“I always wanted a white couch. I got you instead.”
-My Mom
For the first time in my adult life, I live in a place I actually care about. It’s not the corner of my brother’s place, it’s not a beat up, cramped rental, it’s my apartment!
The first thing I did when we moved to our new spot was throw out our futon. (Full disclosure: I wanted to burn it in a bonfire in the middle of Michigan Avenue while I cackled in delight, but Emily dissuaded me)
Over the past few weeks Emily and I have sat on the floor of our empty apartment and planned what furniture to buy. While we did that, the dogs did things like this on the only couch we own.
I’m not sure how this is comfortable, but it does illustrate my mom’s point
Emily and I agreed we needed to plan our furniture with the pups in mind.
Because we knew when we got a bench…
The pups would want to sleep on that bench
And we knew when we got a chair
The pups would want to sleep in that chair
And we’d want them there with us!
We saw a lot of furniture we loved, but quickly realized it wouldn’t work with our dogs. Light color fabric stains, thick weaved fabric traps dog hair and many other types of fabric are difficult to clean.
Leather and microfibre are durable and easy to clean, but they’re also more expensive. That said, we knew we needed to invest in furniture we liked but which was also manageable with the pups.
With that in mind we focused our efforts on craigslist to find nicer leather furniture which was a year or two old so we didn’t feel bad about sharing it with the pups.
Because every time we got a new piece of furniture…Â
The dogs were quite eager to share it with us
Or not share it with us
Really, Eko?
With our new furniture we’re also keeping blankets on top of the cushions to extend their life. When we have two-legged guests over we can then move the blankets, wipe the leather and have the place look sharp.
Like all things, buying furniture when you have pets is a compromise. We wanted nice furniture, but we also wanted furniture  the dogs could share with us while we read a book or enjoy a fire. I’d like to think we’ve done a pretty good job of meeting that goal so far.
There’s no right answer of course, but I’m interested to hear how other people balance their furniture decisions with pets. I’ve always cared about my pups, but now I care about my furniture too so I need all the help I can get. Thanks!
