PUPPY LOVE AND THEN SOME
Animal lovers are putting more and more thought — and money — into their pets’ decor, furniture and living spaces these days.
Awash in pale woods and modernist furnishings, Kate Makinson’s airy home is the epitome of stylish urban living.
Which i s why when it came to shopping for pet furniture, Makinson, a PR professional and design enthusiast, wasn’t about to take a turn into UglyVille.
“I’m big on living in a beautiful space and enjoying my surroundings, so when Blondie came into my life last year, I wanted her belongings to match my decor,” says Makinson.
She’s referring to her fawn-furred French bulldog, who, yes, is named after the platinum-haired singer. And like her human counterpart has her own Instagram page, hashtag: blondiethebullpig.
As opposed to a sloppy, saliva- soaked blob of a bed, Blondie gets her beauty sleep in a striped, toddler- sized teepee tucked into the corner of the living room. She dines out of a tasteful creamcoloured bowl that rests on a chevron- printed mat. She also has a striped bed that makes her look particularly camouflage- y when she’s sporting her matching tee.
“I l eave her food container out, which is a nice black and white tin, because it looks cute in the marble kitchen,” adds Makinson. It’s by Pipolli out of Florida, her go- to for gorgeous streamlined pieces ( Blondie’s teepee is from there). She also likes locals such as the Dog Bowl on Dundas Street or Hound Collection, whose designer Samantha Armstrong sells fancy leatherwear for dogs that wouldn’t look out of place draped on a lady in Yorkville.
If all of this sounds like too much, Makinson feels otherwise. “I don’t have kids. I’m 36 years old and it’s like Blondie i s my baby,” she says. “This is what I happily spend my money on.”
And she’s not alone. While ownership of cats and dogs has gone up about one to two per cent annually in Canada in the past few years, the pet food and products category has grown by 3.3 per cent from 2015 to 2016, according to market research firm Euromonitor. That means about $3.39 billion annually is spent on our four- legged friends and the like.
Recent es t i mates by Euromonitor place the number of specialist pet stores at more than 2,000 in 2015. With almost 3,500 grocery retailers and mass merchandisers in Canada, there is one pet specialist store for every 1.75 major grocery retailer/mass merchandiser.
Similar growth can be seen across the border for the same reasons. Pets are i ntegral members of our families, says Fred Silber, president of Clifton, N. J.based Enchanted Home Pet. A big player in the furniture market, Silber made human- sized sofas for 35 years before adding pet pieces to the mix four years ago.
These aren’t basic pet beds, but instead 44 different elaborately constructed furniture- grade mini sofas with nail- head detailing, button tufting, solid legs and pockets for toy storage (on a human sofa you’d find a remote control, here a stuffed squirrel).
And l i ke with most of the chaises we lounge on to watch Netflix ( unless you don’t care about such things) “there are no toxins, which you find in cheaper goods,” Silber says. “Ours have no tris in them and the wood is formaldehyde- free. They’re also elevated for a draft-free experience.”
As an animal lover himself, Silber has put serious thought into the design of the beds. “You’ve got the snuggler, the stretcher and the leaner,” he says, referring to how dogs sleep. If your dog is a snuggler who coils into a ball, a curved bed that supports him all around is best.
But it’s a different story if you perch on your haunches like a sphinx. Which is the case with Harry Styles and Ronaldo, a pair of hot- shotlooking rag- doll cats, who live the high life in Grimsby, Ont.
Their owners Sabrina Farrace, a homemaker, and Oliver Shaw, a family doctor, aren’t messing around. “The cats eat out of crystal bowls,” says Farrace. “And they have cream- coloured cave beds and trees that co- ordinate with the living room furniture.”
Dallas Noftall, a r eal estate agent, and her partner, Chris Butt, a CN peer trainer/ heavy equipment operator, live in Oakville, in beautiful chaos, as Noftall describes it. They, too, have stylish digs for their three teenage boys and menagerie of pets: a senior Golden Retriever named Keeper; Disco, an “immature and hilarious” Bouvier black labcross and two tuxedo cats, Romeo and Ms. Kitty. The family plans to introduce fish into the mix shortly.
Ms. Kitty, the diva of the house, has the lion’s share of the loot, Noftall says. “She’s got a leopard chaise, a plush velvet nesting bed and a three- tier layer out at the front I reupholstered myself to match with my front foyer.”
Six dog beds are also spread out across the threestorey house. “People actually comment on the animal beds more than on our furniture,” Noftall notes. “Keeper really likes the triple-layer fake lamb’s skin one.”
When it comes to home decor, the premiumization of pets, however, doesn’t end at small accessories. Teanna Lindsay is the co- owner of Woofstock, the largest festival for dogs in North America that takes place this year on May 27 and 28 at Toronto’s Woodbine Park and welcomes more than 150 vendors.
In tandem with “the increase in dog ownership,” Lindsay says she’s seen “a lot of cool home industries pop up as well.”
( An interesting one she mentioned is Pet Cube, an app that remotely lets you talk to Rufus so you can order him off the couch.)
On the home- decor side, Ruckus Dog specializes in breed- specific pieces. A vintage- looking plaque for collars and leashes is emblazoned with a Basset Hound, for example. Or Dachshund lovers might get a kick out of the “My wiener is epic” art piece.
But Calgary- based The Stell Mill, which builds all over Ontario and Alberta, really takes it up a notch for our four-footer friends.
The c ustom builders of beautiful homes recognizes that pets are part of the family to such a degree that part of their business is devoted to them.
“They’ ll retrofit homes to create ramps for senior dogs, do custom kitchens with built- in dog bowls and pullout cupboards and dog baths in mudrooms. So you don’t have to track your muddy dog t hrough t he house,” Lindsay says. “People are really going far to accommodate their pets.”
Now if only someone could teach them to use the toilet.
THEY’LL RETROFIT HOMES TO CREATE RAMPS FOR SENIOR DOGS, DO CUSTOM KITCHENS WITH BUILT-IN DOG BOWLS AND PULLOUT CUPBOARDS AND DOG BATHS IN MUDROOMS. PEOPLE ARE REALLY GOING FAR TO ACCOMMODATE THEIR PETS. — TEANNA LINDSAY, WOOFSTOCK