Recently, Redfin asked us to share my recommendations for how to make a pet friendly home. It got me thinking about everything I've learned from my 100+ fosters overs the years. From bottle feeding puppies, to weening kittens to 100 pound golden retrievers. I've had it all come through my home! Preparation and an appropriate setup can really make all the difference between a stressful experience and having a pet be a part of a loving home.
These are my top recommendations for making a home more pet-friendly.
- Set your pet up for success. Design your home environment so your pet is set up to do well in it. Does your dog love to chew paper? Is your cat constantly going after cables? Make decisions that minimize those opportunities. A cable management box, for example, is not only more aesthetically pleasing than a tangle of loose wires, it also saves you the frustration of constantly replacing destroyed cables.
- Material and surface are everything. The best flooring I ever had for pets was polished concrete, easy to clean, easy to maintain, and genuinely beautiful. The same principle applies to furniture. When shopping for couches, focus on materials that are easy to clean and won't trap pet hair, like leather or tightly woven performance fabrics.
- Every pet owner's biggest battle: pet hair. Robot vacuums never really worked for me, the sheer volume of hair was just too much for them to handle. Then one day at my barber, I noticed they were sweeping hair toward this stationary vacuum on the floor that automatically sucks up whatever you sweep toward it. I got one for my home and paired with a silicone broom and an air purifier, it's been a game changer.
- Look for furniture that pulls double duty. Find pieces that serve a purpose for your pet and for you, like a crate that doubles as a nightstand, or an entryway hook system that keeps leashes and poop bags organized and out of the way.
- A closet is the best kitten room you're not using. One of the biggest challenges I've had to solve is finding a suitable space for fostering kittens, especially during the initial two-week isolation period. I tried everything to keep them contained. The best setup I've found is a closet, but you can't just close the door, so containment is still the challenge. What works best is a tall pet gate paired with a plexiglass screen. Every other solution I tried was either too small or too easy for kittens to climb. As for the screen, my sister's wedding sign happened to be the exact width of my door frame, and it's been a perfect fit ever since. Dozens of fosters in, and none have escaped yet.
I was recently featured as a contributor in Redfin's guide on creating a pet-friendly home. If you're looking for even more ideas, from safety considerations to flooring options and beyond, you can read the full article here: Dog Friendly Home Design Ideas for a Cleaner and Safer Living Space | Rocket.
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