Pet-Friendly Homes

We make accommodations for our kids. We make accommodations for our pets. They are part of our families. So, when making design upgrades to your home, wouldn’t it be wise to make decisions that are practical for both you and your furry family members?

Here is our expert pet-friendly advice for some common improvements many of our clients are making:

Hard Surface Flooring If you're re-doing your floors, you'll be thanking your lucky stars for the invention of vinyl plank floors. Quality rigid core vinyl planks can look fantastic with deceptively real-looking color variation and raised wood texture. These floors are a beautiful upgrade that can flow continuously throughout the house including into Kitchens and Bathrooms. Their waterproof face and backing means they will withstand water bowl spills and pet "accidents." Some of these floors are also designed to resist pet claw scratches while giving pet paws more traction than smoother-finish floors.

Carpet If you opt for carpet in the bedrooms – or anywhere in your house – I highly recommend solution-dyed nylon carpet with a waterproof backing. The color of solution-dyed nylon cannot be bleached out of carpet fibers, so your carpet can be cleaned repeatedly and spot-cleaned as needed without worry about color retention. Waterproof backing is not common but a fantastic upgrade that keeps spills and accidents from soaking into the carpet pad – where even the best carpet cleaning technicians can't access.

Sofa Fabrics When it's time to replace your sofas, you and your pets are in luck in this department too. Crypton fabrics, now available for residential use, were invented for the health-care industry where spills and stains are common. Crypton fabrics are resistant to both stains and odors with a technology that is built into the fabric fibers and won’t ever wear away. Spills and stains are easy to clean, and odors don’t cling. We at Lorain Design Associates offer our own private label sofas in Crypton fabrics that come in a beautiful array of soft yet durable textures and bright to neutral colors.

Feeding Zones If you're a dog lover or cat enthusiast and you’re planning to remodel, wouldn't it be nice to design a creative solution for dog and cat bowls rather than tripping over them every day? We've designed high cat feeding stations that the dog can't reach as well as low feeding zones for pets. Food bowls can be inset on the end of an island while remaining out of the travel path of pet parents. Toe-kick level pull-outs below cabinets can also contain food and water bowls or any number of other solutions. We can design laundry room cabinets to accommodate pet food supplies, along with clever cabinet door cut-outs for your feline kids to access food bowls and litter boxes. If you'd like our advice with any pet-friendly interior design project, please call us to discuss. We can create beautiful interiors that are practical for all the varied members of your family!