The Pet Friendly House: 10 Tips for Making Decorating Easier
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We are a nation of pet lovers and a good percentage of homes have an extended family that includes much-loved dogs or cats amongst the list of occupants. When you decide to give your house a makeover and do some decorating, it makes a lot of sense to not just choose the right colour scheme but also to select the right materials and furniture that help to make your home pet-friendly and able to accommodate your animals needs as well. Whether you keep dogs, cats, birds or any other type of animal, here is look at how you make your decorating choices easier and as pet-friendly as possible.
Avoid expensive rugs
If you haven’t already discovered this fact, you will quickly realise that you can certainly have rugs around your home, just don’t waste your money buying expensive ones. Hardwearing mats made of a material like seagrass will work well in coping with plenty of pet traffic before starting to look worn or dirty and they are not too expensive either, so you can ditch them every now and again and treat yourself to a new one without breaking the bank.
Choose your flooring carefully
Carpets absorb odours and trap pet hairs so if you really must have a carpet then choose a low pile that may be easier to clean if you have to. Best advice would be to choose a hard surface floor that is easy to run a mop over, but remember that surfaces like marble and natural stone are more porous than a ceramic floor, which would probably be your best choice of flooring altogether.
Fragile items and pets don’t mix
When decorating your house do bear in mind that a swish of a dog’s tail or a stray cats paw can soon put paid to a nice glass ornament or ceramic pot. If you are sharing your home with pets and haven’t already put all the ornaments away and kept it simple with very little clutter due to having young children in the house, then start your treasured items away out of harms reach.
Match your upholstery to fur colour
It might sound strange advice at first glance, but by covering your sofa in a material that closely resembles the colour of your cat or dog’s coat will help to keep everything looking nice. A white tiled floor in a home where a black Labrador lives will potentially be a constant source of irritation with a trail of black hairs showing up, so try to match your upholstery and décor to the shade of coat that your pet has.
Control the flow of dirt
If your cat and dog likes to have the freedom of going in and out of the house with easy access, try to design the layout of your home so that they have to come through an area where you can get them cleaned up before they can make it through to the rest of the house. The ideal set up would be to design your layout so that they have the freedom of movement in and out, but if the weather is bad and they are likely to be messy, you can clean them up in a “holding area” before they can go anywhere else.
Choose pet treats with care
Dogs love a bone to chew on and cats enjoy a good scratch. The problem with a bone or a chew is it can leave a smell and if you don’t give your cat something to play with, they could end up scratching material on your furniture. A rubber toy for your dog would be a good solution and if you have a cat, get a purpose-built scratching post that will protect your home from unnecessary damage.
The right wall paint
Choose the right pet-friendly paint when decorating your walls. Smudges and marks are inevitable with pets in the house so choose something like semi-gloss which will look good but is easy to wipe down.
Stain-resistant
When you go shopping for anything like curtains or want to get a new sofa, make sure that you try and get a fabric that is considered to be stain-resistant or has been treated. You should be able to find something suitable that is not just resistant to stains but can also reduce smells and bacteria from lurking where they are not welcome.
Get the vacuum cleaner out
To keep your home in top shape you should aim to vacuum clean floors and furniture at least twice a week You can get a purpose built vacuum cleaner that is designed to cope with pet hair from a make like Dyson and when you consider that pet hair has an odour and contains an oil that attracts dirt to fabric, you can see why you need to regularly get the vacuum cleaner out. Make your home as pet-friendly as possible and enjoy others company in a clean and stress-free environment.
