Owning a pet can significantly improve the quality of your life. After all, they’re a lovable companion who can keep you company when you’re lonely and cheer you up when you’re down.
To ensure that the two of you live in harmony together, though, your home needs to be pet-friendly. That means making changes that increase the animal’s comfort, keeps them safe, and generally meets their needs while also keeping the place relatively clean.
These six interior design ideas should help you strike the right balance so you and your animal companion can have a happy home life.
Install Tile Flooring
Each flooring option has its benefits regarding aesthetics, ease of cleaning, comfort, etc. That’s something you need to consider when trying to make a home more pet-friendly.
While carpet might be nicer to walk on, it can be harder to clean if you have a dog tracking in mud, shedding fur, and running all over the place. Hardwood floors also look nice and are less problematic than carpet, but they do scratch quite easily. They also require a lot of attention because they stain quickly when exposed to water.
Where possible, it’s worth switching to laminate flooring or tiles. The latter are particularly good because they’re more scratch-resistant and can keep your pet cool on hot days. Meanwhile, the former is easy to clean, provided you know the right tips and tricks.
When child-proofing a home, one of the most critical areas to focus on is electrics. It’s no different when it comes to pet-proofing.
Animals, particularly cats and dogs, love chewing things they shouldn’t, and if it’s electrics they decide to focus on, it could have serious consequences. The best thing to do is keep wires as far out of reach as possible, so your pet doesn’t spot them. This doesn’t always work, though, especially if you have a cat that loves getting to hard-to-reach places.
In that case, you’ll also want to invest in pet wire protectors. These are coverings that go over any wires and offer a strong line of defence. Your animal companion will have a hard time chewing or scratching their way through these, keeping them safe from harm.
Create A Safe Space
Every pet deserves an area in their home that’s theirs. This doesn’t have to be an entire room if you don’t have space – a section under the stairs or even a table will do, depending on the size of the animal.
Obviously, to make this space special, you’ll want to deck it out with some comfortable bedding and plenty of toys. There’s plenty on offer at Time For Paws, where such essentials are available for a wide variety of pets. Whether you’re looking to treat your dog, cat, guinea pig, rabbit, or ferret, you should find what you need easily. Plus, they stock all the food, grooming, healthcare and hygiene essentials you could want, so your pet never needs to run short of anything.
Buy Furniture Covers
You can tell your pets to stop jumping on the furniture until you’re blue in the face, but that won’t necessarily stop them. They’re smarter than you may think, and even if you try to prevent them from getting on the sofa, they may still find a way to do it when you’re not looking.
Instead of fighting them forever, plenty of pet owners eventually relent and allow their pets to join them on the furniture. Doing this doesn’t mean you have to accept that everything will be covered in fur from now on, though.
For one, you can buy some blankets or throws to cover items like the sofa. This will catch a lot of the fur that your pet sheds and hide it if you get a design that matches the colour. Having a few of these around will allow you to alternate every so often, meaning you can clean one when it’s dirty without exposing your furniture.
Moreover, it might be worth changing your furniture to materials that don’t gather fur as much. Something like leather can be good because fur doesn’t stick to it, and it’s relatively tough against claw marks.
Introduce Pet-Friendly Pets
Indoor plants are supposed to bring plenty of benefits, from helping people relax to increasing productivity. However, while they might be great for humans, they sometimes pose a threat to pets. It all depends on what plants you have in your home.
There’s a list here of certain plants that shouldn’t be hazardous, even if your animal companion treats them as a snack. Having these around – out of the way, if possible – will mean you still get to reap those great benefits without worrying about any consequences.
If you’re ever concerned about whether some greenery is safe or not, you can always contact an organisation like the RSPCA. Animal welfare is their priority, so they’ll offer any advice you need. Alternatively, speak with your local veterinarian, especially if your pet is acting differently after eating any plants in your home.
Put Up Pet Gates
Don’t want your pet to have access to certain rooms? If so, it’s definitely worth installing a pet gate here or there to block entry.
It’s no different to a baby gate and serves the double purpose of keeping your pet safe while also stopping them from going places they shouldn’t. Something like this could be ideal if you don’t want them getting under your feet while cooking and potentially causing an accident.
You can find gates in various sizes, as well as with different purposes. For instance, some come with a cat flap that allows cats through but not dogs. If you have a part of your home that’s solely for your cat, this might help to keep other pets at bay. Of course, it only works if the dog is too big to fit through the flap.
A pet-friendly home caters to your animal companion while also preventing them from destroying everything. Hopefully, these design ideas will help you find a good balance between those two things.
