Interior Design with cats in Mind

How to protect your chairs with cats in the house

Cushions, Rugs and Throws

Bailey the cat on my home made snuggle rug

I was recently asked to write a blog about interior design. My immediate thought was -  I don't DO interior design. Then I thought, yes I do - I have to with 2 cats in the house. It may not be exactly interior design with cats, more with cats in mind.
 

I'm sure readers with cats will know keeping them off the furniture is impossible. So you have several options:

a) you can live with having the seat of your clothes constantly covered in cat hair - very embarrasing for visitors!

b) you can ban the cats from your living area - good luck with that one.

c) you can make the best of it and come up with some interior designs that you AND the cats can live with.

One friend of mine actually covered every surface with newspaper. It looked awful. For me, I use throws and cushions on chairs and seats. I can then remove them before me or anyone else sits down, which is especially useful when the vicar calls in his dark trouser suit. I did have one embarrassing moment when I tried to remove said cat hair from said vicar's rear. 'Nuff said.

Using Throws and Afghans

One of the most popular options are throwns, rugs or afghans. I'm a keen knitter so I created my own rugs to throw over furniture and you can find a FREE KNITTING PATTERN for the snuggle rug pictures above on my craft blog MY YARN BARN. 

Of course there are lots to buy if you don't feel like making your own. You can also shop in charity shops or at craft fairs to find one that will match your existing decor.  

Bear in mind not only the colour of your decor but the colour of your cat! Obviously anything completely white is out in my house with two lucky black cats in residence. Their shed hair would soon show up. Instead choose colours that won't so obviously show up the pet hair. 

The advantage of these is they cover the whole chair. If you have a burrowing cat like Bracken who likes to sleep underneath rugs, you might have to tuck the throw in all around.

You can buy pretty throws just for pets but they tend to be quite small and they tend to be a bit gaudy and don't naturally fit in with your decor. Check out my Amazon Store to see some possible examples. 

Using cushions for cats on the chairs - Meet Bracken

Bracken the lucky black cat and her cushion.

An alternative is to have a supply of cat cushions - ones only the cats sit on. I like bright colours so I tend to pick out colourful cushions. 

The advantage to these is they are so easy to whip off to let someone sit down. Just make sure you pick a cushion that covers the whole of the seat area. Too small and they may burrow underneath it which used to be a favourite trick of Bracken. That is why she has a cushion while Bailey has a snuggle rug, she would only burrow underneath it.

Find cushions that can be washed, ones with removable covers are ideal.