When you’re designing or decorating a home, you have to consider the needs of the occupants — and that means not just people, but any living animals.
“Our clients are very serious about their animals,” says Jimmy Crisp, the principal of Crisp Architects, in Millbrook, NY.
At the house of Mr. Crisp, in nearby Poughquag, NY, many dogs live, including a cat. So it’s no surprise that many of the homes he designs have built-in amenities for pets.
Amy Storm, principal of the interior design firm Amy Storm & Company, in Glen Ellyn, Ill., thinks along the same lines. “Most of our clients have pets, and definitely want to take care of them and create special places for them,” she said. “It’s really unusual that we’re not going to create some sort of location for pets to eat and bathe.”
What are the must-have amenities for pampered pets today? Read more.
The Dog Shower
One of the most popular features is the dog shower. Typically placed in a mudroom or laundry room with direct outdoor access, it offers a convenient way to rinse off muddy feet and fur.
Kate Marker, an interior designer in Barrington, Ill., added a shower for her two dogs in the lower level mudroom of her own home. “We made the dog shower opening a bit larger and implemented a hand-shower component for easy washing,” said Ms. Marker. There is no shower curtain or glass door to get in the way, making it easier to reach and rub the dog.
For larger dogs, a shower with a hole in the floor is most important, says Ms. Storm. But for smaller dogs, it’s often better to raise the shower, so it resembles a giant sink, he says — that way, you don’t have to bend over.
And don’t forget: A dog shower can be multifunctional. An elevated shower for small dogs “can double as a mudroom sink,” says Ms. Storm, while the ones that reach the floor offer a great place to dry laundry if you add a hanging rod.
Built-in Bowls
Food and water bowls can look like an afterthought if separate dishes are simply placed on a waterproof mat. A better alternative is a built-in pet-food station.
Shelby Van Daley, a founder of the interior design firm Daley Home, included an open cabinet with built-in dog bowls when she was designing a kitchenette for a family room in Austin, Texas. The pet’s dining area is lined with quartz countertop material and has cutouts to hold the removable stainless-steel bowls. There’s also a pot filler, so it’s easy to add water.
“Many of our clients are looking for things they can add to their home to make having pets easier,” said Ms. Van Daley.
If you don’t want to see bowls sitting around all day, there’s another option: Install a low drawer in the bench of the cabinet, with cutouts for the bowls, so you can slide it closed when not in use.
“It’s a hidden dog bowl,” said Mr. Crisp, who once built a bowl drawer at the base of a mudroom bench seat.
A Custom Crate
Crate training your dog doesn’t have to mean putting up with an ugly wire structure in the middle of your living space. Many designers create upscale custom crates built into homes.
Designed by Ms. Van Daley a pair of crates with brass-mesh doors and enough space inside for dog beds as part of the storage cabinets in the master bedroom of a project. And designed Mr. Crisp custom crate to fill unused space under the stairs.
If you don’t need a crate, but want a place to keep wet dogs in the mudroom, there are other options.
For a client, Ms. designed. Mudroom storm with a half-height screened pocket door that pulls out of the wall like a baby gate. Compared to a solid door, “you still have good light and good ventilation, and everyone can still see each other,” he says, “even the dogs are safe.”
An Architectural Playground
While dogs usually get to go outside to play, indoor cats don’t have that opportunity. To compensate, some cat owners design their interiors to double as cat playgrounds.
Alexandra Barker, the founder of Brooklyn-based architecture firm BAAO, prioritized cat-friendly features while renovating a Brooklyn rowhouse for some cat lovers. “They approached me with a request to design a house for them and their two cats,” said Ms. Barker. “Since then, cats have been on an equal plane.”
The home’s defining feature is a built-in bookcase that runs along one wall of the living room. Some of the shelves extend out of the room to serve as cat stairs, and the top of the structure goes up and down to serve as a cat run. At one end, the run reaches the ceiling hatch that opens to the master bedroom above; on the other, a hatch opens into an art studio.
A Hidden Cat Bathroom
For another client in Brooklyn, Ms. Barker designs a cat toilet that hides in a litter box.
“It’s a door in a closet with a portal in it,” she said, so the cats can come and go as they please and no one has to look in the litter box. “Then you can open the door to take out the litter box.”
The same thing can be achieved with cabinetry, by adding a cat door that opens to a hidden litter box in a base cabinet. In that way, Ms. Barker, “the litter box isn’t always parked in your driveway.”
Playful Products
If you want to create an indoor cat playground but aren’t ready to renovate, there are products that can be installed on an existing wall.
Mike Wilson founded Catastrophic Creations, a cat play equipment manufacturer in Grand Rapids, Mich., after creating a wall-mounted bridge for his own cat in 2013.
“We have a small apartment and we’re looking for ways we can expand the space for him without taking up floor space,” Mr. Wilson said. “I want it to be beautiful. We’re not just interested in regular cat trees.”
On Etsy, the bridge was a hit, and the company soon developed a line of wall-mounted cat runways, steps, scratch posts and cradles.
Jackson Cunningham started Tuft & Paw in Vancouver, British Columbia, for similar reasons. “The idea came from our own experience of living in a smaller urban space and taking care of the things we put in that space,” Mr. Cunningham said. “When it comes to pet furniture, you have to settle for one of those scruffy, fuzzy cat trees.”
Tuft & Paw now makes cat cradles, perches, beds and litter boxes that are treated like any other piece of designer furniture.
After all, creating a home that takes into account the needs of animals should not mean compromising on design.
“People love their pets,” Ms. Barker. “The idea is to incorporate the needs of their pets into the design of their spaces.”
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