We love them like children. And like children, they are masters of destruction and chaos and come with a lot of accessories.
Whether you are a dog person or a cat person, you have undoubtedly wrestled with the realities of pet ownership: shredded or chewed up furniture; random accidents and free-flowing bodily fluids; pet food, water or cat litter tracked throughout your home.
Rather than resigning yourself to the mess, there are ways to live with pets without sacrificing your aesthetic expectations.
Credit: LAURA NEGRI PHOTOGRAPHY
Credit: LAURA NEGRI PHOTOGRAPHY
To keep your home from looking like a CSI crime scene or a free-range pet toy zone, we tapped Atlanta design experts (who have pets of their own) to find out how to reign in the chaos and possibly even hide the fact that animals run your life.
Thinking outside the box is essential to the Drawing Room ATL design philosophy said interior designer Seth van den Bergh. Van den Bergh currently has a Cavalier King Charles spaniel and black lab puppy and has learned from past experience that you need to customize you home to your particular animals’ needs.
“I had a dog, for example, who was well over 15 years old, when dogs get older they have a lot of accidents. We had a cowhide in our sitting room. He made a mess of it one evening. I took it outside and hosed it down,” said van den Bergh, who now incorporates animal hides into many of his projects.
Hope Austin of Hope Austin Interiors has a rescue dog named Finley, as well as 35 chickens and a goose at her Madison home. “Growing up my dogs were outside dogs,” she said. But times have changed for today’s pet owners. “Dogs are like part of the family,” she said.
Credit: Lauren Chambers
Credit: Lauren Chambers
Like most interior designers we spoke with Janie Wilburn of the Jane Group lets her Chihuahua and border collie mix Juniper on the furniture. “She’s allowed on the sofa, she’s allowed on the bed, she comes to work every day” she said.
“I think it’s kind of like having small children: nothing can be too precious,” said Wilburn.
Skip the dog bed
Van den Bergh prefers the natural beauty of cowhides and sheepskins for easy-to-clean and comfy places for your pets to sleep. Cowhides and sheepskins can also do double duty protecting your rugs and furniture. Van den Bergh buys sheepskins from a variety of sources including Fibre by Auskin, Safavieh, and Ikea. “They are easy to move, I can take them to the dry cleaners,” he said.
Credit: Chris Little
Credit: Chris Little
Use rugs strategically
Van den Bergh uses luxe vinyl rugs and Austin like to layer her rugs with a large indoor/outdoor rug as the base and pretty, nicer throw rugs on top that can be picked up and washed or taken to the dry cleaners.
Stay away from wall-to-wall carpeting
If you have pets, designers warn this is a no-go.
MacGyver it
Van den Bergh discovered his two new puppies were sloppy eaters and drinkers so to solve the problem he came up with a novel solution. “I bought large gerbil feeders and attached one to the leg of my desk and one of the side of my cabinet. And now they both use them.”
Astroturf your yard
Dog traffic and potty breaks can destroy your yard, turning grass into a Coachella-worthy mud pit. Van den Bergh solved the problem by installing artificial grass. The dogs don’t track in dirt and for a shady yard like his where growing grass can be a challenge, it’s the perfect solution.
Credit: Catrina Maxwell
Credit: Catrina Maxwell
Performance fabrics are your friends
All three designers emphasized the need to pay a little extra to get a sofa or chairs with stain-resistant performance fabric. Crypton is a performance fabric you can find on sofas sold at Pottery Barn, Arhaus and Ballard Designs. Rug company Stark has its own SPA (Stark performance acrylic) fabric. For the most part, said Wilburn, these fabrics are “more expensive, but it’s better than replacing something in two years, which is bad for the environment.”
Credit: Laura Negri Photography
Credit: Laura Negri Photography
Swap hardwoods for luxury vinyl
Hope Austin thinks luxury vinyl is more durable and easier to clean especially when you are dealing with water dribble around dog bowls. Sustainable, polyester PET (polyethylene terephthalate) yarn used by companies like Surya and Jaipur Living incorporates stain resistance into the actual fabric fibers, said Wilburn.
Customize for new builds
If you are renovating or building a home, you can get really creative in tailoring a space to your pets. Austin created a doggie nap nook off the primary bedroom in one show home she decorated. Other bespoke options include pull-out water and food bowls integrated into kitchen cabinet bases. At the end of an island you can create a nook for water and food bowls and even a pot filler for easily accessible water.
Credit: Jeff Herr Photography Inc
Credit: Jeff Herr Photography Inc
Add a mudroom if you can
If you have the space, a mudroom with a tile floor can be a great solution. It might include storage for food and hooks for leashes, even a mini-doggie wash station to keep animals from tracking dirt all over the house, which Wilburn incorporated into one of her client’s homes. Even if you don’t have a mudroom, try to establish a buffer between inside and outside and keep towels to wipe off dirt handy, a washable rug and a mop or wipes to tackle bigger messes.
Install an indoor cat door
These can allow the cat to access the litter box while keeping it in a closet or laundry room out of sight.
Coordinate your decor to your animal’s coat
It may sound crazy but matching upholstery and rugs to an animal’s fur can help hide a lot of mess. “I have a white sofa and a black dog so I’m constantly over there with the Dyson,” laughed Wilburn. “I would not get a white sofa at all if you have any animals, regardless of what color they are,” said Austin.
Opt for slipcovers
Washable slipcovers are great if you let your animals on your furniture. Just make sure the slipcovers aren’t prone to shrinkage to save yourself the hassle of trying to wrestle a smaller cover onto your cushions.
Invest in a good cleaner
Some designers swear by the workhorse dish soap Dawn to tackle pet messes, while others recommend FOLEX Cemko carpet cleaner to get out pet stains.
Bring in a professional
If you already have an upholstered sofa and chairs but want a little extra protection from animal messes companies like MicroSeal, Fiber-Seal or Coit will come to your home to clean upholstery and even add a stain-resistant fabric protector to save your furniture from future damage.
Stay away from delicate natural fibers
Mohair or silk are not going to withstand a dog or cat. Opt for silk drapes instead said Wilburn. “Instead of having a mohair sofa, have two mohair pillows,” advised Wilburn.
Tile your kitchen
“Tile floors are incredibly durable. I wish I had tile in my kitchen. Tile cleans so much more easily and it’s forgiving,” said Wilburn.
Commit to an annual deep-cleaning
Austin suggests scheduling a standing six-month or quarterly cleaning service to deep-clean rugs and upholstery.
Act quickly
Wilburn said that attacking spills when they happen is critical. Have your towels to blot and cleaner to dab on hand for the accidents you know are inevitable. She also tells anyone building a home to make sure there are plenty of outlets for a vacuum cleaner. Going over places where pets like to hang out every day with a vacuum, she said, can make all the difference in keeping mess at bay.
Felicia Feaster is a longtime lifestyle and design editor who spent 11 years covering gardening, interior design, trends and wellness for HGTV.com. Felicia is a contributor to MarthaStewart.com and has been interviewed as a design expert by The New York Times, Forbes and the Associated Press.
About the Author
