HomePaws & Practicality: THREE THINGS Most Pet-Owners Have That We Don't!
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Bali-inspired, modern organic EM
Paws & Practicality: THREE THINGS Most Pet-Owners Have That We Don't!
256
- Modern Organic
- HDB (Maisonette)
- ≥1,500 sqft
- 4 br
- Living with Family
Hello and welcome back to this week’s post! If you’ve been following our renovation journey, you’ll know how much thought we’ve put into making our new place feel like home. But it’s not just about us, because our home wouldn’t be complete without Bucky, our resident fluffball. ♡ From his daily antics to his very specific (and occasionally dramatic) preferences, Bucky has definitely influenced how we designed our space. 😊 So this week, we’re sharing how we made our home pet-friendly, without compromising on style or function. Whether you're a fellow cat parent or planning to welcome a furry friend soon, we hope these little tips from our experience can help you create a space that works for both you and your pet! When we adopted Bucky in 2020 (right smack in the middle of Covid), we kind of knew what we were in for. Both of us grew up in households with multiple cats, after all. But nothing quite prepares you for the quirks of one very fluffy, very particular feline, haha! His previous owner had migrated to Australia, and we were lucky enough to welcome this Maine Coon x British Shorthair gentleman into our home. He’s 9 this year, and definitely a Very Important Family Member™! So of course, when planning our new home, we made sure to carve out spaces and include little upgrades that would make life with Bucky easier (for him and for us!). Here are some of the pet-friendly features we’ve added to our home, after a few years of learning what works (and what really doesn’t) with our fluffy housemate. 𝗕𝘂𝗰𝗸𝘆’𝘀 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗡𝗼𝗼𝗸 We knew from the start that Bucky needed his own station. He’s part of the family, after all. In our previous home, his bowls were awkwardly placed right at the entrance of the kitchen because that was the only spot we could spare. It always felt like a bit of an afterthought (which made sense, since we only adopted him after living there for a few years). We kept tripping over them, and poor Bucky’s mealtimes weren’t exactly in the cosiest setting. So for this home, giving him a dedicated nook was a must-have in our kitchen carpentry! We carved out a neat little corner just for him, and it’s made such a difference. It fits his automatic kibble dispenser and wet food bowl perfectly. And because it’s tucked out of the way, no more accidental kicking of bowls! 
The nook has a hidden power socket in the top shelf to keep his automatic feeder running smoothly. We love this gadget; it has a built-in camera with night vision, and we can even “talk” to Bucky through the camera! It also records weekly vlogs of his mealtimes too, which is both hilarious and useful for keeping tabs on his eating habits. And as for his wet food, it’s served in the Oreo Table by Inherent (our favourite pet brand!). It comes with a raised wooden stand, which makes it easier on Bucky’s neck, so he doesn't have to crouch and strain his neck when eating. 
Above his station, we placed a bread box from Amazon that fits the top shelf like a glove. It stores all his canned food and treats. Super convenient and super organised! We even added a customised name plate for Bucky, which we ordered from Etsy! 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗹-𝗠𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 One thing we noticed early on was that Bucky loves a good stretch while sharpening his claws. So we ditched the typical floor-standing scratch posts and installed wall-mounted ones on both Level 1 and Level 2. 
We love these wall-mounted scratch boards because they save precious floor space. No more bulky scratch posts to walk around or trip over, especially in tighter corners, and having them mounted to the wall keeps things neat and out of the way. 
And the best part? Bucky actually uses them! We’ve had our fair share of cat furniture fails, so it feels like a huge win whenever we see him stretching out and going to town on them. 
𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝘅 This might be one of our favourite purchases! We keep his automatic litter box upstairs so it’s away from the main living area so there are no awkward smells when guests come over! It does the dirty work (literally!) for us. No more daily scooping, yay, and Bucky adapted to it like a pro! 
We also added a stairway step in front of it, which doubles up as a litter trapper. It helps catch stray litter from his paws before he walks off, so we don’t end up with little crunchies all over the floor. 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 Here’s a tip for new cat parents: cats generally prefer their water to be placed 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 from their food source. It’s just one of their many quirks, and we’re happy to oblige! We’ve set up one filtered fountain in the living room, and another in our bedroom. 
