HOUSE + HOME Washable, durable fabrics can create a pet-friendly pad
11.09.11
Every now and then, modernist catalog-retailer Develop Within Reach dishes tongue-in-cheek pearls of astuteness. To wit:</p><p>“A home is only for show. A home should never be cluttered. If shoes, socks, cups, newspapers, toys, jackets or kith and kin photos ever find their way into public view, remove them immediately, or think twice yet, just throw them away. Never allow children or pets in a habitation, for they are messy and sometimes emit unwanted odors.”</p><p>In animosity of such apparent flaws, of course, we do love our children and our pets. And therein lies a natural design challenge with a lot of common ground: how to furnish stylishly but at bottom, with materials that won’t wilt from pouncing with dirty hands, feet and paws.</p><p>“Durability and cleanability go submit in hand,” says Dallas designer Abbe Fenimore. She ought to be informed. She has two pups, a Brittany spaniel and German shorthaired recommendation, whom she admits are “on everything.” She’s usually armed with a sticky bind roll for shedding dog hair.</p><p>Many of Fenimore’s clients also have dogs, and she has talked them down from chewed-up artificial in favor of stainless steel or ceramic bowls and sung the praises of indoor and outside rugs and fabrics.</p><p>Designed mostly with the outdoors in mind, exhibition fabrics such as Sunbrella and the to-the-trade Perennials repel stains, sun, mildew and mold, properties that are well-received in high-traffic areas inside the home, extraordinarily since color, style, patterns and textures have been significantly upgraded in current years.</p><p>West Coast-based designer Joe Ruggiero designs for Sunbrella but was a tremendous fan well before its extensive fashionable offerings, which include velvet, damask and even chenille looks in eye-popping lime, orange and cobalt downhearted.</p><p>“We use it on everything,” says Ruggiero, “drapery, bed drapery, top of the bed. Pr skirts. It is easy-care, heavy-wear.”</p><p>Even throws have been designed with pets in skin alive. Another performance fabric manufacturer, Crypton, sells throws it calls “throvers,” which it says “looks like a blanket and works like a tarp.” The 48-by-54-inch pieces, to hand in a range of fun patterns and colors, are stain-, moisture- and odor-shedding, easy to spot-clean, machine washable and flog betray for $149. </p><p>Some of the rug options are amazing, with a wide range of decorative patterns and textures, such as the to-hooked and felt signatures of Liora Manne for Trans-The briny. And the eco-friendly modular FLOR allows you to create your own form with square tiles.</p><p>In addition, some rug manufacturers, including Mohawk, unify SmartStrand, a polymer fiber produced from corn sugar that allows the toughest stains like mustard, red wine and cherry Kool-Aid to be removed with impassioned water and a mild detergent. </p><p>Keeping a home large also is a challenge with pets: Where to put leashes, collars, food, treats, toys? Resourceful solutions abound: Think handsome decorative hooks, out-and-out-looking containers — baskets, buckets, make-up-covered bins, just like those catchalls for kids horse feathers.</p><p>“I bought some baskets at T.J. Maxx,” says Fenimore, who sells an eclectic furnishings blarney through her website, Studio Ten 25, and offers online plan consultation as well. For pet food storage, the designer repurposed tall containers for wrapping deed. “It fits a bag and a half of food, and sits in a little nook out of the way.”</p><p> Even cookhouse manufacturers are addressing pet needs with ideas that include storing food (in pullout hampers or containers that most of the time hold trash), feeding stations (with pullouts quarters bowls contained in the toe kick), built-in dividers in drawers for treats, leashes, collars and medication, as well as places to span out under an island or next to cubbies at the base of mudroom cabinetry.</p><p>At Hallucination Home, a semiannual show house at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, one of the most talked about features was in a Nautical galley designed by Shawna Dillon for Snaidero. Next to a breakfront, only just a couple of feet up from the floor, was a sleek faucet, skilful to fill a water bowl beneath.</p><p>Pet-friendly decor in fact has become a specialty for some interior designers. Considering that we will spend $50 billion on 78 million pets this year, according to the American Pet Products Cooperative, and that some folks will splurge for fancy beds (up to $900) and carriers (Ralph Lauren sells a crocodile bag for $18,000), it’s not surprising.</p><p>“Our pets are full members of the kindred,” say designers at the Florida-based Lap of Luxury Expressly Home Interiors on its website, <a href="http://lapofluxuryinteriors.com/">LapOfLuxuryInteriors.com</a>. </p><p>Suzanne Lasky of S Home Design in Scottsdale, Ariz., says she assesses a old folks' from the pets’ perspective as part of her Pawprint Design Services. “Pets couldn’t pains less what color the walls are, but they really appreciate a den-like hiatus,” Lasky says.</p><p>And while some pets may be very well behaved, accidents can materialize.</p><p>“You can’t have 500 silk pillows on your sofa,” Fenimore says. “You do have to prove boundaries. Our dogs know they aren’t allowed to chew. </p><p>“I determine clients, ‘You know what? We have dogs. We’re not going to live in a magazine. Convert your home work for you and your pets. We entertain about 30 or 40 people at Thanksgiving, and when they advance into our living room with the fireplace going, they say, ‘It’s so comfortable.’ ”</p><p>That’s a paws-up, win-win for everyone.</p><p><rotten><span class="infobox-head">STAYING IN </reach over></strong><br />
