Decorate to accommodate your pet

Homes are typically designed and built around one animal at the top of the food chain: the homo sapien. So that usually means that our feline and canine companions get the short end of the stick when it comes to interior accommodations, architectural layout, room flow and pet-friendly furniture and decor.

But with the right planning and know-how, dog and cat owners can transform designated living spaces into doggone purr-fect areas for four-legged family members to enjoy, too.

Case in point: Rick Wiggins chose to equip the living room in his previous home in Ohio with feline accouterment and a carpeted cat staircase connected to a catwalk near the ceiling. He took all of this with him when he moved to Orange, California.

"We also turned the covered patio off the back our house into a 'catio,' and made a custom wooden door insert for the sliding glass door that connects the house to the catio so that cats can come and go as they please," says Wiggins, owner of four cats. "Most of these changes are inexpensive to build but can add a whole new dimension to your pet's life."

Meanwhile, Janine Acquafredda, a Brooklyn, New York-based owner of a French mastiff named Chester, converted her under-stair storage closet into a dog cave, and built a walk-in shower for his grooming needs. She also installed an extra-long center island in the kitchen that houses Chester's food and water bowls.

"The dog cave serves as a nice retreat for Chester. It's a quiet place if things get too busy for him," she says.

DeAnna Radaj, owner of DeAnna on Design in Tampa, Florida, says these are great examples of "pet-corating" - a design approach in which elements are adapted within your living space to make it more comfortable and safe for your pets, but without detracting from human usability or aesthetics.

"Pet-corating can be as simple as incorporating pet pictures in display cabinets or on your walls," Radaj says. "Or it can involve more extensive remodeling projects like installing tile or stone flooring surfaces for easier cleaning, building a ramp for dogs with limited mobility, incorporating litter boxes into vanities or cabinets and implementing your pet's fur color into your room's color scheme."

Warren Sheets, CEO of Warren Sheets Design in San Francisco, says other pet-corating project examples include creating a special pet hideaway within a breakfast nook, obscuring messy pet dishes in a low pullout drawer in your kitchen and incorporating new furniture with stain-resistant upholstery.

"We get a lot of requests from our clients for a pet station in the laundry room, which includes a raised washing station using easy-to-clean and nonskid mosaic tile, storage space for food and supplies and a comfy pet bed," says Debi Meyer, principal of Design with Distinction in Tempe, Arizona.

Whatever pet-corating project you tackle, "make sure it is in harmony with the overall aesthetic of your space so that any elements dedicated to your pets are organically a part of your home," Sheets says.

For best results, consider hiring a designer instead of doing it all yourself.

"A designer can help establish project parameters, schedule and budget. They will have access to materials and furnishings that others may not have," says Radaj, who adds that impact on your home's resale value needs to be considered carefully before embarking on a pet-corating plan. "A professional can suggest the most efficient way to accomplish the project safely and accurately, so that a cat tree won't collapse a ceiling, for example, and to ensure that your project harmonizes with other rooms too."