Tag: pet decorating tips

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Tips for pet friendly fabrics in your home

Here are my some tips to make the furniture and fabric in your home pet friendly.

TEXTURE AND COLOR FABRICS HIDE FUR

Select sofa and chair fabric with texture or pattern to hide lost fur. As crazy as it sounds, try to pick options that match the colour of your pet. Medium toned grays and creams with flecks of charcoal, brown and black through them are the best for hiding fur. Tweeds and textured herringbones are good for this as well, and look quite stylish today.

NATURAL FIBRES ARE HARDER TO CLEAN

Synthetic fabrics will be much easier to wipe clean should your favorite furry friend have an accident on the furniture. Today’s technology in fabric has made polyesters and nylons look and feel better than ever before. The benefit of these fibers is their non-absorbent qualities, so liquids will not penetrate, giving you time to clean them. Stains and smells can be easier to manage. Also wool, a fiber I generally like, can actually wrap lost fur into its own fiber making the removal of fur almost impossible so rethink this choice.

BUY FURNITURE WITH ZIPPERS

Good quality furniture will have zippers on every pillow including the large seat pillows so buy quality. This is a very important investment to make when you own a pet! This allows you to remove and clean individually soiled sections as required. Covers can even be taken to the dry cleaner for a thorough cleaning if necessary.

CONSIDER LEATHER FURNITURE

Although considerably more expensive, full grain, high quality leather can be a good solution where easy wiping is required. And leather will last a lifetime. I noticed my cat, Matisse, had little interest in being near my leather chairs so he avoided these completely. This is good news as he scratched everything else! If leather is against your principles you can look at excellent vinyl options as an alternative.

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Pet Friendly Apartment Decorating Tips

Getting your apartment decorated and suitable for both you and your four-legged friend can be a challenge. Between your own style, your pet’s needs, and your space restrictions, there’s a lot to think about when decorating for a pet friendly apartment. Read on for a few tips about how to decorate with your pet in mind.

DECORATE UP

Use your wall space as much as possible. Tables and bookshelves can be great for storage and aesthetics, but you run the risk of your valuables getting damaged. Your pet might knock into a table while playing in the house and accidentally break vases, picture frames, artwork, or other expensive decorations. Avoid this by placing your decorations out of reach from your pet. Consider floating shelves, hang artwork on the walls, and keep breakable items away from your four-legged friend.

FLOOR RUGS: DO’S AND DON’TS

If you have hardwood floors, you might want to consider skipping the rugs. Cloth absorbs all sorts of things — smells, spills, bacteria — and you can easily avoid this by sticking with hard, smooth surfaces. If your pet has an accident on your hardwood floors, you can easily clean it up without anything soaking into the floor.

On the other hand, if you have wall-to-wall carpeting, you might want to consider a rug. Since rugs absorb most of a spill or smell, you can easily toss it in the washing machine. It will protect the carpet beneath it and can add a nice pop of color to an otherwise bland room.

CONSIDER YOUR FABRICS

Thinking of getting a new couch? How about a chic loveseat? Consider the type fabric you’ll be putting in your home or apartment. Is it going to attract your pet’s fur? Will it be easy to remove fur and stains from it? Typically, fabrics like velvet and silk are notoriously bad choices for pet owners. Instead, try furniture made from materials like leather (faux or real) and ultra-suede (machine-washable); they’re both pet friendly and can still create the look you want.

MAKE DEDICATED PLAY AREA

If you’re lucky enough to have space in your home or apartment to create a dedicated play area for your pet, then do it. It could be something as small as a corner of the living room that houses your cat’s scratching post or a basket full of your dog’s chew toys, or even an entire room for your pet to play in while you’re at work. Whatever it looks like for you, confining the play space to one area of the apartment is an easy way to create a pet friendly apartment.