Furniture is important for both function and aesthetics in a home. Many of us love to buy various types of furniture out of necessity and as a hobby. Regular maintenance is necessary to preserve its appearance and extend its lifespan. Without care and regular maintenance, furniture can get ruined in a matter of days.
On the other hand, if there is a child or a pet in the house, then the risk of damage to the furniture is very normal. They can destroy the furniture in a short time by throwing things, dirtying, and playing.
Here are six tips to protect furniture from children and pets.
Tips To Protect Your Furniture From Your Pets and children
1. Emphasize immediate action
We take various necessary measures to protect the furniture from the hands of children or pets. But even then, children may soil furniture, pets may damage essential furniture.
For this, as a precautionary measure, you can keep a stain remover or cleaner close at hand. They do not leave permanent stains on furniture when used immediately. Also, if a child or pet urinates on the furniture, there may be an odor. You can use air freshener for this. First make sure that the air freshener is safe for children or pets in the house.
2. How useful is the protective cover?
Pets usually scratch different parts of the furniture, urinate, or leave their hair on the furniture. So it won’t take long for the furniture to be ruined. Similarly, if there is a child in the house, he also draws on the furniture, places fingernails or stains the furniture with water or other things.
A protective cover can be the solution in this case. Protective covers don’t have to be uncomfortable or unsightly, they can be made with soft fabrics and simple prints to prevent damage to furniture without taking away from the design of your home.
While a protective cover won’t protect your furniture like a bed, chair, or sofa from all damage, it can be an extra layer that prevents your furniture from reaching its core. As a result, messes made by pets or children can become easier to clean up.
3. Choose colors that hide dirt
You may be very busy all day. You get maybe one day a week to clean the furniture. But in two to three days, dust and sand can accumulate in the furniture In the event of a guest’s arrival, seeing the dusty furniture may make the nose tickle. What is the solution in that case? You can choose colored furniture that hides dirt and dust. If you don’t have time to clean the furniture, a medium warm gray, warm color, or blue gray furniture color mixed with a dust color will help you hide the dirt.
You will not need to make any changes in the interior design of the house to choose furniture of this color. Furniture that you use consistently can be dark in color against the rest of your home, and light-colored furniture can be placed in areas of the house that your children and pets don’t frequent.
4. Trust the scratching pad too
If you have pets in your home, especially cats, sofas, curtains or handmade wooden furniture are not easily protected from cat scratches. There is no effective way to stop a cat from scratching. Instead, it would be wise to keep the cat occupied with something else.
In this case, the easiest way to protect furniture from cat scratches is to make a scratching pad. You may have old foam or cardboard lying around your home. You can make a scratching pad with these. Rubber balls or stress balls can also be used to attract the cat’s attention.
Depending on whether the cat scratches horizontally or vertically, you need to make a scratching pad based on its habits. Also, clipping the cat’s nails helps to reduce the scratching habit to some extent. If you keep your nails short regularly, there is no chance of damaging the furniture.
5. Separate furniture ideas for children and pets
Another solution to keep children and pets away from damaging essential home furniture is to buy furniture for them. Bunk beds are available in furniture brands for children. This two-seater bed can easily accommodate both children and pets. Bunk beds can be accommodated in a separate room for children.
Moreover, you can also make some customized furniture for children and pets to keep them occupied. You can also make an enclosed playground where he will be stuck with his toys. This will greatly reduce the risk of damage to the furniture in other rooms of the house.
6. Awareness and habit triumph
What if there were not so many precautions and worries about protecting the furniture? Yes, this is also possible but time consuming. If you can teach children and pets how to use the furniture in the house as they grow, it won’t take long for all the worries to go away.
You can start teaching the child about what furniture can be used for what purpose and what cannot be used for what purpose. Just as children are imitators, pets learn to imitate by watching their master. So you can start teaching the house pets in the same way. Use the dining table for meals, not the sofa or bed. As a result, children will also be encouraged to imitate the subject. This is just an example.
In this way, make children and pets accustomed to the correct use of furniture. It may take time but you will get lasting results.
