Have you noticed that more and more people are keeping pets these days, especially single people or married people without children? Many of them have a cat, even treating them as their closest companions. Pet ownership has become a very popular trend. In the eyes of many pet owners, their cat is like a "family member."
Therefore, in the design of home layouts, we also aim to increase the living space for pets within the space available to family members. Many people see others keeping pets for companionship and want to keep one themselves, but give up when they see that there is simply no space left for a pet at home. Indeed, keeping a cat requires careful consideration of the layout of the house. So what kind of house is suitable for keeping a cat?
01 On the existing house layout, some small designs can be created. I accidentally came across a video on Douyin with more than 500,000 likes. A blogger spent 6,000 yuan to build a cat room for his cat. The protagonist sacrificed a room to use as a cat room and filled the small house with all the things the cat would need. From cat trees, cat beds, cat litter, to the places where the cat eats and drinks, everything was carefully designed.
In fact, it's becoming increasingly common to see cat owners going beyond simply providing food and water. They're creating dedicated homes for their cats, building play areas, and providing them with all sorts of pet supplies. Loft apartments or houses with attics are the perfect solution for this.
Compared to a single-level apartment, the space is obviously larger, which can be used for pets to play. Stairs and attics can increase the space for cats to play, since they love to lie upstairs and look down at the ground floor. If the house is not big enough, a pet house can be built, and their little nests can be designed in various corners of the house.
If it's in the living room, you can choose to build an open bookshelf on the feature wall, which can cleverly create a cat bed. In houses with lofts, the space under the stairs can be transformed into a cat house, which won't take up much space and will provide your pet with a quiet resting space. The balcony is the most suitable place to make a small bed for your pet. Place a cradle or tatami mat there, and your cat can sunbathe and sleep there, but you must seal the windows.
If you have enough space, you can do what this blogger did and have a custom-made cat bed made for your cat, along with a coffee table and sofa – it looks incredibly stylish. Pets don't actually need a huge amount of space; they need plenty of small, fragmented areas.
It doesn't have to be a large house of 100 square meters. Even a small apartment is fine, as long as they have a small place to stay and a little space to move around freely. I believe every cat lover already treats their cat like a child, taking care of their every need, from eating and drinking to relieving themselves. A suitable bathroom is also needed to bathe a cat.
Bathing a pet in a regular bathroom can be particularly troublesome because you have to bend over or squat to wash it, and pets, like children, can be disobedient and move around a lot, getting themselves soaked.
Therefore, a suitable bathroom and shower area for pets need to be specially designed, but the litter box, which is easily overlooked, actually requires a lot of consideration. First of all, and generally speaking, you need to prepare one more litter box than the number of cats. This means that the larger the cat and the more cats there are, the more space you need to reserve for the litter box. The special nature of the litter box also determines that it cannot be placed in a dark and damp corner, which is prone to bacterial growth, nor can it be placed in a place that is too conspicuous. Experienced cat lovers love their pets in every way, not only considering their physiological needs, but also taking care of their emotional needs, based on the pet's living habits and emotional needs.
You can also use your imagination to create some thoughtful designs for pets at home. First, let's look at cats' preferences. Generally, cats like to climb and are active, so they need certain obstacles. You can install some small devices according to their movement path. First, it is necessary to design climbing frames and jumping boards specifically for them. For example, balconies after windows are enclosed are very suitable for placing climbing frames. The TV background wall in the living room can also be fully utilized by adding a few jumping boards or making a few cat doors, so that the TV wall can be used as a cat tree. Friends who want to create an open bookcase can add steps to the bookshelf for cats to move around in, so that they can also experience the atmosphere of books.
If your home is a duplex, even better. The staircase can be designed with openwork, connecting to a cat tree to increase the cat's play area and add fun. Another simple method is to install a rope in the house. Cats always like to climb to high places and jump around. Suddenly, they might jump onto the curtains. You can prepare a rope to add to the ceiling or the cat tree. Cats also love to crawl around. You can leave holes in the house for them to move freely. You can make doorways in TV cabinets or balcony cabinets, etc. These small designs don't cost much, but they can create a playground just for your cat.
