Don’t Let Your Kids And Pets Destroy Your Home

If you’ve got kids or pets, you may already know first-hand that they can cause quite a lot of destruction. It’s the reason why many landlords are reluctant to rent homes to families with young kids or pet owners (although there are many measures landlords can take beyond banning kids and pets, which are discussed below). 

Fortunately, you don’t have to settle for this destruction. Below are just a few different items that regularly get damaged and how you can protect them.

Floors

If you have kids or pets, it could be important to protect your floor from damage. Carpets tend to be most vulnerable to damage – they may develop stains as a result of food spillages or baby vomit, or they could get scratched up by animal claws (cats in particular). An obvious solution to this is to switch to laminate flooring, which is more stain-resistant and less easily scratched up. Of course, this is not always feasible.

So just how can you protect your carpets without replacing them? Rugs and mats are a good option. If you have an infant that uses a high chair, you could consider buying a splash mat to place beneath. Mats and rugs can also be placed under tables while kids are eating or on the floor when kids are doing messy play. You can similarly place rugs under animal cages or feeding bowls. It is also a good idea to buy stair runner rugs to keep your stairs clean as well as easy to navigate. It could also be worth buying a scratching post if you have a cat to give them something to stretch beyond your carpets. 

Furniture

Furniture can also be wrecked by spillages or scratching. Certain furniture fabrics like velvet and silk are best avoided as they can be easily destroyed. Leather can be a good option if you have kids or dogs as it’s easy to wipe and clean animal hair off. If you have cats, choose microfiber as it’s less likely to be scratched up.

You don’t have to get new furniture. In some cases, you may be able to simply protect your furniture by adding blankets or throws that can be placed in the wash.

Enforcing certain rules may also prevent kids and pets from damaging your furniture. This could include not letting kids jump on beds to stop them from getting broken or not letting dogs on the sofa.

Walls and doors

Kids and pets can also damage walls and doors if you’re not careful. 

Many infants will draw on walls once they get hold of pens. Always supervise young kids with pens so that you can intervene if they attempt to doodle on a wall or door. Alternatively, you could consider using wall paint that’s easy to wipe clean in areas like your kid’s bedroom. 

Dogs meanwhile may have a habit of clawing dogs, especially if regularly locked in certain rooms. You can train this behavior out of dogs with a firm ‘no’ or by spraying citronella on the door or your dog (they don’t like this smell). Alternatively, you can look into claw guards or replace the door with a metal stair gate.. 

Windows

Be careful of letting kids play ball games in the backyard. Broken windows are a common form of damage in homes with young kids. 

Single pane windows are more likely to be damaged than double pane windows. If you’ve got single pane windows (especially ones that are already cracked) it could be worth considering window replacement. Security glass can provide even greater strength and could be another option.

Fragile items

You should take care to protect any fragile items in your home such as vases, ornaments, plates and glasses. Kids and pets can be clumsy – a fragile item placed in a precarious place could be an accident waiting to happen.

Keep these items high and out of reach. Avoid very wobbly surfaces – fragile items on a wobbly desk could fall if a kid knocks them or a cat jumps on them. Items like plates and glasses that don’t need to be displayed could be locked away if you’re worried that curious infants or dogs may get hold of them.

Your backyard

Finally, you should consider your backyard. Pets are more likely to be a nuisance in this regard – particularly dogs that like to dig. 

It’s best to consistently tell your dogs off for this behavior as soon as you see it or allow them a special digging zone. Make sure that dogs don’t dig holes below fences where they could possibly create an escape. You may be able to grow certain strong smelling plants in certain area of your backyard to put off dogs from digging in these places.