Aaron Landry

Purrrniture Cat Furniture, originally uploaded by Aaron Landry.

A few weeks ago I was at Calhoun Pet Supply with a friend and while looking at cat scratching posts and kitty condos the guy behind the counter explained that the stuff I was looking at was the “best stuff around” and “better than he could get from any national catalog.” He explained it was from Purrrniture Cat Furniture. I knew what he was talking about — I remember seeing the sign on University Avenue in Saint Paul and many people have asked me about what goes on in there.

I decided to drop by today and owner Darryl Michaelson gave me a tour. Purrrniture builds all of their cat furniture from recycled materials such as old 4×4 poles from fence companies and salvage yards, cylindrical cores from industrial rolls of paper and cabling and the carpet pieces are “remnants” from a wholesaler and a few local carpet installers. As he was explaining this we were standing on a piece of carpet the size of a small room. “This is what they consider a remnant,” he pointed out. Not a bad deal.

Michaelson has an employee that builds frames and carpets and another that manages the showroom on Saturdays. They build seventeen base models and also build custom furniture. He showed me an example of one he was finishing up that was based off of a 6 foot design made into a 7.5 foot model by a client’s request.

He stressed that for the furniture to work, it usually has to exist where people are, such as a living room and therefore the furniture has to look good, clean and it “has to fit in.” I asked him to compare his structures to competitors and he felt his furniture had a more “modern look” and a much higher attention to detail. He showed me the clean edges around a surface that work as a cat backrest as well as the particular spacing required between poles and the side of a surface for the carpet to stay attached properly. He also noted that most other cat furniture isn’t designed with an adult cat in mind. I pushed a few pieces of furniture around to test its weight and stability. I smiled and said, “yeah, no way my cat is knocking this over.”

Michaelson credits the Minnesota State Fair for a good portion of Purrrniture’s popularity. After touring events around the region he found out he was a hit at the State Fair and people would visit him there with money in hand after seeing his furniture designs the previous year, having twelve months to decide on what they wanted. Lucky for us, we don’t have to wait so long. Even though Purrrniture is sold in about twenty pet stores, the full collection is available in their showroom. You can bring your cat and Michaelson will even give you a tour of how it’s all built if you ask. There’s also cat toys and supplies available as well.

I know where Nadia‘s getting a holiday gift this year.

Purrrniture Cat Furniture
2242 University Ave W
Saint Paul, MN 55114
651-642-1946