How to Make Your Home Pet Friendly

Welcoming furry friends into your home can be both a delight and— let's face it—a chore too. The responsibility of maintaining a pet friendly home, from keeping floors pet hair free to getting rid of stinky poo, can be added stress to the daily life of pet owners. Of course, this doesn't mean that creating a pet friendly paradise for your dog or cat is impossible.

With thorough planning and by securing the right tools, creating a house pet friendly abode where you and your animal friend can thrive is doable. Read on for smart hacks on how to make your place a safe and comfortable space for your furry friend.

1. Avoid rugs and carpets

Flooring is crucial when it comes to building a pet proof house. It would be wise to have hardwood floors or easy to clean textured tiles. Rugs and carpets are out of the picture when live with a dog or cat. This is because such material can instantly attract pet fur or pet hair and even accumulate bacteria. This won't be healthy for you and your furry friends.


2. Install blockades

Pets can be sly, sneaky, and curious so if you have parts of your home where you do not want them wandering off to, then investing in a gate, blockade or play pen is a must. Closing off the kitchen with sharp objects, or utility rooms where you store harmful chemicals like detergents or bleach, is important especially where small animals are involved.


3. Ensure that garbage cans have pet proof lids

Anywhere your dog or cat can smell old food or pet food is a tempting to zone to wander off. That said, the kitchen is a favorite go-to spot of theirs. While it's treats zone for them, it is also unfortunately where accidents can happen. It's important to never leave leftovers behind. Using pet proof trash cans with lids will prevent them from scavenging in the trash and leftovers.


4. Keep breakable, chewable, and dangling items away

A pet owner should be wary of placing pet bowls with treats beside fragile items like vases and frames or other breakables on low shelves. In fact, keeping them away, is a must to make your home pet friendly. Avoid dangling wires from TV, lamps, gaming systems, etc. Pets may get hurt if they chew on dangling wires.


5. Choose the right furniture and upholstery

A pet's paws can easily ruin any precious furniture. Any pet owner should know that some amount of wear and tear in their home is inevitable. So when buying furniture, selecting durable and stain-proof fabric would do you wonders. For instance, distressed leather repels odors and is easy to clean. Microfiber are also great for pets. Avoid suede and silk altogether.


6. Lock away anything toxic items including toilets

This bears repeating: keep irritating chemical substances like cleaning materials and insecticides out of your pet's reach. Ideally such materials should be stored safely with lids in boxes and cabinets where pets cannot access them. Having a toilet lid in every bathroom is also a must for a pet safe home.


7. Maintain only pet friendly indoor plants

If you are a plant lover who keeps indoor plants as natural decor, make sure they do not cause danger to your pets. Some pet friendly plants include spider plants, parlor palm, and areca palm. Watch out for hazardous plants that your dog or cat might be a choking hazards: Tulips, English Ivy, Chrysanthemum, Yew, Oleander, Azaleas, Lilies.


8. Clean up urine spots

No matter how hard you potty train your fur companies, urine and poo accidents are just likely to happen. Always have baking soda and distilled white vinegar on hand to clean up the mess. For the remaining dirt or stain, make sure to vacuum clean the area after wiping.

Immediately removing pee and vomit accidents from hardwood floors if you don't want unpleasant smell lingering.

The most frequent method for dealing with it is to use baking soda and distilled white vinegar to clean up the mess. Remove any remaining dirt and check to see if the stain has been completely removed by vacuuming the area after it has completely dried. Also, make sure to fully remove pee and vomit stains from hardwood floors if you want to avoid unpleasant scents in your home.


9. Maintain a clean house

Even with your pets running around, a major task for pet owners is to maintain a well-kept, pet odor-free abode. Investing in a good vacuum cleaner is a good idea especially when your fur babies shed a lot of hair.

Other pro tips would be: to brush your pet outdoors to lessen the scattered dead hair and to have a handy lint remover. Always remember to wipe off their paws before letting them in the house. This should save you the task of removing stains on the couch or the floor.

10. Make sure to groom your pets regularly

Staying on top of your pet's grooming and cleanliness can ensure that your home is tidy for a longer period of time. Regularly brushing and washing their fur can save you the hassle of getting pet hair stuck on furniture and drapes. Keeping their nails trimmed saves you from the stress of flooring and furniture damage.

Needless to say we love our homes as much as we love our pets. Even though that takes a balancing act, it's possible to maintain a pet safe home that's clean, tidy, and void of unpleasant odor. Just make sure to follow the above tips to stay on top of a pet friendly home.