You probably noticed already that pet products and interior design don't do well together. No one likes to live in a messy house, but what can we do? Let's start with analyzing why a house with a cat may look messy.
Imagine, you've just got a new house, or your kids have grown up and you decided to renovate your old home, or maybe the time has come to give your home a bit of a “face-lift”. You've searched the internet for advice, selected a style, spent countless hours to find the perfect match for your furnishing's color and texture, then worked several days, weeks, or even months to create your beautiful home. And there you are, ready to enjoy your new and beautiful home that is exactly to your taste. Oh, wait, there are still a few things left… So you place inside the classic cat litter box, bowls, a cat fountain, a scratch post or a tree, and a bunch of cat toys. And then you look around and think, what on Earth is this? What kind of style is this? No, wait, does this “style” even have a name?
There are two major problems regarding incorporating cat products into the interior style: the amount and the style. The first one is the easiest to solve.
The number of cat toys
Regarding interior decoration there is very little we can do about litter boxes and scratch posts. Luckily, we usually only need one cat tree, and we can hide that ugly but functional litter box in the bathroom, and bowls and a fountain in the kitchen. But it is different for the cat toys since we normally have more than one of them, and they tend to spread all around the house.
There are several reasons why most people do not buy just one toy:
- There is more than one cat in the house.
- The cat does not like the toy, so we have to buy a new one.
- The cat likes the toy and keeps playing with it, losing or destroying it, so we need to buy more.
- And, most importantly, there are several kinds of toys, choosing which one to play with is for a cat to decide.
We won't stop buying cat toys, because cats need them both for fun and exercise. There is no way around it, after all, keeping our cats happy and healthy is of absolute importance for all cats' dads and moms.
However, several random cat toys lying around the house will make it look cluttered, successfully destroying minimalistic interior design, or turning a stylish boho room into a complete mess.
Dealing with unwanted toys is the easiest – just drop them to the nearest shelter or charity, or even sell or give them away at a garage sale or a flea market. Other cats may like them!
Now, that we got rid of the unwanted toys, is there anything else we can do to make our house look better? Actually, there is, but first, we need to consider the second problem of cat toys.
The cat products' style, or its absence
Here is the unfortunate truth – the absolute majority of cat's or rather all pet's supplies come with two distinctive “styles”.
Kids' style – bright colors and often plastic. Plastic is light, relatively safe and easy to clean. And kids love those colors! But think about it, how will these items look in your room? Check for instance these examples of the most popular now interior decoration styles. Then try to imagine how they will look if you add cat products. Not very pretty, right? Unfortunately, kids' style only looks good in the kids' rooms.
Natural style – well, it's not really a style, it's more like… mostly undyed? And regularly combined with black, white, or the shades of gray? Remember all that scratch stuff? Unlike the kids' style, you might be able to incorporate these products into some interior designs, or at least they won't look too much out-of-place. The problem is they are extremely boring. They are all the same.
In the end, after looking through the tons of cat products, we end up buying either something bright and cute, or something boring and functional, and neither of them has any relation with the style of our home.
Choosing cat toys
How do we choose the toys that satisfy both cats needs and humans wishes? First of all, we need to consider what cats like and want. As natural hunters, the important things for them are the smell, the sound, and the movement. Toys with catnip or bells have better chances to attract them and keep their attention, while teasers let them “hunt” happily. Try to buy several kinds of toys and see what they like the most. You can find many articles on the internet that can help you understand which toys your cat may prefer and why (see, for instance, here or here. It is probably a good idea to get a couple of each kind.
After we considered the cats' needs it is time to think about ourselves. We often say that our cats are our kids, and proudly call ourselves “cat's mom” or “cat's dad”. Meanwhile, we forget something very important – cats do not see the colors the way we do! Having bright and colorful toys is very important for kids, but for the cat, the toy color is the least important feature. And it does not look like the shape is something important for them either. Furthermore, there is another difference between cats and kids – cats do not grow up! They will want to play with their toys no matter how old they are. So you will have cats toys around, hopefully, for many years to come, and you are perfectly entitled to buy the ones that not only suit your cat but also fit with your home style. Your cat won't mind!
Making everyone happy
How to make sure that not only your cat is happy with the toys but your house does not look too messy? Surprisingly, it is quite easy:
- Get rid of the ones your cat does not like.
- When choosing a new toy also keep in mind the style of your interior decoration.
- And the most important trick – make them uniform!
The last trick is actually very popular if you've ever read or watched any of home decorating or organizing advice, you probably already know it. For example, using food containers to organize your pantry or nice looking bottles to store your shampoos or lotions. A row of uniform containers certainly looks much better than a bunch of mismatched packages. You can use the same principle to organize cat toys.
For instance, make sure all your cat toys have the same color scheme and/or pattern, preferably fitting with your house interior design. Or choose the ones that have a variety of colors but get all of them in similar or, even better, the same sizes and shapes.
Regarding the colors there are 3 main approaches:
- Use neutral colors, they are easy for the eyes and practically so boring that our eyes don't really notice them.
- Incorporate into your home style seamlessly. This can be quite difficult, as we mentioned before it might be quite hard to find the ones with the right color and patterns.
- Make a statement. On some occasions, you may try not to “hide” cat toys but to use them to accentuate your home style. For example, if you have a minimalistic white room with a bit of black or light wood colors, the bright and colorful toys may actually emphasize the clean lines and color scheme of your room, serving as the accents. Just remember to keep them uniform.
Cats bring warmth into our homes, making them cozy and inviting. However, they can also turn it into a complete mess. If you want to prevent it, while organizing or decorating your house, don't forget to consider not only their wishes and needs but also your home style.
LC.