Handy home hacks for people with pets

LAURA HEYNIKE, ONEROOF

With our furry friends on par with the population of New Zealand, it’s clear to see we are a country of pet lovers.

When we come across new build designs some of our focus is drawn to the family pet and how to best accommodate for them in the design.

From new build to existing home, there are a few hacks that might make a difference to your fur baby’s happiness and the integrity of your home at the same time.

When buying a rug make sure you buy a short haired or woven thread. Better yet there are some incredible indoor/outdoor rugs that you can wash down. Stay away from those shaggy spaghetti rugs, pet fur loves adding to a long pile which can lead to hypoallergenic issues in your home. This will also be a deterrent for clawing cats.

Dogs love being part of the pack so it’s no wonder they love sprawling themselves in the lounge next to the family.

An inexpensive rug that you replace every couple of years will help protect your carpet which you would only want to refresh every 10 years.

Better yet, opt for a scratch resistant laminate flooring. Hardwood, while is luxurious does scratch and dent easily.

When it comes to furnishings, vinyl is a manmade thread-based fibre.

So if a cat pulls a thread back through, it will be unrepairable.

Where as genuine leather can be healed and refurbished. Alternatively, we would usually specify hypoallergenic fabric or a stain resistant fabric like Crypton that is very dense that makes it difficult to become a scratching pole while helping the health of your home!

Thinking about space for your pets is a funny thought, but super important.

Think twice when upgrading your sofa to make sure there is enough room for your dog bed or pet station with varied sizes to accommodate for. On the same notion, you could consider their habits of going in and outside and provisioning for a wash station in the laundry to wash them off before they come into the main house.

If you don’t want to have a typical dog bed in your lounge to ruin your decor, I quite often have specified a “sacrifice ottoman” that works in with your interior but is purely for your furry friend to adore.

With interior painting, a semi gloss or satin is a lot easier to wipe down. They will run up and down the corridor flicking their tail like no tomorrow and can guarantee they will leave a smudge line at a certain height all the way down the hall.

Avoid textured wallpaper as marks can be difficult to spot and clean off.

Lastly when you are styling your home, have a think about placement of objects. Pets are curious and love snooping around every nook and cranny.

I once put an indoor plant on the TV entertainment unit for a client, stacked on some gorgeous books. Let’s just say the plant didn’t last long with his cat deciding to play its paw at flicking dirt out of the pot!

For over 15 years we’ve been proudly building Kiwi homes for Kiwis using all the best stuff from right here in good ol’ NZ.

Over the last 15 years the Kiwi dream has come a long way since the elusive quarter acre. That’s why we’re proud to still be able to provide a Kiwi solution for your first home, second home, a home where you need a bit more home, or even your home away from home. We offer a range of plans from 60 to 250 square metres. These can be built straight from the plans, or we can use them as inspiration to create your own Kiwi dream.