It is a lazy Sunday afternoon and you are ready to unwind on your couch with that half-read book. Your dog senses the relaxed siesta time and comes to curl up at your feet waiting for some heavy petting and love. You look and you say no, “mom will yell if you came up to the sofa. You will scratch it and I will hear an earful from her!” So, what will you feel when you see those innocent puppy eyes requesting to be cuddled? You obviously wouldn’t care two hoots about the upholstered sofa or the blow down from “mom”
For those who have pets, dogs or cats know it deep down in their hearts how important their pets are to them. Like little kids who never grow up. Since pets are the most important part of the family; it is great to let them have their say too when you are planning upholstery fabric for chairs, sofas, rugs, pouffes, throws or simply the cushions. You don’t want to upholster it with your favourite colour in leather or suede and then not have your pooch hop on to it.
While any interior designer would love to follow the season’s best picks in terms of pantone shades or materials, when it comes to deciding upholstery fabrics for dog owners, a lot more thought has to go in to it.
Here are our best picks for every dog owner’s upholstered furniture –
| Need to have Fabrics | Forget about it Fabrics |
| Faux Leather | Suede or silk |
| Canvas | Linen |
| Mock Linen | Textured slub or patterned |
| Denim | Gauze |
If you have a smaller breed of dog at home who are playful on the couch or chair and once bored, would love to dig an imaginary tunnel on it, then you are at the right place, reading the right thing! Yes, I completely understand your pain as I have a shihtzu who simply loves doing that and at that time, more than the upholstery going bad, I am busy capturing his cute moves for the gram ?
Beauty of some of the fabrics is that it is inherently pet friendly so all you got to do is choose the right one.
Faux leather:
We recommend faux leather as it beautifully mirrors leather in look and feel and it is cruelty free as well. There are two major drawbacks in using faux leather – one is that it is not tear resistant like leather so may be a good idea to keep those nails trimmed and second if you are expecting patina on the couch to make it look ever more attractive after a few years, you will be in for some disappointment then. Apart from this, it is a great choice, it is odour free and also is budget friendly as compared to true leather. Adorn the faux leather couch with some natural canvas throws to keep it cozy for you and for the pooch.
Canvas:
Canvas is nothing but a tight weave and originally made in cotton. Any tight weave fabrics are a great choice to protect against the scratches or high energy play on the furniture. Remember to keep it simple though without any unnecessary embellishments and accessories as those can be a fun playground for the dog. You can find great colours, minimal textured canvas fabrics in cotton or cotton/poly blends too. Again, rendering it as a great budget friendly choice.
Denim:
Just like canvas, denim is also a tight weave fabric and that’s because it is a tight weave version of canvas weave. It is easy maintenance and can be washed/cleaned without much fuss. Denim fabrics, just like your pair of jeans, ages well and becomes comfortable with time. The tenacity of this fabric allows you to also vacuum clean the pet hair off the piece of furniture with much ease.
Mock linen:
If you are a big fan of the timeless linen-look on your furniture, then you can try the mock linen fabrics as linen is expensive and having your favourite being destroy that expensive piece can be devastating. Mock linen is usually available in 100% polyester or polyester/cotton blend or 100% cotton. It has less texture and is a lot more abrasion resistant as compared to pure linen. It is also easy to maintain and clean at time of any mishaps.
Remember one mantra for selecting the fabric if you are a dog owner, tight weave fabrics in medium to dark colours. We recommend not using suede, silk, or heavily textured or patterned fabrics or loose weave fabrics like gauze linen, gauze cotton, etc as it will easily tear and get stained beyond repair.
Much love to all dogs and dog owners reading this. Don’t wait up and give the comfort of fabulous fabrics to your pets and enjoy that Sunday afternoon guilt free!