The platforms are not made of one solid piece of wood but rather pieces of wood glued together, but they look like they will hold up well and look fine. I thought the edges were a little sharp so I took about half an hour to manually sand all the edges. I also didn’t care for the rather skimpy felt grey stick-on pads so I bought stick on beige carpet squares like another reviewer suggested, cut them to shape and stuck them on the platforms for improved traction and comfort. We were pleased with the results!
We waited a couple days for the cats to start playing on the structure, but I think they didn’t realize the platforms would hold their weight since they look like they’re floating. So I finally put the cats on the first platform, and they then took to the cat tree very quickly, and are now really having fun! Our cats sharpen their claws on the sisal pole and also sometimes use it to climb straight to the top without the platforms. The platforms are nice for a cat to sit and play on, but probably too small for comfortable sleeping (they have their Mau cat basket tree for that!) This is definitely more like a kitty jungle gym than a place to sleep unless you maybe get the space dome. However, it’s a great structure that takes up little space while entertaining and exercising your cats, and doesn’t clutter up your house. It’s also fun to see them playing up in the air where you can easily see them. We are very happy with the CatForest tree - one of our best kitty investments ever!