Every responsible and loving home owner with pets will agree that these furry creatures make wonderful additions to the household. Pets bring with them unconditional love and unrelenting loyalty to the home, as well as the uncannyability to make a spectacular mess for cleaning up after.
You don’t have to sacrifice your home’s style to keep it pet-friendly. Try these great decorating ideas to make your home safe, both for and from pets:
- Get hard surface floors
- Opt for stain-resistant fabrics
- Use your pet’s fur as inspiration
- Give your pets their own furniture
- Get a chic pet bowl
Using wall-to-wall carpet isn’t a good idea when you have pets. Choose more durable flooring like hardwood floors, stained concrete or ceramic tile. These floors are easy to clean and give the home a more elegant look. They can also give your furry friends a cool place to sleep when the DC weather gets hot.
Avoid using natural stone materials for your floors. For example, marble or travertine floors have a tendency to stain even if sealed due to chemicals produced by your pets.
Make cleaning up your pet’s messes easier by choosing stain-resistant fabrics like treated leather, coated cotton, and wool blends. You can also go for microfiber, a durable material that can cope with much wear and tear from pets and can handle strong upholstery cleaners. Ultrasuede is also a good choice because it’s a machine-washable type of microfiber that has all the appealing qualities of real suede.
Take some designing cues from your pets to really tie everything together. Make your home’s color scheme the same as your Dalmatian’s coat. Or put down some orange throw pillows to match your orange tabby. Inspiration from pets gives you the perfect opportunity to get creative with color.
Complementing your pet’s fur isn’t just a cool design choice, it’s also a practical one. If you have a cat or dog that continuously sheds, having floors or furniture of the same color makes the hair they leave behind less noticeable.
Pets have a tendency of taking over the whole house and ruining some really good furniture. You can prevent this from happening by simply getting them furniture of their own. Give them cushions, stools, beds, and scratching posts to make them feel like they have a space for themselves.
Remember, these pet-furniture should be designed to complement the fixtures and overall style of your home. Pets are very sociable creatures so put their furniture near yours. This will keep them close enough to you while you work or relax.
Your pet’s food bowls and dishes are usually always out in the open so turn these into decorative pieces. A simple way to accomplish this is by getting nice elevated stands made from stainless steel or wood and wipe-clean mats to make cleanup easy.
You can also go all out and create a feeding station especially built for your pets. These feeding stations can have hidden compartments to hide treats and built-in elevated holders for bowls.
Interested in getting a pet-friendly home? Heller Coley Reed can help you find the perfect property for you. Connect with the team today by calling 301.674.2829 or sending an email to hellercoleyreed(at)gmail(dotted)com