Cat-Friendly Decor

I was feeling extravagant last weekend so I purchased the Eiffel Tower. For $20.00. And they say the Louisiana Purchase was the greatest real estate deal ever.

Trees and Trims had these 3 ft. high replicas on sale and I couldn't resist. My house has this Francophile thing going on. I have to watch it though before it becomes too twee, like those themed decor schemes some of the designers on Trading Spaces like so much. I wonder how the home-owners really feel about those.

My preferred style is that eclectic Soho meets Shabby Chic meets Paris Flea Market thing that the late lamented shelter magazine Domino did so well. Let us all take a moment of silence to remember it and my other favorite magazine, Cottage Living ,which also recently bit the dust, two of the latest victims of the times. At least I still have my HGTV. In hi-def.

So anyway I have the Eiffel Tower in my family room and all bets are on as to who will be the first to spray on it. My boys have opinions when I change the decor, and they aren't shy about "expressing" them. Fortunately, they like Shabby Chic or at least they like turning chic shabby.

Here are a few things I've learned about decorating with cats:

You need one big vacuum cleaner (with one of those heppa filter thingies) and at least 2 hand-held vacs.

Buy lint rollers for every room.

Rubber dish washing gloves with grippers on the palm are the greatest thing ever for getting cat hair off furniture. Just dampen it a little bit, rub your hand over the furniture and watch it comb all the hair into an easy-to-dispose-of ball.

Learn to love slip covers (especially velvet ones which cats don't like to claw) and strategically placed throws.

Covering the soil of house plants with river rock looks good, keeps the cats from making a mess and helps with drainage. Make sure your plants aren't poisonous to cats. http://www.cfa.org/articles/plants.html

Eggshell paint finish is your best bet for walls. It cleans as well as gloss but has the elegance of flat paint.

Sisal rugs are good-looking and hold up well to claw sharpening.

Ditto matelasse bedding.

When your cat pukes or brings up a hairball on wood floors, get it up immediately. The acids in it will eat at the wood's finish.

Speaking of feline bodily functions, keep a big ole jug of Nature's Miracle or one of those other odor and stain removal products on hand. Look for one that actually attacks the enzymes. Since Henry took up spraying, it's the only thing keeping me sane.

For more ideas check out the "Animal House Style: Designing a Home to Share with Your Pets" by Julia Szabo. http://animalhousestyle.com/

It's fun to see how these people, who mostly live in chi-chi hi-rises in New York, manage to fit their their Biedermeier furniture, their Baccarat crystal and their animals (and their litter boxes) in 600 sq. ft. boxes the size of my garage.

At least I have lots of unused closets which can serve as kitty loos and will never have to have hide the litter box in the corner of my dining room behind a big spathiphyllum as some of those folks do.

If you have any cat-friendly decorating tips, please share by commenting on this post below.