DIY Stuffed Animal Zoo Tower

Attach the shorter 1x3 crosspieces to the 2x2 legs with screws, predrilling if needed to prevent splitting, and glue every joint.

Check each assembly for square by measuring the diagonals between opposite outside corners — the two diagonal measurements must match. If they don't, push the corners of the longer diagonal together until they do. This step matters more than it looks like it should: the whole rope grid's spacing depends on it.

Add the longer 1x3 crosspieces to the front and back, connecting the two end assemblies into a complete frame, using the same square-checking method as before.

Stain or paint the frame now, before any rope goes on — it's far easier to finish a bare frame than to work around forty feet of installed cord.

Install the screw eyes at your planned crossing points, then run rope, bungee, or elastic cord corner to corner and side to side to form a net-like grid, securing with the rope clamps. Mount the finished frame to a wall — it has essentially no floor footprint, so it depends on the wall anchoring for stability. Stuffed animals wedge into the grid gaps and stay put on their own tension.