Living in Style with Pets
We love our furkids and home design, but sometimes it can be a challenge to keep the pet hair off the velvet sofa. Barking Bungalow is the journey to find creative solutions to living with (a lot) of pets without sacrificing style. It takes a little retro-fitting, a handful of behavior modifications, and a lot of experimenting but it’s a pawsome journey. If you want to learn how to finally manage all that pet hair, this is the place for you.
I work in home improvement television, and my workdays are often sitting in someone else’s home hanging out with their dog or cat while watching a camera monitor. The truth is I can get pretty distracted by playing with these temporary co-workers.
Finding and Adopting a Fox Hound
Ten years ago, during one particularly distracted moment, one of the grips on the crew offered a solution. He told me that a feral hound dog had puppies on his farm and suggested I come adopt one. That’s when I met Scout. There has been a lot of change for this little Fox Hound in the past ten years, including two moves, a wedding, and the addition of some new furry family members. She is an extreme introvert but has really grown to embrace her new siblings.
Scout
Favorite Game: Fetch,
Favorite Food: Anything potentially edible
Sleep Style: Only in the middle of the bed
Scout’s Pro Tip: If your pup loves to fetch, you can buy boxes of 50-100 used tennis ball on eBay for twenty bucks (keep an eye on shipping costs). It’s an affordable way to make sure you are always prepared for fetch. They also look great in baskets in the mudroom.
A Dog Who loves Home Design
Mortimer cuddled his way into my life seven years ago when I met my husband. We think he is a Shepard/Lab mix, but he is definitely 100% all class. We joke that he was raised by cats and would prefer to be an “only dog” instead of sharing the space with his fur-siblings. I’m pretty sure Mort thinks we are living in his house and sitting on his couch. I call him my little Joanna Gaines because he is always redecorating. After I make the bed Mort will reshuffle the pillows or toss any blankets that are not working for him. He can teach us a thing or two about living in style with pets.
Mortimer
Favorite Game: Barking at the mailman
Favorite Food: Only the most exquisite wet dog food
Sleep style: On the edge of the bed closest to the door
Mort’s Pro Tip: He is all about multi-functional furniture. He prefers to eat at chest height and our farmhouse bench hits the spot
A Female Orange Tabby with a Cat-itude
One winter, a few years ago, one of our neighbors needed some help fostering a lost cat. We took him in, fell in love, and named him Bob. It was heartbreaking the next week to see Bob’s picture on a lost cat poster outside our home. We returned Bob to his real home and apologized for accidentally kidnapping their cat. When we got home, we felt like there was a hole in our lives that could only be filled by adopting another Bob.
Enter Lottie Mae. She is a female orange tabby, which is pretty rare, and she has the personality to go with it. She is only about 5 pounds in the summer and 9 in the winter but she rules the roost. We wanted her to be an indoor cat, but she was not having it. She is the spicy one in the crew and lets us know about it daily.
Lottie Mae
Favorite Game: Stick with a feather on the string
Favorite Food: Lottie likes to steal the large breed dog food from the German Shepard. She is not afraid.
Sleep Style: Any basket, cubby or Amazon box
Lottie’s Pro Tip: Lottie can flip the most basic amazon box into the ultimate dream bed by adding a simple IKEA faux sheepskin.
Proud to be a #Fosterfail
One late summer night, my husband called me on his way home from working in middle Tennessee. He told me he found an abandoned dog in bad shape and wanted to bring him home for the night. We decided to foster him while we nursed him back to health and looked for his new forever home.
He was a large German Shepard, and we were already at max capacity over here. I was really intimidated by his breed and size. As he started to feel better, we saw his very playful personality shine through. We named him August, and when it was time for him to go to a new family, we could not let him go. It was a full-on #fosterfail (My husband says it was a #fosterwin). At first, I was panicked about having so many animals in our little home. We had to get a bit creative, but I can’t imagine our lives without him.
August
Favorite Game: Keep away with the large orange ball
Favorite Food: Stinky Salmon treats
Sleep Style: He likes to sleep alone. Absolutely no touching while sleeping.
August’s Pro Tip: He sleeps on the guest bed, but his sharp nails can tear through sheets and duvet covers. He uses a washable throw rug over the bed to protect the linens. He is currently using a stylish ivory faux cowhide that was a gift from my friend Dara.
If you want to finally figure out how to have a beautiful home while also having pets, drop us your email to join the pack!
