DKCat is a California-based organization operate by Dani Kilmer. DKCat’s focus is eco-pleasant yet contemporary cat towers and scratchers. Mad About Pets was fortunate plenty of to score an exclusive interview with Ms. Kilmer, and find out far more about her incredible company DKCat and how it all acquired began:
-How did you get into designing pet furniture?
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I worked as an inside designer ahead of beginning DK Cat just above a 12 months back, and one particular of my preferred components of that task was designing the specifics for custom casework and constructed-in furnishings. (picture left: Dani Kilmer) I also loved restoring old furnishings in my spare time. So when we extra cat #3 to the household and desperately needed a much better cat tree, I obviously made a decision I would layout and develop one for myself. I commenced by overhauling an outdated cat tree I had obtained at a pet shop years prior to — replacing the shaggy dusty carpet with a much better good quality 1, incorporating wood trim edges and re-roping the shredded sisal. It turned out alright, but nevertheless had some inherent clumsy layout flaws, in my view, as effectively as crude connection facts.
I then started doing work on prototypes for a new and improved cat tree that ultimately grew to become the “Platform C.” I gave them to buddies and loved ones, and it got fantastic feedback from cat and human testers alike. I was looking for a occupation shift at the time anyway, and the slowing economic system ultimately provided the chance to consider the leap and commence a new organization.
-What is your design qualifications?
I studied inside design and style at the University of Missouri in Columbia, then relocated to San Francisco and worked for 12 a long time at 3 different architecture firms on a selection of healthcare and academic jobs. I acquired a great deal of style education on the task due to the fact the bar was genuinely large, and I faced these kinds of a variety of design problems planning for sick men and women and pupils. I also in fact arrive from a lengthy line of Mennonites who had been quite inventive but practical, and that feeling of simplicity and authenticity was instilled in me and definitely influences my style tendencies. I am also usually taking style-relevant classes like photography, painting, woodworking, and have been learning Visual Arts at the University of California – Berkeley’s Extension for the past two years to further my appreciation and apply of artwork and design and style.
-How do you select which components to make your goods from?
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I pick components that are all-natural and/or eco-pleasant, initial and foremost. I frequently depend on what I realized about sustainable materials when I was operating as a LEED accredited interior designer. I realized from encounter that two of the main components utilised in producing cat furnishings, carpet and plywood, equally are indoor air polluters and can be poisonous (and unpleasant!). So those had been the 1st two issues I set out to increase. I realized about Interface Flor’s large quality carpet tile, which is much better for indoor air good quality and employs recycled resources, and I found a formaldehyde-free of charge plywood created from bamboo. I also am fortunate to have accessibility to several green building salvage yards in the Bay Area, wherever I gather reclaimed wood studs for the scratching posts as an alternative of acquiring new ones, which means fewer trees are lower down. They get totally covered in sisal, so it does not matter if they are not brand name new. The sisal and wood trim are both new materials, but completely natural. I only use non-poisonous wood glue and water-primarily based stains and finishes. Other than the “green” standards, I look for items with textural attributes that make intriguing combinations with the other supplies.
-What is the manufacturing approach like for your furniture?
I at present make every little thing myself, with some help from my husband for the large lifting. I work out of a small workshop attached to the property (aka the garage). The procedure involves a blend of pre-cutting particular components in advance, these kinds of as the plywood structures and wood posts. After that, every single products is manufactured to buy. I start off by making the perch(es), which involves attaching the wood trim to the bamboo plywood, then staining and/or finishing the wood trim. When people are completed, the posts get attached, then wrapped in two widths of sisal rope (for enhanced texture and enhanced longevity). Ultimately, further perches are attached (dependent on the product) and the carpet tiles are inserted. The method incorporates a selection of methods, every fulfilling in its own way — cutting wood is loud, dirty and empowering, even though very carefully painting on the wood finishes is peaceful, calming and virtually Zen-like.
-What is your favourite piece of pet furnishings you’ve made?
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It is difficult to choose which is my favored! It is most likely the one particular the cats like the very best, which is the real objective in creating them, and that would have to be the “Platform T,” as I have dubbed it. It is a customized taller edition of the 26-inch high “Platform C.” (image left) It is 5 feet tall and has four perches in addition to the base. All of the perches are anchored to a significant central sisal publish, and that post is subjected on one facet to enable them to really shimmy up the total height of the tree. It lives following to the sliding glass doorway, exactly where the views of birds and squirrels are the greatest. All a few of the cats can in shape at as soon as to observe the outdoors or perform together. I have been functioning on developing this layout for DK Cat as properly, but unfortunately have run into some roadblocks when it comes to shipping. It is also a small huge to deal with in my modest workshop by myself. I have began doing work on a four-foot higher edition while, which I anticipate will be simpler to ship. Hopefully you will see it on dkcat.com someday this 12 months!
Up next…Mad About Pets’ evaluation of the DKcat Perch!
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