When you have pets, it is often a good idea to spend a little more time thinking about how you choose to decorate your home. Pets are amazing, but they can cause damage even when they don’t mean to, have reactions to things we wouldn’t even think about, and bring some eyesores like crates with them, so the more time you take to think before you devise on your decor, the better.
With that in mind, here are some tips to help you decorate your home well when you have pets to consider in the mix:
Think about non-toxic paint
Many pets are far more sensitive than us in a number of ways. They have a stronger sense of smell and can be poisoned by everyday items that we would not think twice about having in our homes. With that in mind, it is a really good idea to choose non-toxic paint if you are able to do so. These days, you can get a wide range of high-quaility paints that are non-toxic and good for the environment, and they are totally pet safe, so it makes sense to take advantage.
Consider wear and tear
It’s also a good idea to think about wear and tear when you are furnishing your home and dogs or cats live there. For example, choosing the best floor tiles for heavy traffic & pets, such as porcelain tiles, will mean that your home looks better for longer and that you do not have to go to the expense of repairing or replacing quite so often, and choosing fabric sofas with removable covers mean that you can more easily clean them to get rid of stains and pet odours. Those are just two examples, but you get the idea!
Build their needs into your own
If you have pets who require various pieces of furniture of their own, and you don’t like how they look in your home, consider combining their needs with your own. For example, if your dog needs a crate to sleep in, you could build one into the recess space under the stairs, enabling it to fit in with the decor and double up as a shelving unit, or you could build a feeding bowl into the bottom of a set of drawers so it can be opened when they want to eat and hidden away when they are done, there is usually a way to disguise anything your pet may need!
Treat fabrics
Treating all of your fabrics with stain-resistant coating is a great way to ensure that they do not stain and that you can very easily keep everything clean. You may also want to invest in performance fabrics that are designed specifically to withstand claw marks and the like too, although they can often be more expensive.
Your pets are important, and so is your home, so be sure to consider them both when you make any changes and you will all be so much happier for doing so!