Pets bring undeniable joy into our lives, but they can also cause mess, clutter, and general unruliness to in our homes. That’s why countless owners choose to set aside one dedicated pet space for everything from litter trays to bowls and sleeping arrangements. Rather this than have small signs of your pet scattered everywhere, right? At least if the mess is all in one room, you can close the door and forget about it from time to time!
Unfortunately, the chances are that your dedicated pet space is…well, a little bit of a mess. You’ve likely stripped this space of its character and basically created a room-size kennel for your beloved furry friends. But, what if we were to tell you that it’s possible to make a pet space that still sits neatly within your interior vision?
You can actually have a whole lot of fun with pet room decor ideas that transform this space into one you can be proud of, while still keeping it separate and fully functional. Keep on reading to find out what they are.
1. Get Creative With Bedding
Let’s be frank; pet beds are a nightmare to style. No matter what you do, a standard pet bed on your floor will look like an eyesore. That’s why our first top design tip is to simply get creative with your pet’s bed setup. After all, a large, bulky bed from the pet store is far from your only choice here.
Nowadays, style-conscious owners are doing a whole load of creative things with pet beds, and the vast majority of these unique ideas look great. For instance, we really love the idea of a wall-mounted cat bed, which keeps the floor clutter-free and hides all of that fluffy buildup you can’t avoid with pet beds!
Equally, hollowing out the bottom of a cabinet to build a neat little dog bed nook is a sleek, subtle bedding option that also allows you to integrate fantastic decor features like rustic cabinets. Given that these also provide plenty of storage opportunities for everything from food to grooming supplies, we’d say there’s nothing to lose from giving this a go!
2. Harness Hidden Design Features
Speaking of subtle pet room interiors, hidden design features are also big news right now, and they allow you to keep the less glamorous elements of pet ownership tucked away where they won’t harm your decor.
Pet food drawers are perhaps the best example of this right now, as they allow you to keep those unsightly bowls tucked away until meal times. As well as generally improving appearances, this can help to tackle issues like constant food spillage, nasty smells, and the pests that constantly exposed food can encourage.
And food bowls aren’t the only thing you might want to keep tucked away. Litter boxes are arguably the worst things about cat ownership. As well as smelling and creating decor damage when your cat kicks litter up the wall, an on-display box leaves cat poop right out there for all of your guests to see. That’s a real decor doo-doo, but it’s one you can avoid by opting for hidden litterbox design ideas such as cabinet-based litter trays with cat flap access, or even litter box enclosures like baskets, and cute DIY wooden covers. Simply think about accessibility, ventilation, and ease of cleaning, and you’ll never risk an unsightly decor accident again.
3. Find Ways to Make Decor Pet-Safe
It’s easy to assume that you need to totally strip decor from a pet room to avoid any unfortunate breakages or other issues, but thinking about ways to make these room additions pet-safe could see you incorporating your home style into this space at last.
After all, there are plenty of unique decor ideas that could still work well in a pet room. Most obviously, it might pay to find unique ways to turn your pet essentials into decor features of their own. There are all manner of ways to do this, including decanting your pet food supplies into attractive on-display storage containers. You could also get a set of hooks on which to hang everything from poop bags (which should be in a nice case!), to leads and harnesses.
But what if you want to take room decor a step away from specifically pet-based supplies? There are plenty of other things you can do, including incorporating house plants if you’re careful with your choices. While many plants are poisonous to pets, there are plenty of dog and cat-friendly house plants out there, including attractive options like calathea and money plants. While you should ideally keep these additions out of reach from curious paws to avoid mess and damage, they could be great, refreshing features on your pet room shelves.
4. Opt for Dark, Earthy Colours
We’re not going to lie; utilising light or natural paint colours in your pet room is a recipe for design disaster. With the amount of mud and general muck that will inevitably enter this room, those white walls certainly wouldn’t look fresh for long! But, darker earthy colours could hide a multitude of pet-based sins, and lucky for you, they’re top of countless interior design lists this year.
Baked earth tones like sunbaked reds and biscuit shades are especially having a moment right now. When you add these to your pet room, you ensure a top-trending room that looks great and, arguably more importantly, hides a whole multitude of sins. From muddy paws to streaks left by wagging tails, you really won’t need to worry when you have these already muddied colours to fall back on.
Final Thoughts
Compromising your home style in one room may seem a small price to pay for your pet’s happiness, but why compromise when you don’t have to? As well as bringing that room right back into the heart of your home, these style-conscious improvements are sure to help your pet love their space. So, we’d say it’s past time you got started!
