Pet-Friendly Decorating

We all love our pets, but we also love the decors of our homes. Luckily, there is a variety of decorating tips to keep your interior intact and your pets happy indoors. Here at Rugs Direct, our expert team have come up with their top five tips including colour schemes and animal areas.

Inexpensive rugs

Don’t go all out on expensive rugs just for the dog to snag one with a nail, or for the cat to spit-up all over it (cats do this a lot). Choose those inexpensive rugs, as unlike carpets rugs and be picked up and cleaned or thrown out if necessary. Go for materials that have a high durability and are easy to clean; we suggest sisal, seagrass or any synthetic type of rug.

Match carpet and upholstery to fur colour

Use your pets as a source of inspiration when it comes to choosing colour themes. If you go for colours that match your pet, the chance of having that dark tumbleweed of black pet hair across your cream rug becomes less likely.

Focus on going for small patterns and dark colours. This will mean you haven’t got large areas of light coloured block patterns where pet hair will be more visible, and stains will be prominent.

Washable fabrics

This is essential, especially if like a lot of pet owners your dog or cat sleep in your bed, accidents are going to be inevitable. Try and go again for colours that match your pet, as to minimise pet hair and stains being so protruding.

Mattress toppers and pads are a must! They will help to protect and prevent any damage to the actual mattress. When it comes to bed sheets, we would suggest cotton easy to wash and duvet covers are great easy to take off and chuck in the washer.

In the living room everyone loves a good cushion, so go for cushions that zip on and off or a slipcover this will make your life considerably easier! A lot of pet owners have even gone as far as using stylish blankets to cover sofas and chairs it’s a quick, easy, inexpensive way to protect your furniture.

Set up an animal area near an entry

When designing the layout of your home, it’s ideal to think about the lifestyle of your pet. If your dog goes outside often and comes back in muddy and dirty, think about setting up a mud and dirt-friendly station by the main entrance.

Change any carpets to hard flooring for easy cleaning, think about establishing some shelving to house towels and wipes to clean dog’s paws of dirt and mud. This way you can make sure no mess is transferred any further into the house.

Bathe and groom your pets regularly

Finally, if you stay on top of your pet’s hygiene, this will, in turn, mean your home will stay cleaner, longer. If you are regularly brushing and bathing your animal, this will mean you are in fact removing loose hair before it ends up covering your rugs, sofas, cushions and beds!

All furniture and rugs will always last longer if they have to be washed less, and let’s face it it’s much easier and usually more fun to wash your pets rather than your duvets and cushions!

Semi-gloss wall paint is a must

Just like with child-proofing the home, this paint is a must if you have pets as well. You may think your pet is groomed to perfection, but they can still leave smudges on walls and doors. It only takes the dog to run outside in the rain on the grass to create instant marks everywhere.

Normal flat-finish paint is one of the worst to try and clean some would say it’s a near impossible task. You attempt to wipe even one tiny dirt mark off, and you end up taking half the paint with you. Semi-gloss is by far the easiest paint to wipe down. However, it doesn’t come without its own flaws. The sheen will draw attention to every dint and irregularity in your walls.

Don’t forget to vacuum

So, we’ve spoken about matching colours to fur and washable upholstery, and this is always a great idea. However, let’s not disregard one of the most important tips we can give is to vacuum regularly. Yes really, that one simple tip will keep your home on top. It’s brilliant to follow all the above tips, and they will all help keep your home clean and tidy, but that golden dog fur will still be sat on top of that beige rug. It’s well camouflaged but it’s still there, we need to make sure we stay on top of the vacuuming at least twice a week and possibly every day when your pet is shredding.  

With a combination of all of these great tips, your pet-friendly home is ready for all the mud and destruction any pet can bring!