each piece went fairly quickly. It was the reassembly that took some time. Trying to figure out exactly where the connection points (original nail holes) were but once I got them things went pretty easy. The stand isn't as perfect as it was before, there are some small gaps the bottom and the top platform looks like its tilted slightly to me. And I cannot find my meter long level to see if its level BUT Chloe and Ursula are so happy with the re-carpeted tree that they actually purr as to walk to it, they hug it and rub their faces on every part of it. So despite the slight misalignment it was worth the money and time to redo it myself. The tree original cost $175 10 years ago (it was a gift from a friend who's own cat didn't like the tree because she had been declawed). My old cat Libby loved it and used it very gingerly for scratching. Libby mainly lounged on it and watched the birds outside. Ursula and Chloe inherited it from Libby and immediately they loved it too but they set about ripping the carpeting to shreds. Ursy and Chloe, although they are sisters from the same litter, they don't share very well so I had to buy a second larger cat tree for them. The place I bought the second tree from sells them at a heavily discounted price but I now know why. The one I bought home was INFESTED with all sorts of nasty weird insects. Once I got it in my warm apartment these bugs started climbing out and for a day roamed my apartment. I had to take out my Scrunci Steam Cleaner and blast the entire stand for hours to kill and drive out every bug. I was pissed and the cats didn't trust the new tree for a while. Now they love the second tree too. They have in 2 1/2 years started to destroy this stand too. It's next for re-carpeting but its very complex, so I'm taking my time with that one. So here are some pictures of how things went down with cat tree number one. The Befores, Durings and Afters. Before: Uggh, the damage my girls can do Every side of it is ripped to shreds But they still love it, even though it was a shambles Ursy tries to stop me from starting the project During: Chloe mourns the carnage, she was really upset The girls inspect and protect they new carpet from possible carpet thieves Yes, that is the large basin of cat grass next to the carpet remnant. After: TAH DAH! Done new carpet and reassembled. Happy Chloe on the finished tree " I loves you so much tree! Don't ever leave me again!" Inspecting the goods Happy Ursula loves the tree too Happy! Happy! JOY! JOY!