Dog Friendly Design

I hate getting trumped. One of the reasons why I wanted to start this blog was to get my ideas out there before I saw them in a magazine. It drives me crazy when I have an idea, and then a year later, it's in every publication I open. One of my major interests is dog-friendly design. I wasn't going to give this one to you first, in my list of design interests, but the other day I opened the March issue of Traditional Home (not a fave, but I needed a fix) and there it was--an article called "Animal Kingdom." And it described two things I was going to tell you all about here: Julia Szabo and Crypton Fabric. Trumped again! So let me get to my stuff now, and you'll see the connection.

I'll start with an illustrative tale (tail?). Tonight was rainy and muddy, but the dog needed go out anyway. When we got home, before I could grab the "dog towel" to dry him off, Boo gave himself a good shake in the living room, sending gray mud spatters all over an un-covered-by-a-dog-throw portion of the dub linen sofa I purchased in my pre-dog years. And so we see my interest in dog-friendly design.

I have a big, dirty dog. Boo is an 80-lb. chocolate labrador retriever. He sheds—a lot; he rolls on his back in the dog run, grinding dirt and crushed bluestone deep into his coat, which then slowly makes its way out onto my furniture and into my carpets. I don't mind that Boo sleeps on my bed and on the couch. It’s why I got a dog—I like the company. I also like a well-decorated house; I want better and nicer furnishings. I don’t want the upholstery to smell like wet dog. I wish I didn’t have old sheets thrown over the sofa and armchair. I’ve long ago given up on the idea of light-colored rugs or carpets, or sisal and other hard to clean floor coverings, but I definitely want more than bare floors. I’m inspired by Julia Szabo’s book, Animal House Style, which profiles lots of ways people successfully merge good design and living with pets. This topic could of course be expanded to include child-friendly design. I don’t have kids, but if I did, judging by the dog I have, I'm sure there would still be an abundance of mud on the sofa, barf on the rugs, and snack foods on everything. My brain is constantly working at the puzzle of how to decorate well when living with a lot of pet.

My latest dog-friendly design idea has been dog-proof throw pillows. Boo spend a large part of his day sleeping on the couch(despite his comfy dog-bed in the same room). Boo's best friend, a Dalmatian named Simon, often comes to visit and loves to sleep curled up at one end of the sofa. Clearly, I need throw pillows that can withstand the two dogs. [Kicking the dogs off the couch is not really an option.] I want to find stylish, sturdy, yet machine washable, fabrics to make pillow covers with, and I want to coordinate this with my inspiration for the room (a George Smith fabric called Grayswood). A company called Crypton makes fabric that is stain, water & bacteria resistant. After much success in the contract business (hospitality and healthcare mainly) they branched out to residential uses and are now marketing their Super Fabric to the individual consumer. One of their lines features designs by William Wegman, of Weimeraner photo fame--fun dog prints. So lets see--no stains, no bacteria, no smelly odors?? Sounds like the perfect dog-friendly fabric. I ordered some of their Smart Suede and one of the Wegman designs ("Material Dog") to try out--to "Lab" test them. Ha ha--I crack myself up. Check out the website--they've got lots of interesting styles and colors, and if you order a sample of their fabric cleaning system, they will send you some swatches!

If you are interested in this topic, Traditional Home did a nice job and they have good pictures of some dog-friendly living products. I'll let you know how the pillows come out, and if the fabric resists the wet dog smell. And I'll have more on this topic in days to come...stay tuned.