Pets are like your children, and as such, you need to consider their needs and temperament when choosing furniture pieces for your condo unit. If you’d skip sharp-edged tables to ensure the safety of your kid, then you should also know how to avoid certain types of furniture for the sake of your fur baby.
However, that doesn’t mean settling for less appealing pieces. A condo unit’s interior design, after all, is almost always luxurious, like a hotel lobby but cosier and more intimate. And having a pet doesn’t make such a gorgeous design unattainable at all. By applying these tricks in your design and decorating plan, you’ll achieve a pet-friendly space that’s nothing short of classy.
1. Choose Hard Surface Floors
Hardwood floors are a lovely choice, but a big dog can scratch it and leave unsightly gashes. But if you’re rather fond of the worn look of hardwood, then that shouldn’t be an issue. Perhaps you just need to have a rustic theme in your entire home to make the worn wood appealing and suitable in the space.
Ceramic tile is a good material, too, even better if you want something more durable but affordable. It’s easier to clean and resistant to any stain that a pet can make. And your pet will definitely love it in the summer because it’ll be a cool surface to lie down on.
The flooring materials that aren’t recommended for pet owners are porous ones like marble or other natural stones. Keep them on your counter tops instead.
2. Choose Carpets With Care
Wall-to-wall carpet easily makes a room cosier, and your pet will definitely love it. However, the material absorbs odour, which is very unideal for dog owners. Fur also clings to it, as well as pet-related stains, which might be impossible to remove once the damage is done.
Cat owners may also deal with bothersome issues from carpet, because the material may snag if your cat claws it. Hence, it’s wise to skip carpet altogether, or to stick to carpet tiles because you can simply remove the damaged tile and replace it. But still, that’s way too high-maintenance.
3. Know Your Pet-friendly Couch Fabrics
That velvet couch may look divine, but its pristine condition will be no match for your pet. Suede and canvas are easy preys for a cat’s claws and a dog’s random mess as well.
So instead, choose more durable and easy-to-clean types, like naturally-tanned leather, if you love vintage and antiques. Leather will also wear and age beautifully, perfect for rustic theme lovers.
Other pet-friendly couch fabrics are microfibre, faux suede, denim, and synthetic polyester, nylon, or acrylic. Your cat may still have their fun with a microfibre couch, but the material can withstand their persistent clawing better than canvas. And with regard to the faux suede, denim, and synthetics, make sure to choose the tightly-woven type, or otherwise, they won’t stand a chance against your kitty’s razor-sharp claws.
4. Skip the Wooden Legs
You don’t have to completely remove wood from your furniture options, but in the areas where your pet, especially a dog, will hang out regularly, going wood-free is the smartest decision. Puppies and young dogs tend to chew on wooden furniture legs, as well as on wooden edges, so choose tables and chairs with metal finishes instead. You may have a table with a wooden top, but only when its edges are clad in metal.
5. Go for Indoor-Outdoor Rugs
Some pet owners advise against using rugs, especially luxurious ones, but buying one won’t be disastrous at all, as long as you choose the right type. An indoor-outdoor rug, for instance, is more durable than typical indoor rugs, and is highly appealing, too. Wool rugs are also a great pet-friendly choice, and it will add a rich and chic texture to your space.
6. Choose Sheer Window Treatments
Pets love sitting by the window, and if your thick curtaines are obscuring their views, they might chew or claw on it out of frustration. Hence, go for a sheer window treatment for your pet’s enjoyment, and also to allow plenty of natural light into your space. But if your cat has developed a liking to playing with your curtains, just go for blinds so it can stay out of their reach when it’s up.
7. Don’t Have Everything in Dark Colours
Many people think that dark colours — dark couches, rugs, carpets, etc. — hide stains and dirt better. But on the contrary, they actually make them more visible. And even if some of them do hide the dirt better, it won’t really help in keeping your home clean, because, well, you can’t see the dirt. So instead of masking the signs of pet ownership in your space, just choose the lighter, brighter colours, particularly the multicoloured patterned ones or over dyed ones. They bring more life into your home, as opposed to dark hues to can make your space too subdued and intimidating.
Your adorable pets are already the life of your space, so don’t worry much about missing extravagant decor and accessories. Besides, your luxurious condo unit will look more realistic when it’s imperfect but perfectly homely.