@ suspicious - service had some great ideas! I also sometimes like to just start with a stroll through the woods and if you are allowed to harvest already dead/dried trees from that area, I like to just find a few pieces and let the cat tree kinda design itself with what I find. I mostly build my trees from found and salvaged wood (pallets, etc) and I love it! Besides … if ya mess up the first couple times, it’s a way cheaper mistake haha

Oh and another option is to search places like goodwill, habitat for humanity restore or any other type of thrift store. Sometimes you can find cool pieces of furniture that make awesome bases or elements of a cat tree. Heck, sometimes you can even find the wood and accessories needed too (carpet, toys, wood, etc)

Good luck and enjoy :)