May 7, 2024

Pet Hacks for Small Apartments

It’s a pet’s world, we’re just living in it. We’ve rounded up some pet hacks for small apartments that let you spoil your pets without sacrificing your aesthetic.

It’s a pet’s world, we’re just living in it. Pets don’t tend to get a lot of say when it comes to interior design, but the best designs account for their specific needs. These pet hacks will help you spoil your pets without sacrificing your aesthetic.

Writing:

Kate Kolberg

Photography:

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The music studio is a good first hint that this **colourful Buenos Aires apartment** is home to artists. What it doesn’t tell you, however, is that it’s also home to a cat as well (its relationship to the arts is unknown).

Designers Nahuel Alvarez & Florencia Aparicio of MoobArq took *all* of their clients’ needs into consideration when creating this space.

"On the right side of the kitchen, we left a gap in the cabinets so that the cat had somewhere to play. This extends to the bathroom door, which also has a small shelf for the cat."

Nahuel Alvarez, MoobArq

Adding a wall of built-in cabinets for tons of hidden storage that are floor-to-ceiling except for the open gap they left for the cat to play. This allows the cat to roam around the higher points of the apartment and jump toward the mezzanine where the bedroom if it so chooses.

Welcome to the **L-shaped Paris apartment** of Space Factory founders Edouard Roullé-Mafféïs and Ophélie Doria, their daughter, and their cat. The windows in their living room are divided by a structural brick column; to one side is a place for people to sit and to the other, a place for a cat (though, realistically, the cat has probably claimed both).

The cat ledge – or is it a penthouse suite? – floats above the window and is accessed by some shelves going up the side of the column. The cat can climb and watch the world go by, as cats are wont to do.

This **Melbourne apartment in a heritage building** is home to architect Ben Ellul of Ellul Architecture and his partner Gen live there with their Italian greyhound Vinnie.

A floor-to-ceiling storage closet by the entrance doubles as Vinnie’s bedroom. It has a circular cut out at the entrance that allows Vinnie to access the lowest shelf of the closet, where there’s a big cushion and a blanket.

Above him are some shelves for additional storage for human things.

The design of this **minimalist Taipei home** was actually inspired by its owners’ two cats, Millie and Hana, who love to perch and lazily bask in the sun.

Let’s face it, there are of course the practical considerations of having a pet as well. No one *wants* a litter box in their house, but unfortunately it’s not really a question of want. Jeff Weng of 2 Books Design cleverly integrated their litter box into the space under the stairs to keep it out of sight.

"My inspiration came from the owner's two cats. The cats love to perch and lazily bask in the sun ... We kept the materials complementary to each other and unified to create a bright and pure atmosphere".

Jeff Weng, 2 Books Design

Designer Koen Fraijman managed this same issue by adding the litter box into a cupboard beside the laundry and cutting out a hole to give their cat easy access.

"The eye catcher of the living room is the pink cabinet backed by green tiles. The cabinet stores a lot of stuff and features a hidden desk and a hiding place for our cat. The left side doubles as a scratching surface".

Koen Fraijman, Fraijman

The other thing about cats is that some have a tendency to enjoy scratching things, like furniture. Designer Koen Fraijman mitigated this issue in his **canal-side apartment in Amsterdam** by adding a scratch pad to the side of their living room cabinet, where he also placed a little hole for the cat to access a secluded sleep zone.

Fraijman, his partner, and their cat on the floating terrace off of their living room.

Necessity isn’t the only thing at play, though; there’s also comfort and fun to be considered. Over at IR Arquitectura architect **Enrico Cavaglià’s home**, his three cats see the world as their climbing gym.

Cavaglià indulges them without sacrificing his desire to put plants everywhere by tying his plants to the shelving unit so that they don’t get knocked over.

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Pet Friendly

It’s a pet’s world, we’re just living in it. Cats and dogs don’t tend to get a lot of say when it comes to interior design, but they do have their own set of wants and needs that the best designs will account for. This planning is particularly necessary in small apartment design, where a litter box without a dedicated spot could really wind up cramping your style. Necessity isn’t the only thing at play, though; there’s also comfort and fun to be considered.

Creating designated spaces for feeding, sleeping, and play while designing your space will ensure the right routines are established from the jump. After the space has been set aside, the next big thing to consider is materials. Opting for durable and easy-to-clean materials like stain-resistant fabrics and scratch-resistant surfaces helps keep those zones low-maintenance and pet-friendly. The best design tricks marry these priorities with the overall design aesthetic that you’re hoping to achieve. Simple hacks to achieve this include cutting out a hole in a cupboard door and stashing their bed or litter box inside, affixing a cat scratch pad to the side of a shelf, or adding ledges in out-of-reach spaces for cats to climb.

For more on pet hacks, check out Multifunctional Pet Furniture for Small Space Living at Melbourne Design Week 2024. Presented by Never Too Small and Like Butter in collaboration with 11 designers from around the world.

Writing:

Kate Kolberg

Photography:

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