Decor for people with cats
Oh yes - it wouldn't be too long before a cat related post managed to make it's way into the blog. Since our kitten Howie entered our life in July, I've been striking the balance between providing him with everything he needs to thrive, without completely overrunning our house with cat paraphernalia.
If you have a cat and also want to maintain a stylish interior, read on.
Litter boxes
Left to right: Amazon, Next and Wayfair.
First things first. The dreaded litter box. The stinky eyesore. One evening after witnessing my kitten go to the toilet in far too much detail than is comfortable, we started looking for tasteful ways to hide the litter box. And there are LOADS of options - essentially you're trying to disguise the litter box in another piece of furniture; side table, cabinet or even plant pot.
Make sure you keep it out of high-traffic areas (cats don't like to do their business in busy areas) - we have ours in our hallway with a giant cheese plant on top.
Plants
Plant stand and hanging planter, both from Patch.
Not only am I a cat lady, I am also a plant lady. These two things don't go well together, when you have a cat that likes to nibble and play with plants.
I have two tactics to maintaining my status of both cat lady and plant lady. First, plant stands. A mid century plant stand is not only a great way of adding some height to your plants if they're on the shorter side, but it also creates some distance between your cat's face and the plant itself. I find that Howie is less likely to dig in my plants if he has to stretch up to reach them.
Second - hanging plants. Put your plants up high; on shelves, hang them from the wall, or off shelving brackets. But make sure they're not in dangling distance, as this is very tempting for paws.
A note on plants: it's really important know that some plants are very toxic to cats. If you do have plants that are poisonous to your pet, make sure you either keep them completely out of reach, or re-home them (the plants, not the pet...).
Scratching posts
Left to right; Lords and Labradors, Amazon, Swish London.
I love interiors that have a sense of humour, so I have no problem with including the odd novelty piece around the home (we have a children's stuffed dinosaur head on the wall in our bedroom. Looks better than it sounds, promise). With scratching posts you can go 2 ways; embrace the fact that they are weird shaped and hard to disguise and make a feature of them, or go really muted and hope it blends in.
Cat's tend to have a preference of material (Howie loves jute rope, others love cardboard), so just make sure you take that into account.
Beds
Left to right, clockwise: Made.com teepee, Wayfair hammock, Amazon donut, Made.com basket.
Cat beds are probably where you need to start compromising. Since a cat spends at least 2 thirds of it's life asleep, you kind of need to let the cat choose here.
Luckily, there's a huge amount of choice online and you're likely to find something that ties in with your decor but is also up to your cat's requirements.
Howie's favourite: his window perch.
Ultimately, the wellbeing of your cat is far more important than the aesthetic of your home. Howie's favourite thing is a hammock that attaches to the window via suction cups, it's a bit ugly. But he loves it, so it stays. My only advice for functional things like this would be to try and buy things that are moveable, so you can put them away for visitors or photos!
If you’d like my help with your next project, check out my services to see how we can work together.