Pet friendly, or pet safe, furniture is a bit of a misnomer just like the term 'child proof' you can't get furniture which is immune to damage, but you can make sure that things are as safe and durable as possible. If you want to allow your pet access to the house, but want to make sure that there is as little possibility for damage as possible, then consider pet friendly furniture and decorations.
If you have pets in the house, then wall to wall carpeting may not be a great idea, unless your pet happens to be a gold fish or a small bird. For popular four-legged pets such as dogs and cats, a hard floor with tiles or special flooring is most pet resistant and attractive too. For additional color to the floor, try adding small rugs, though if you have expensive Persian rugs, it might be better and safer to display on the walls. One clever and practical idea is a floor cover to place pet friendly furniture. For this purpose try vinyl-coated wallpaper and three coats of polyurethane. That should last a couple of years.
Semi-gloss paint is a sensible choice if you have dogs and cats since it is easy to clean, which can be useful if your pet decides to rub itself against the wall. If you prefer wallpaper, get the washable, vinyl-backed kind. Avoid vertical blinds, ornate tassels, pull cords on lights, or anything else that could tangle the pet and put them at risk of strangulation.
If you provide cats with a scratching pole to exercise their claws on, then you may find that they will leave your furniture alone. If you don't have a scratching pole available, then some corrugated cardboard may do in the short term. If your cat has a long tail, then keep ornaments back from the edge of any ledges to avoid them getting tail-swept off and breaking.
Pet Friendly Upholstery
The primary and most essential need of most pet friendly furniture is to ensure that it can be easily cleaned to remove hair and stains. Consider having two sets of washable linen or denim slips to cover the upholstery of your sofas. It makes sense to do so, since you will always have one on hand to use, while the other is being washed. Nowadays, it is possible to buy stain resistant odor repellent fabric. This will withstand normal stains and smells. You can also choose dark or patterned fabric since this will not show stains easily.
Instead of using fabric, try ultra-suede. It is quite resistant to dog hairs, and is easy to wash and dry. It also tends not to pick up odors, and, since it does not smell like leather, dogs are less likely to chew it. You can get ultra-suede slip covers to fit a lot of common furniture sizes, and it looks very attractive, so you are not sacrificing anything for the pet-friendly features.