02 In fact, many products have already incorporated pet space design. Many developers now plan pet spaces in advance in the floor plan when building houses. During many site visits, I saw some projects designed with pet spaces. Taking Chongming Guangming Villa as an example, when you walk into the model room, there is a cat house from the entrance door. It not only has a tent-like window, but also a carefully designed carpet and green plants.
You can immediately feel the love this house has for pets. Not only that, there is also a bay window space specially reserved for cats in the bedroom.
Another example of such thoughtful design is the Lanxiang Lake No. 1 project on the Huangpu Riverfront. Not only does it boast the premier view of the Huangpu River, but its apartment layouts are also ingeniously designed. With five rooms facing south and a 270-degree panoramic balcony, is there a larger house more suitable for pets? Cats living here can enjoy the warm sunshine and the most beautiful scenery all day long. What's even more thoughtful is that a small house space has been reserved for them in the room, so that they can also have their own home.
Seeing these developers' products, it's clear they've put a lot of thought into them. Every pet space is designed to appeal to pet lovers. Surprisingly, some projects even have dedicated pet buttons, like the Longshengfuxinli community in Shanghai. It's not just luxury homes that have these; they're designed based on the needs of the residents. So what is their purpose?
When residents bring their pets into the elevator, they can choose to activate the pet button to alert other residents waiting for the elevator that there is a pet inside. This small design makes a lot of sense, preventing those who are afraid of pets from being frightened and greatly reducing the probability of neighborhood conflicts caused by pets. It can be seen that there are actually many pet owners in this community, otherwise there would be no need to install a pet button. For pet lovers, the living experience is instantly warmed up. In other places, we can also see that some communities already have pet bathrooms, so pet owners do not need to go to pet stores.
Many pet lovers have a requirement for their homes: their pets must be comfortable. Just like family members, pets are very important to them. Some customers even trade their large houses for apartments, because those apartments are suitable for the whole family, including their pets.
03 Perhaps in the future, apartment layouts will be specifically designed for pets. When I talked about this topic with two experienced cat owners, "What kind of apartment layout do you think is suitable for cats?" their thoughts can somewhat represent the feelings of many cat owners. "Duplexes are the most suitable." Looking at several apartment layouts, duplexes are definitely the best.
On the one hand, the space is large enough for pets to move around freely, and the duplex with stairs is perfect for cats that love to climb. It's not that single-level apartments are bad; they can be just as good. You can make some small design changes for your cat at home to make its life more comfortable. Generally, raising cats is different from raising dogs. Cats are kept indoors, while dogs are often outdoors, like when we say "walking the dog." Therefore, indoor activity design is mostly done for the cat. Some people say that only large houses are suitable for pets, but that's definitely not true.
Pets really only need a small home, and the most important thing is that they can keep each other company. "Houses are still for people to live in." Of course, it doesn't mean that you have to choose the right house for your pet. After all, houses are still for people to live in. It just means that under the existing conditions, try to design some space for your pet. People and pets also need to maintain an appropriate distance. Pets are like children.
Living in a family requires both space to play together and separate rooms for each individual, especially for families with pregnant women or those allergic to cat fur. Therefore, it's essential to have separate living spaces for cats. A small room specifically for them is ideal, allowing them to play together when needed and rest separately when required. Furthermore, I've noticed that pets have become fully integrated into family members, and many devoted cat owners treat their pets like their own children. They are incredibly generous with their pets, spending money on cat food, litter, and vet visits when they are sick. Similarly, living together daily, they are happy to choose homes with dedicated pet spaces. We're also seeing innovative designs for pets appearing on the market. While there may not be dedicated pet-friendly apartments yet, the pet market is undeniably large; let's open our minds and imagine what it's all about.
In the next five years, we might see pet rooms in model homes, where salespeople will proudly show you, "This is the master bedroom, this is the children's room, and there's a room specially designed for your pet."
