Thursday, March 22, 2012

DoggyStyle: Having Pets in a Smaller Space without Sacrificing Style

  
One of the biggest misconceptions we always hear is that you can't own a big dog in a city condo. There are obviously so many of us in the city owning big dogs, and we've always been particularly impressed with Yellow Brick Home blog. Besides creating a gorgeous home--under 700 square feet!--it is also home to their pitbull Jack and 2 cats: Libby and Maddie. After stalking their blog for awhile, we were so excited to be able to meet them in real life; they were on our inaugural SociaBulls trek, and you may also recognize Jack with his infamously stylish Bomber Jacket. Since they create everything themselves, and they have such a beautiful home, we asked them to share some tips about integrating pets into a small space while maintaining style.

Scott and I love our home. It's not big (coming in at under 700 square feet), but it's where I work, where we play and where we raise three very hairy, wet-nosed kids. I say this with complete adoration, as our kiddos, Jack, Libby and Maddie, are of the four-legged variety.
 
In our virtual corner of the web, Yellow Brick Home, we write about all things DIY and making our city condo so very us while not sacrificing style (in a such a small home, no less!) with five warm bodies in the mix. With every design decision we make, we must take into account how the whole family will react. Will the girls claws get caught in this fabric weave? Will the natural fibers in this rug make Jack think it's suitable for lunch?
 
As much as we might love a certain (insert home accessory item of your choice here), we won't spend the money or waste the time if we know it's not a good fit for all of us. One question we hear from our friends and readers is this: how in the world do you maintain your small home with two cats and a big dog? There's no one answer, but there are plenty of ways that we integrate our favorite little dudes into the home we all share. 
1. Just because Jack is a slobbery, excitable, muddy-pawed (and adorable, awesome and too cute) pup, this doesn't mean we can't have items we love. We purchased our sofa off of Craigslist - a steal after the seller realized the Room & Board design didn't work with her vision. We're a no-dog-on-the-furniture household, and after repeated failed efforts of finding Jack cuddled on the couch, our veterinarian recommended this solution: when we're not home, place an upside-down office mat (spiky side up) on our cushions. When not in use, we tuck the plastic pieces under our couch, out of sight.
  
2. Because we like to keep our home style more personal, we try to think outside the box when it comes to pet toys and furniture, rather than purchase pet specific items. The felines in our home don't seem to enjoy fake mice or feathers on string, but they do love to chase the laser pointer. This cuts down on toy clutter, and when not in use, we tuck their "toy" in a drawer! And for Jack's naps, we use an oversized Ikea floor pillow that doesn't scream dog bed!
 
3. We vacuum several times a week, and we lint roll small areas in between clean ups. This seems obvious, but all hell breaks loose if we skip these simple tasks too many times in a row. Remember, our home is small. This affords us the luxury of tag teaming a 10-15 minute clean up three times a week. Once or twice a month, we'll do a larger clean up (such as washing the dog "bed", throw pillow covers and using vacuum attachments to de-fur curtains and furniture), but staying on track with multi-week mini clean ups make all  the difference.
.  
4. We furminate. I kid you not, the Furminator has changed our lives. The kiddos love their brush-time, they lose about 5 lbs of hair in the process (an instant slim-down!), and our home stays cleaner in the process.
 
 5. While we love fresh flowers in our home, it's more of a luxury than the weekly (or bi-weekly) treat that we wish we could do. This is for a couple of reasons: 
1) Maddie and Libby love nothing more than a lunch of leafy greens; leaving plants/flowers on a table out of sight results in the plant's untimely death (not to mention, some greens can be poisonous for cats), and 2) Jack's happy, heavy body with a mind of it's own can knock a vase off the coffee table with just a flick of his tail. We do pick up flowers here and there, but we have to be very strategic in their display. So to quench our need for a little continuous plant life in the home, we've taken to terrariums. Not only are they fun to make, but you can personalize them with trinkets and toys - and the vessel shape deters kitty paws and curiosities.
 
Like I mentioned earlier, it's important for us to remember that everything we bring into our home has the potential to affect our pets, too. Jute rugs are off limits (they too closely resemble scratching posts), wool blankets are a no-go (Jack loves to nibble a natural, yummy throw) and we're big fans of modular Flor tiles (for an easy swap if needed). But with some creative thinking and easy every-other-day maintenance, your home can still have style - even with a big ol' pup in tow. For more info, you can read an in-depth discussion for our hairy situations, see our house tour or visit our pet portraiture shop. Thank you A and E for having us stop in!

