For those homes with a pet like a cat or a dog, not every interior decorating idea is going to work. This is similar to those households with kids: You need to think about your pets when you decorate your home. Fortunately, these days you have plenty of options for finding pet-friendly dcor for your home.
Pet-Friendly Flooring Ideas
With pets come household problems such as mud tracks and bathroom accidents, no matter how well-trained your animal might be. Thats why its always a good idea to go with a low-maintenance flooring option in your home.
One of the worst flooring options for people with pets is carpet. Both animal hair and dander are hard to remove and thus tend to stay in the carpet for a long time. Mud, urine, and other pet stains are also much harder to remove from carpet versus other flooring options.
If youre looking for pet-friendly flooring options, its best to go with hardwood floors, laminate flooring, or ceramic tile. These types of floors are easy to clean and durable, so they can endure more traffic from pets.
Just be sure that any hardwood floors are finished to protect them from your pets nails. Otherwise, just be sure to trim those nails on a regular basis. Area rugs make a great addition to these types of floors, especially those that can be easily cleaned in the washer and dryer.
Pet-Friendly Home Fabrics
Another huge dcor consideration for homes with pets is what type of fabric to use. This is especially important for those households with a dog or a cat or even another pet like a bird or lizard who gets on the furniture.
For pets like dogs and cats, be sure to choose a fabric thats easy to clean so you dont have to worry about pet hair being a constant problem. If pet hair tends to be a problem for you, then select fabrics that are close to the color of your pet. This way, you can avoid having to clean the couches every day. If you already have a black-haired dog or cat in your home, a white or tan couch might not be such a good idea.
You also want to consider how easy the fabric will be to clean. If possible, you want to choose microfibers, which are much easier to clean stains off of than other fabrics. Woven, textured fabrics are harder to remove stains from and will actually trap any pet hair.
A stain guard is essential for any new furniture going into a home with pets. This way any stains can be easily lifted from the fabric by simply following the manufacturers directions.
If you have a pet in your home, everything about the dcor is going to be influenced in one way or another. Flower arrangements that you would normally put on a wood coffee table or oak end table, for example, need to be placed somewhere that your pet cant get into. So larger items, such as flooring and fabrics, arent the only thing to consider when it comes to pet-friendly decorating. You also need to pay attention to the smaller details, like flowers and candle placement, as well.