Pet Friendly Fabrics for Decorating Your Home

If you have pets, you’ve already learned that paws can leave dirty tracks that are more difficult to remove from your carpet and furniture than those made by human feet. For one thing, the number of dogs capable of learning how to wipe their feet before entering the house is far greater than the number of people who know this and are willing to teach their dogs to do it. If you happen to be a household with a few cats, you already know which of the fabrics covering your furniture your kitty finds most suitable for sharpening their destructive little claws.

The point here is that fabrics, carpets included, can be difficult to keep looking good when some of your family members have four legs. If you’re presently living in rooms that show all too ample evidence that your last carpet and fabric choices weren’t the best, don’t despair—more pet-suitable choices are available today than you may suspect. Just keep the following facts in mind when you choose your next pet friendly decor:

Mixed color fabrics such as tweeds and prints that don’t show pet hair as easily as solid colors do. This applies to carpets as well as to slipcovers and upholstery fabrics. Complicated patterns such as those found in Persian, Turkish and Oriental rugs offer the ultimate in pet hair and paw print camouflage.

Protective fabric treatments such as Scotchgard are a must when pets share your furniture—and it’s tough if not downright impossible to keep them from using it when you’re not there.

Smooth fabrics such as microfiber, microsuede and leather are easier to keep free of pet hair; leather, however can be easily damaged intentionally or otherwise by claws and toenails.

Commercial grade carpet stands up to wear and tear pets can cause far better than residential carpet, and stains are more easily removed from it, too.

Finally, keeping your home’s décor in good order will be much easier, and sharing your living space with pets is much more pleasant, when you work with their inherent natures rather than trying to change them. Rather than insist that Fido stay off the furniture, provide him with a bed all his own in a room that the family spends a lot of time. Pet beds these days come in just about every style, decorator fabric and design. If you’re recovering your furniture, consider buying some extra fabric to cover pet beds as well to make them look like an intentional decorating statement.

Rather than agonize over the possibility that your cat will claw your new sofa to shreds, provide a scratching alternative BEFORE you buy the sofa. Not all cats like to claw the same thing; by experimenting with different carpet remnants, you should be able to find a weave your cat considers pure heaven from a clawing standpoint. Cover a post with it; add some catnip as an enticement, and you and your cat should both be right at home.

©2007, Kathy Burns-Millyard