Barkitecture: animal-first room design tips for your best dog

Bringing a puppy into the family home used to mean simply popping a dog bed in the corner and investing in a few chew toys. But now there’s a new interiors trend for designing spaces specifically with man’s best friend in mind.

In this blog post, we look at the ‘Barkitecture’ trend and explore some top tips on how to create the ultimate interior for your furry friend.

What is 'barkitecture'?

The latest interiors trend for pet lovers is all about putting your dog’s needs front and centre. ‘Barkitecture’, as it’s known, is a dog-focussed approach to interior design in which a specific area of the home is modelled according to your pet’s personal needs and tastes.

Design a specific area of your home just for your dog

Let’s face it, many of us relied heavily on our beloved pooches during the pandemic. Our dogs provided vital companionship and much-needed emotional support in the face of a challenging and unsettling time. Maybe that’s why more of us than ever now choose to upgrade our dog’s quarters as well as the rest of the house when we undertake home improvements.

The ‘barkitecture’ trend is definitely on the up, with searches for ‘luxury dog rooms’ on Pinterest increasing by 115% between October 2019 and September 2021. Social media is awash with creative puppy palaces such as dedicated sleeping nooks incorporated into kitchen units or a cute doggy den built into an understairs void.

You don’t necessarily have to allocate a whole room to your pooch, just ensure that the special place you devote to them is theirs alone and designed with their specific needs in mind. This will ensure they feel calm and relaxed in their space, and will also hopefully mean the dog is less likely to destroy the furniture in ‘your’ part of the house!

Dedicated dog washing stations are also big news in the world of ‘barkitecture’. If you’re redesigning your utility room, why not include a specific pooch pampering shower to clean up those paws after a muddy walk? There are lots of inspiring examples on social media featuring glossy tiles and elegant brassware designed to match the luxurious aesthetic of the rest of the home.

Pawfect design: learning about interiors from, yes, your dog

Think about designing your dog-friendly space with your pooch’s specific needs in mind. For example, take a look at where they naturally like to sleep. If they tend to settle down for a snooze under the sofa, maybe it’s worth designing a built-in bed under a counter top to give them that cosy, cocooned feeling they love.

Or if their preference is for a quiet space away from startling sounds such as traffic noise or the door bell, create a cosy corner for them in a calm area of the house furthest from the road to ensure they feel comfortable and relaxed.

Create a pet-friendly space with plants, paint and our easy clean performance fabrics

Just as you would with young children in the house, it’s worth making sure your pets aren’t going to be exposed to any toxic paints or varnishes. Water-based paints rather than oil-based ones are always a safer option.

However, most paints – whichever type you choose – have the potential to release harmful fumes when they’re freshly applied, so make sure your furry friends are out of the way while you’re decorating.

Did you know that some houseplants can be poisonous for dogs?

Most puppies chew on everything and anything in the early days, so it’s worth keeping any potentially toxic plants out of paws’ reach. Some of the ones to watch out for are aloe vera, sago palm and hyacinth. All of these are known to be poisonous for pups.

If you’re concerned about environmental issues, by selecting a FibreGuard product, you are choosing an eco-conscious, high-performance fabric that is stain-resistant and luxuriously soft to the touch.

Join our contract textiles sustainability journey

Some of our ecological credentials include the OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 certification, which guarantees that our furnishing fabrics meet stringent environmental standards relating to production, sustainability and ecology. Products certified with the OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 certification do not contain any harmful substances or toxic chemicals.

We also operate under a strong customer focus – and that includes pets! As a company we’re ISO 9001 certified, which means that everyone here, from top management all the way down, is committed to the continual improvement of our fabrics and our ecological impact.

How to choose dog-friendly furniture and upholstery

Having a pet is said to be good for your mental health, but those valuable benefits will be lost if you’re constantly worried about the dog trashing your soft furnishings. When you're trying to find the best dog-friendly sofa, it's actually pretty hard to find practical information on how much work will be required to maintain the furniture now that you have a canine companion.

While no upholstery can be completely impervious to damage from pets, some fabrics are more durable than others. FibreGuard's fabrics are the perfect choice to withstand the wear and tear of everyday use in a pet-friendly household.

And, of course, our upholstery fabrics are resistant to stains, so if your pet’s muddy paws do leave a trail, your sofa can be easily cleaned with just water. It'll be as good as new in no time!

Pet-friendly fabrics for real-world living

So, there you have it: if you want to know how to get creative and design a special space for your dog, you've got loads of inspiration here. As always, we hope this blog was helpful to you. If you want to discuss any of these ideas further, please get in touch with us directly via email.