My sister has a flat in Walthamstow with a tabby called Bean and a Made.com sofa she's still paying off. The cat furniture situation, until last year, was a beige carpeted tower that took up the corner the bookcase should have lived in, looked like a half-finished hotel topiary, and shed sisal threads into the rug at a steady rate. Bean adored it. Visitors politely pretended it wasn't there.
This is the unspoken bargain of indoor cat ownership: you accept that one corner of the flat will look like a budget pet shop window, because the alternative is a cat that climbs the curtains. It doesn't have to be like that. There's a quiet category of cat furniture now where the design brief is the room first, the cat second — wall-mounted shelves that read as floating timber, woven cat caves on slim wooden legs, scratchers in oak tones that look more like a midcentury side table than something from a vet's waiting room.
I went hunting for the ones I'd actually put in a small UK flat. Here are the five I'd buy.
The picks
1. The cat cave that passes for a side table — Woven Water Hyacinth Cat House on Wood Legs · £60.99
This is the pick that gave the article its title. It is, genuinely, a piece of woven decor that happens to have a cat-sized opening at the front and a cushion inside. The water hyacinth weave is the same material as half the planters in a decent garden centre, the legs are slim turned timber, and the whole thing reads as a footstool from across the room. Bean's equivalent is in pride of place by my sister's window now, and the carpeted tower is on Marketplace.
- Pros: looks like furniture, lifts the cat off draughty floor level, the cushion is removable for washing, neutral enough to live in a sitting room rather than a utility corner.
- Cons: only suits cats who like enclosed spaces — if yours prefers a perch, save your money. The woven base will hold pet hair and needs the hoover nozzle every week or so.
- Best for: single-cat flats where the cat already curls up in cardboard boxes and under the bed.
See the woven cat house on Villalta Home →
2. The renter's choice that needs no floor space — PawHut 4-Piece Grey Cat Wall Furniture · £54.99
If your sitting room genuinely cannot spare a square metre — and that's most of London's two-bed flats — wall-mounted is the answer. This four-piece set gives a cat a real climbing route: two flat perches, a ramp, and a hanging unit, all in dark grey plush on light timber boards. Fixed properly into studs (use a stud finder; plasterboard anchors alone will not hold an enthusiastic 5kg cat) it stays put for years.
- Pros: zero floor footprint, the timber backing reads as Scandinavian rather than petshop, you can space the pieces to suit your wall and your cat's leap range.
- Cons: needs drilling, so most rental contracts will technically forbid it — though four small holes per shelf are nothing your deposit can't survive. Mounting height matters; too high and an older cat won't bother.
- Best for: owner-occupiers or relaxed landlords, in flats where every floor inch counts.
See the wall furniture on Villalta Home →
3. The one scratcher worth its rug space — Tall Sisal Cat Scratcher with Plush Base · £45.99
The honest truth about cat trees is that 80% of what your cat uses on them is the scratching post and the top perch. The rest — the dangling pom-pom, the second condo, the hammock at calf height — is filler. This 81cm vertical scratcher strips it back: sisal post tall enough for a full-body stretch, plush base, hanging toy ball at the top. That's it. Browns and naturals only, no garish printing.
- Pros: small footprint, full-height sisal (your cat will use the whole length, not just the bottom 20cm), brown plush base disappears against most carpets and wood floors.
- Cons: no enclosed space, so cats that want privacy will still want a separate cave. The base is weighted but a particularly thuggish 6kg cat could topple it — put it against a wall.
- Best for: cats that already scratch the sofa arm and need redirecting. Buy and place next to the sofa, not across the room.
See the scratcher on Villalta Home →
4. The splurge — Wooden Cat Exercise Wheel · £85.99
This is the cat version of a Peloton, and it looks the part — light oak panels, circular silhouette, more sculpture than scratching post. It's not for every cat. Plenty will look at it once and walk off. But for a young indoor cat in a flat with no garden access, a wheel is the difference between a 2am zoomies session that wakes the whole household and a tired cat that sleeps through. The oak finish means it lives in the sitting room without looking like exercise equipment.
- Pros: proper exercise outlet for indoor cats, integrated scratching pads on the inner rim, a brake to lock the wheel still when not in use. Genuinely good-looking in light wood — sits well next to mid-century furniture.
- Cons: takes up roughly the floor space of an armchair. Many cats need a fortnight of training (treats, a wand toy) before they'll step on. Not all will.
- Best for: young, active cats in flats without outdoor access, and owners willing to put in the training time.
See the cat wheel on Villalta Home →
5. The chaise that earns its name — Brown Cat Scratching Chaise Bed · £37.45
The cheapest pick here and the one I keep recommending to friends with one well-behaved cat. It's a corrugated cardboard scratching surface shaped into a chaise longue — proper curves, raised end, brown faux-leather trim that wouldn't look out of place at the foot of a bed. Cats lie on it; they also scratch the surface flat over six months, which is the point. Replacement cardboard inserts are sold separately for under a tenner.
- Pros: small, low, light, looks intentional in a corner. Doubles as a scratcher and a nap spot, which means it earns its floor space twice over. Catnip included.
- Cons: cardboard is consumable — you'll be replacing the insert once or twice a year. Lighter cats only; large breeds will compact it inside weeks.
- Best for: renters and first-time cat owners testing the waters before committing to a £85 wheel.
See the chaise on Villalta Home →
The verdict
If you can only buy one thing, the woven cat house is the pick — it's the rare item that genuinely improves a room rather than tolerates being in it, and most cats take to enclosed spaces without coaxing. For active cats in flats with no garden, the oak exercise wheel is the splurge that will save your curtains. And if you're testing the waters before spending serious money, the brown chaise scratcher at £37 is the smartest first purchase on this list.
By the Villalta Home Editorial team, May 2026. Edited by Juan Antonio Villalta Pacheco.
