Love your pet? If yes, make your home pet-friendly. Pets communicate via bodily gestures and express their emotions. Owners must understand these emotions, or else their furry friends will feel neglected and alienated.
Your pet will never tell you to decorate your home, for it doesnât understand what home decoration is. But it will express its happiness if you make your house pet-friendly.
So donât waste time and start working on your home already. Here are some great tips to help you out:
Cleanliness is godliness
When taking care of your pet, remember hygiene is everything. A house with a lot of dirt, dust and the floor cluttered with residual food stain is not a hygienic environment for the pet. It might get sick living in an environment like this. So, vacuum clean the house everyday. Do it for seven days and see the difference.
Consult a designer
You may not believe it, but there are designers out there who specialize in animal-friendly decor. Look them up on Google and book an appointment. Ask them how you could make your interior friendlier to your mute friend. Youâd be amazed to know how simple things make big difference.
Nan Ruvel, a Chicago-based interior designer advise pet owners not to use carpet. Even if they do, keep the length short because itâd be easier to clean it this way. Another useful tip is to buy cheap rugs, so they could be replaced easily. Designers know hundreds of tricks to redecorate a house so the pet feels comfortable in it.
Have relaxing space
Like us humans, cats and dogs also need space for relaxing. So, have a little resting space for them. Itâs like a bedroom for them. When they are tired of jumping and playing around, they can unwind there. When pets donât have their own bedroom, they jump on their ownerâs bed, causing them to wake up from sleep late at night.
Donât have fragile items
Pets jump, hit, scratch and chew almost everything they run across at home. If you have glass-made furniture, mirrors, night lamp, soft wooden furniture at home, chances are your pet would damage them.
Hence, donât have anything delicate at home, or at least not in the same room with the pet. Designers advise owners to install framed paintings and hard-wood furniture as they are difficult to damage. Another thing, place everything at the top, so that your pet couldnât reach them.
The magic of color
An extra splash of color can make something otherwise mundane beautiful. Add color to your home to keep the pet entertained. Itâs a simple trick, match the color of carpet and upholstery to your petâs color. The room will look aesthetically pleasing. Moreover, hairs falling from the pet wonât be visible.
One word of cautionary here. Donât try this trick if you have a snake, lizard or gecko as a pet. Reptiles either crawl on the wall or on the surface. If you canât spot them, you might end up stepping over them.
The toy room
If children can have their own toy room, why canât pet? In fact, studies on pet showed they like playing with toys as much as children. Gift your pet a toy room and plenty of toys. Cats and dogs play differently. Cats, for example, love playing with other cats. Dogs? Not so much. They like chewing and licking bones.
You can buy your dog a plastic made bone. There are plenty other toys you can purchase. Rubber toys are made as chewable. Your dog can chew it for hours and will not get bored. For cats, you can bring a plastic-made cat doll. Your cat will think it is live and play with it. This way, it will stay entertained.
Separate eating area
Itâs good if you have a separate area only for eating. Like a resting area, a designated eating area is also needed. The place should be spacious, quiet and noise-free. Basically, itâs the same kind of environment that we human beings enjoy.
The floor should be covered with separate upholstery. Your pet will drop food, spill liquid on the cover. The upholstery is to protect the floor from it. The source of water should be nearby. Donât keep them waiting for the water once they are done with the food.
Grooming apparatus
To keep your pet clean, you should bathe it, scrub through its fur and rub body lotions frequently. Have these grooming appliances handy, and preferably near your pet.
Itâs better if you keep everything in a kit and place it near the resting area for your pet.
Summing up
Every owner want to take a good care of their pets. But they often follow wrongheaded methods. The tips shared here can help them make their homes more pet-friendly and take better care of their pets.
Infographic provided by pet sitters Chicago company, Majestic Paws