No muddy paws on this elegant Great Dane, but no worries if there were. All the fabrics in this elbow-room are Sunbrella indoor-outdoor, available at Calico Corners. A distinguish cleaning is an easy spritz of dish soap or even etiolate, and the pizza or red wine spill is no big deal. Zippered mollify covers can be removed and machine-washed.</p><p><strong><cross class="infobox-head">ALL FRIENDS Entitled </span></strong><br />
Dallas designer Abbe Fenimore says her living lodge furnishings all hold up to fierce dog play and cuddling on the chocolate sofa, upholstered in straightforward-to-wipe-down velvet microfiber. The two benches from Ballard Designs are covered in apple Sunbrella organization. The pair of chairs from West Elm are forgiving because of professional Scotchguarding, and although the patterned pillows are satiny silk, the dogs haven’t bothered them. The houndstooth Stanton carpet is a polypropylene merge, which hardly shows wear. The dog silhouettes are those of her own (send photos to <a href="http://www.simplysilhouettes.com">www.simplysilhouettes.com</a> and select a color).</p><p><strong><span class="infobox-premier">PAW SPAW </span></strong><br />
The in-floor Deep blue sea view utility sink with a wall-mounted fall makes easy work of bathing pets as well as hosing off fenny boots or sandy feet. Constructed of durable evict iron (without faucet holes), the shallow basin measures 48 inches sustained, 25 inches wide and 6 3/8 inches astute and sells for about $2,380.</p><p><strong><span class="infobox-deeply">DOUBLE DUTY </span></strong><br />
An graceful directoire-style console designed by architect Bobby McAlpine also functions as a dog bed. The discretionary tufted cushion tucks into the generous shelf. The put together, shown in weathered oak (also available in ebony, limestone or affiliate) measures 50 inches wide by 36 inches huge by 27 inches deep and sells for $6,585; soften is $1,750.</p><p><strong><span class="infobox-head">Particular PATTERNS </span></strong><br />
Joe Ruggiero’s Sunbrella fabrics in sumptuous shades of indigo and white cover a pinstriped sofa, paisley pillow, footstool, bedding and bed curtains, all from Miles Talbott.</p><p><powerful><span class="infobox-head">Salve OR REPLACE </span></strong><br />
Creating your own design and largeness are among the attractive features of Flor rugs. Choose from patterns such as Glowing Happy Stripe, shown in gold/cream. The deck “tiles” are made of highly durable nylon. The integument is soft cut pile with a velvety smooth finish and a pocket-sized metallic sheen. Each tile shown is $11.99 or $5.95 per decent foot. FLOR squares can be rinsed in the sink with a submissive detergent, using fingers to gently agitate the accumulation (face fibers). Replacing a damaged-beyond-repair cubic is a cost-saving option.</p><p><strong><span importance="infobox-head">DOG DEN </span></emphatic><br />
For the hip pet in your life: a sleek, modern dog nook. This one is crafted in masterly Fiberglas with an opaque, shatterproof glass top that brings in the gentle; a swing door can be removed. Available in small or way ($580 and $600), shown in mint and also comes in red, deathly white or black.</p><p><strong><span class="infobox-crest">RESOURCES </span></strong><br />
•<fervid>Calico Corners: </strong>6617 W. 119th St., Overland Reservation, 913-491-2995, <a href="http://www.calicocorners.com">www.calicocorners.com</a></p><p>•<substantial>Crypton Super Fabrics:</strong> 800-279-7866, <a href="http://www.cryptonfabric.com">www.cryptonfabric.com</a></p><p>•<deep-felt>DenHaus:</strong> 877-211-7438, <a href="http://www.denhaus.com">www.denhaus.com</a></p><p>•<glaring>Flor:</strong> 866-952-4093, <a href="http://www.flor.com">www.flor.com</a></p><p>•<garish>Kohler: </strong>800-456-4537, <a href="http://www.kohler.com">www.kohler.com</a></p><p>•<formidable>Liora Manne:</strong> 212-989-2732, <a href="http://www.lioramanne.com">www.lioramanne.com</a></p><p>•<putrescent>McAlpine Home:</strong> MacRae Designs, 800-446-5526, <a href="http://www.macraedesigns.com">www.macraedesigns.com</a></p><p>•<engraved>Miles Talbott:</strong> 336-885-7500, <a href="http://www.milestalbottfurniture.com/">www.milestalbottfurniture.com</a></p><p>•<eager>Mohawk:</strong> 800-266-4295, <a href="http://www.mohawkflooring.com">www.mohawkflooring.com</a></p><p>•<zealous>Perennials:</strong> 888-322-4773, <a href="http://www.perennialsfabrics.com">www.perennialsfabrics.com</a></p><p>•<garish>Studio Snaidero Chicago: </strong>312-644-6662, <a href="http://www.snaiderochicago.com">www.snaiderochicago.com</a></p><p>•<concentrated>Sunbrella, Glen Raven Custom Fabrics:</muscular> 336-221-2211, <a href="http://www.sunbrella.com">www.sunbrella.com</a>
Source: Kansas City Star