We chose filtered fountains not just to keep the water fresh, but also because the gentle flow encourages him to drink more, which is super important for cats! 𝗣𝗲𝘁-𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝗮 We were a little skeptical when we bought a “pet-friendly” sofa, but honestly, it has been such a good decision! 
It’s scratch-resistant, stain-resistant, and very much Bucky-proof! We even did the ultimate test by dropping his wet treats on it (on purpose!), and it wiped off with zero residue or staining. AMAZING! 𝗨𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗹𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘀 (𝗣𝗲𝘁-𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗧𝗼𝗼!) Because we’re already in this deep, we went ahead and upholstered our dining chairs in premium pet-friendly velvet. They look luxe but handle Bucky’s fur and claws like champs. Totally worth it! 
These are actually our old dining chairs—we just gave them a new lease of life with fresh upholstery instead of buying new ones. It felt like the more sustainable (and sentimental) thing to do, and now they fit right in with the rest of the home while still being super practical for pet life. 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘄 𝗛𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗸 We also got Bucky a cat hammock that’s attached to our living room window, because this guy loves a good view. 
Whether it’s birds flitting by or cars zooming past, he can spend hours just chilling there, totally entertained. It’s one of his favourite spots in the house, and it’s nice knowing he has his own little front-row seat to the outside world. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗲 𝘿𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝘆) All that said, however, not every pet-friendly trend made it into our home! And here’s why: 𝟷. 𝙲𝚊𝚝 𝙵𝚕𝚊𝚙 𝚘𝚗 𝙳𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚜 We love our beautiful new bedroom door too much to cut a hole in it 😅 and there wasn’t a good wall alternative either to create a hidden entrance. So, no cat flap for us. But truthfully, it hasn’t been a problem. Bucky usually snoozes downstairs most nights, and on the rare occasion he wants in, he’ll meow at the door and we’ll let him in. A little midnight greeting never hurt anyone anyway. Haha! 𝟸. 𝙲𝚊𝚝 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚘 𝚘𝚛 𝙲𝚊𝚝 𝙱𝚎𝚍 We learned this the hard way: Bucky is simply not a fan! He rejected every plush condo, tunnel, and cute little bed we lovingly picked out for him. Every. Single. One. All sold off on Carousell eventually. We’ve come to accept that Bucky doesn’t like things made for cats—he prefers things made for humans (with good taste, of course). His current favourite sleeping spot? The Catania Tall Sideboard from HipVan. Who needs a fancy cat condo when you can have a designer furniture nap throne? 🤣 𝟹. 𝙲𝚊𝚝 𝙵𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚆𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙲𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚂𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜 We seriously considered doing up a cat feature wall...you know, those Pinterest-worthy climbing shelves and floating steps that turn your walls into a mini jungle gym and vertical playground for adventurous cats..? Our staircase wall would’ve been the perfect spot, too! But after some thought (and several years of living with Bucky), we decided against it. He’s a super chill dude, not much of a climber or jumper, and way more of a floor dweller. Our Instagram stories is always full of him just sprawled on the floor, living his best, most unbothered life like the true king of the house. So we figured all that effort and cost might end up being more for us than for him, and the last thing we wanted was to spend money on something that just ends up collecting dust. 
For us, making a home pet-friendly isn’t about buying every product out there. It’s about observing your pet’s quirks, how they move around the house, and what little tweaks can make daily life smoother for everyone, pet and human alike. It’s the small, intentional choices that go a long way: like placing their water bowl where they actually want to drink, or finding a scratch board style they’ll actually use (and not just walk past), and in our case, resisting the urge to build a Pinterest-worthy cat feature wall just because it looks cool and makes us feel like we're the awesome-est cat parents, haha! We’re also always learning! As much as we think we’ve figured Bucky out, he still surprises us with new preferences every now and then. That’s why we’d love to know what pet-friendly features you’ve added to your home. Got any genius finds or clever hacks? Drop us a comment! It would be so awesome to learn from one another since we’re all trying to create homes that work better for the whole family, furkids included. ♡ See you in the next post!