19 comments:

Life_With_Alfred said...

I want a tiny dinosaur habitat! Also, I love the yellow Chinese horse on the shelves....makes me want to redecorate :)

SherBear said...

LOVE your home, can you be hired as an interior decorator?? :-)

Two Kitties One Pittie said...

What a gorgeous apartment. I am also a HUGE believer in the furminator. That little brush works magic. (Although Stella tries to kill me when I brush her, so we have to do it in short spurts throughout the day). I agree that little cleaning bursts are also key. What great suggestions -- thanks Yellow Brick Home! :)

Kim @ Yellow Brick Home said...

SherBear, we DO interior work on the side - feel free to contact us if you're really interested!

Ashley said...

Hi, Kim! Yellow Brick Home is one of my favorite home/design blogs. Love you guys. :)

I'm curious though - how do you keep Jack off your bed? I'm thinking about trying the office mat idea. We currently block off our bedroom with a baby gate when we're gone, but I was wondering if you do something different. Thanks!

Kim @ Yellow Brick Home said...

Thanks, Ashley! The bed is more the kitty domain and Jack seems to know that, but every now and then he'll sneak up there, too. We also use a baby gate (although we've slowly gotten away from it, as he seems to have lost interest in the bed), but we did use the office mats at one point, too. It sounds like you're on the right track!

Jessica said...

This is a great post. As the owner of a VERY hairy, drooly dog (who was beautifully painted by Kim -- Maddie says hi!) we've had to adapt our home as well. When we got our new couch, we discovered an easy way to keep Maddie off of it when we're not home: we simply flip the cushions up and lean them against the back! And I agree, the Furminator is a life changer.

Two French Bulldogs said...

We love your home and how you have it decorated. The idea of not screaming doggies. Good post about small spaces
Benny & Lily

Two Pitties in the City said...

This is such a great post! We have always envied how beautiful Scott & Kim's home is, and from a pet person's point of view I know how many challenges this can raise when owning pets. Plus they always come up with the most interesting DIYs, and how beautiful is the photography?? Even the photos of furminating are beautiful!

Kolchak Puggle said...

Ohmigoodness! That terrarium with the dinosaurs? I LOVE IT! I want one so so bad! It speaks to my inner nerd.

I actually love all their work at Yellow Brick homes...and realizing that it was all "pet-friendly" has pushed me to seek out better solutions than our "giant crate in the middle of the room and throws on all the furniture" decorating "style". Definitely a GREAT blog to follow!

Tucker The Crestie said...

What a lovely apartment - and great tips as well!

Trude said...

That office mat idea is GENIUS! If you guys ever come to LA I'm buying you a coffee to say thanks. :)

Sophie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sophie said...

Love the post, it's true, with a little imagination having pets in a small space is totally doable. I share a 1000 square feet condo with a 7 year old, a husband, 3 cats and Sprocket. Since our cats territory measures in height, we have a lot of things satisfying their needs; book shelves, pillows on our large window sills, cat tree, kitchen cabinets etc... Sprocket is allowed on the coach and I have discovered this non disposable version of a lint roller called sticky buddy, it works wonders! We also use the furminator for two of the cats, the third one hates to be groomed and since his hair is long he gets a lion cut twice a year which really helps with the shedding but unfortunately not with his attitude! Thanks for sharing your house with us!

SherBear said...

Kim - will be you be at the SociaBull party tonight?? Interior decoration might not be in my current budget (perhaps in the future) BUT I am very interested in commissioning you to paint some doggie pictures for my parent's wedding anniversary this summer :-)

Kim @ Yellow Brick Home said...

SherBear, not sure I'm able to make it tonight!

Feel free to email me, or look at my shop anytime :)

team@yellowbrickhome.com

Emily said...

And here I am in a relatively big space that completely lacks decorating! Maybe one day I'll be an adult and figure that part out! Always jealous of how well put together YOUR home looks, and also the one you posted here.

goosie mama said...

Oh my gosh - awesome post and I'm so excited to check out this new blog! As G and I are also in a tiny space (a little over 700SF), this type of design is right up our alley. Thanks for the heads up!

Sara Grace said...

great tips!! LOVE YBH's style! :)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...