Pet-friendly interiors. Discover how to design pet-friendly interiors with space division, durable fabrics and materials. Here are tips to create a harmonious home for you and your furry friends.
Pet-friendly furniture
This term refers to a project designed and customised to meet the needs of our four-legged friends. Dogs and cats are, in fact, permanent fixtures in many people’s homes and are considered family members by them.
If you also have animals in your home, living with them means you must follow many rules to make them feel comfortable and create a harmonious coexistence. These rules, of course, apply to more than just the simple provision of food and water. In addition to these two basic needs, ensuring an animal-friendly environment that makes them feel protected and comfortable is essential.
How? Very simply by designing furniture that fully respects their needs. That fully respects their needs by adopting solutions to ensure your animals’ well-being. Let’s find out what they are!
The importance of space division
When discussing animals in the home, we generally refer to dogs and cats. Although many people turn to unconventional choices, such as adopting dwarf rabbits, ferrets or even reptiles, the most common pets in our homes continue to be Fido and Kitty.
Many people even choose to have both, only to realise that getting them to get along is not accessible if your pets behave like ‘cats and dogs‘. However, the fault may not lie solely with their different species but rather with the fact that you have not created an effective space division.
Every animal needs its own space, even if it is forced to share the house with other animals or housemates of different species.
So, let’s see which areas you should provide for each of your animals and how best to arrange them.
Feeding area
Let us start immediately with what represents every animal’s primary need: eating. When it eats, an animal likes to do so quietly and without the fear that a possible housemate might steal its food.
That is why it is of great importance that each animal has two personal food bowls, one for food and one for water, and that both are separate from those of the other animals in the house.
This applies all the more so if you have decided to have a dog and a cat living together: in this case, the separation should be even more evident to prevent your two four-legged friends from spitefully stealing each other’s food.
Play area
Play is another essential requirement. In this case, however, rather than an actual play area, the ideal would be to distribute toys throughout the house so that your four-legged friends can find and discover them.
The balls are perfect for both dogs and cats. In addition to those, however, it would be good to provide more specific games.
For dogs, they are excellent:
- fake bones;
- chewable puppets;
- Lanyards.
For cats, on the other hand:
- the balls of yarn;
- cardboard boxes;
- Stuffed mice.
In addition to these toys, however, a cat also needs a ‘puller‘, i.e., a structure that runs vertically and, depending on the model, includes poles, shelves, and even kennels.
All elements allow your feline friend to get his nails done and have fun! Cat scratching posts on the market are also gorgeous: fundamental design elements that will charm your interior.
Sleeping area
The term ‘sleeping area’ is a misnomer. Unlike us, dogs and cats are not required to follow a daily rou¬tine, so they can sleep whenever they feel like it. Therefore, we need to provide them with more than a sleeping area, which, especially if we live in a small apartment, can be a simple kennel. Many designer kennels on the market are specially designed to look good in the home.
Don’t expect your pets to use them; your dog is likelier to nap on the sofa beside you. Or, in the case of a cat, it snubs the designer kennel, preferring to curl up in the cardboard box. But then again, don’t we love them for that too?
Still on the subject of cats, if your cat is a classic apartment cat, you must devise a ‘needs area’: a quiet, sheltered place to place the sandbox.
Here, too, the market comes to the rescue by offering the possibility of purchasing designer litter boxes that, seen from the outside, look like elegant furnishing accessories. In this way, you not only provide your cat with a luxury bathroom but also do not negatively affect the aesthetics of your home.
Freedom of movement
Dogs and cats love to move freely between outdoor and indoor spaces, and it is convenient for you and them to do so independently.
For this reason, we recommend that you equip at least one door or French window (usually the secondary one) with a particular swinging door/window that will allow the animals to go in and out as they please. If access needs to be controlled, inside or outside, the door-locking devices allow you to do so in peace.
Details to pay attention to
Pets’ health must come first, so toxic substances and rubbish must not be within reach.
Dogs love to sniff anything that appeals to their sense of smell, so cleaning agents must be stored in well-protected and inaccessible places to prevent liquids from being ingested.
The same applies to house plants, one of the cats’ favourite ‘prey’. In particular, you should keep your four-legged friends away from harmful and potentially toxic poinsettias, ivy, holly and cycla¬mines, and potentially toxic.
When it eats, an animal likes to do so quietly and without the fear that a possible housemate might steal its food.
In addition to this, since your goal is a harmonious co-existence between animals and the rest of the family, it is of utmost importance that you also pay attention to the general furnishing of the house, opting for animal-proof solutions and materials. Here, too, focusing on individual elements can be very helpful.
Upholstery
No use fooling yourself. Suppose you have chosen to share your home with one or more animals, fabrics such as leather, faux leather, velvet, silk and, in general, all delicate and valuable materials. In that case, we should almost forget about them. Opting for sin¬tetic materials such as nylon (great for tap¬pets) or removable and easily washable fabrics for sofas, such as synthetic fibres, is much better.
Curtains
When it comes to curtains, the ideal would be to opt for light, breathable fabrics with a minimalist, no-frills design. This advice is especially valid for cat owners who, as is well known, cannot resist ropes, cords and various frills.
Floors
Another ‘sore’ spot when furnishing a house with dogs and cats is the flooring choice. If your furry friends are pawing around the house, opting for solid and durable materials is imperative, thus avoiding luxury or exceptionally high-quality flooring.
However, this certainly does not mean renouncing aesthetics! Of the many possible options, stoneware is the best.
There are many designer beds on the market that are specially designed to look good in the home.
Besides being highly resistant, this material faithfully reproduces valuable materials such as marble, wood, or ceramics. This solution will give you a durable floor that is beautiful and easy to clean.
Furniture
Pet-friendly furnishings also include household furniture. As with upholstery and flooring, opting for durable materials that effectively resist bites and scratches would be a good idea. Metal is an excellent solution, perhaps used as a simple covering for pet-friendly areas, such as feet and supports.
Our proposed solutions represent general tips to ensure the most harmonious co-existence possible with your four-legged friends. Implementing them effectively, however, is not so simple, as they must inevitably be adapted to the type of house you live in, your needs and habits.
Thank you for reading the article to the end. Your reading contribution was significant to us.
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