Pets in interiors.
WHY HAVING A PET DOESN’T NEED TO COME AT THE EXPENSE OF YOUR INTERIORS
“I have a dog/cat/’insert animal here’. I can’t have nice things.” I hear this too often and I have to say I wholeheartedly disagree. Having a pet doesn’t mean the end of having nice things.
Maisie and Me
I recently got a new little fur baby. Her name is Maisie and she is just the cutest thing #proudcatmum. Our house is old and in need of some serious love (which we will get to renovating in good time) but there is really no place to put Maisie’s things (food, kitty litter etc.) that are discrete and not smack bang in your face when you walk in to a room. I will have to live with this less than ideal situation for now, but it did get me thinking about pets, and how we can incorporate their things into our interiors without sacrificing aesthetics.
I posted recently on instagram about things I always ask my client’s about their little furry friends and how they live in their home. After all, they are important members of the family and I believe that their needs should also be considered. I like to ask about their behaviours. Are they indoor only, a mix of indoor/outdoor, outdoor only? Do they traipse dirt inside? Where do they eat and sleep? Are they allowed on the furniture? Do they have a tendency to jump up on things? Are they a bit naughty and like to chew things they shouldn’t? Do they have a scratching post or do they use the couch? All of these questions help me as a designer to address the client’s requirements for their home, for example, specifying appropriate material choices and furnishing selections (e.g. durability, washability). It can also form the basis for some pretty cool joinery solutions so we can hide away pet beds, litter boxes, food bowls and other “not so aesthetic” things.
It comes down to being a bit clever and thinking outside the box. You don’t have to pour loads of cash into these solutions either. I love versatile furniture at the best of times, but a side table/coffee table that also doubles as a pet bed is something I can get around. Also, try to find more aesthetically pleasing options for pet beds (you can literally spend hundreds of dollars on these and I do tend to think that is excessive. I whipped up a floor cushion that lives in the living room and now that’s Maisie’s bed, and no one would be any the wiser). Also cat towers are something I just can’t handle to look at. They are usually ghastly and take over the entire living room. A bed, a chair in the sun or the back of the couch usually serves well as a place to perch. As for the scratching component, they are usually made of sisal or jute string which you can buy from Bunnings and rug shops might also have offcuts you can purchase too. The perfect DIY project for something that you could mount on a sofa arm or a wall somewhere discrete.
A coffee table that could easily double as a little pet bed underneath. I love this item - it’s definitely on my wish list.
As you can see, there’s actually quite a bit to consider. I got to looking at ideas for how to seamlessly integrate our furry pals into our homes and found some awesome ideas. Some are more cost effective than others, and some are just plain clever. I look forward to thinking about these things when we renovate and incorporate some fun things for Maisie in the process. And if there’s anything that catches your eye and you’d like some help to implement, please don’t hesitate to email me to chat about how we can make this happen for you!
