Pet design | Design gifts for our pets

Dogs and cats have been the most popular pets in our homes for years. Data shows that in 2023 the 32.7% of Italians own a pet. Worldwide, the average continues to rise, reaching almost 57%. Half of the world’s population therefore welcomes an animal into the family, following a trend that is definitely on the rise.

Owning an animal does not only mean feeding it, but taking care of it by adhering to a series of responsibilities and actions that necessarily change our lives as well as the surrounding environment.

For the more attentive, the modern market is making available a series of products specifically dedicated to the animal world, a selection of elements aimed at creating an increasingly permeable and livable environment not only for us but also for our friends at home.

The ultimate goal of Pet Design is to create multi-dimensional homes, designed to creatively and intelligently satisfy the needs of owners and their friends in a mutual well-being: small, crowded or structurally inadequate environments can in fact generate a lot of stress in everyone, making it difficult to live together in harmony.

Among the many “cohabitation” solutions, we often hear about dog bedrooms, followed by cat-houses for cats and numerous other possibilities that do not only think about aesthetics but also about practicality. Also highly innovative are “pet-friendly” furnishings, that is, those pieces of furniture designed for use by humans that have numerous peculiarities that are appreciated by animal friends: rough fabrics, soft surfaces where it is possible to climb, sheltered conformations where one can curl up or rest without being disturbed and so on.

The genius of pet-friendly furniture consists precisely in offering an animal point of view to the design of a piece of furniture, keeping in mind that in the absence of a real natural habitat (especially in urban contexts where there is no greenery) it is the apartment itself that must be transformed to recreate – albeit with the necessary extenuating circumstances – the ideal context for our little friends.

Many house cats and dogs suffer from the stress of cohabitation or the lack of open spaces in which to carve out their own context; it is up to us to remedy this by offering them better environments.

Here are some companies that have started to offer pet-friendly furnishings for the home:

Poltrona Frau has created the Pet Collection, a line entirely dedicated to dogs and cats, with numerous excellent design proposals that combine the company’s craftsmanship with attention to the comfort of our animal friends. The Dog House is a high-quality refuge that offers perfect support for joints. It has an oval shape and is made with the fine Pelle Frau® leather. The interior is in wood, combined with fireproof padding. The internal cushion is in hypoallergenic foam and removable, as well as water resistant. We also mention a set of luxury accessories for dogs and cats, such as collars, carrier bags, leashes, blankets and other small essential comforts for those who want to leave home in the company of their pet. Each element is strictly in Pelle Frau.

Opinion Ciatti presented Berberé, a portable dog house designed by Raffaella Mangiarotti. The simple design makes it easy to carry wherever you decide to go; you can also add a cushion to improve comfort.

Qeeboo has collaborated with Stefano Giovannoni and United Pets to create an original and extremely distinctive cat house. It is made up of two overlapping stones, the lower one enriched with a scratching mat and a soft ball that hangs from the ceiling. The upper stone instead has a wide opening that allows the cat to enter accessing a sheltered and comfortable refuge.

Giorgetti has produced a dog house in collaboration with Giancarlo Bosio. The design is extremely simple and compact, ideal for those who want to offer their pet a comfortable resting space, which can be placed in any room of the house.

However, there are numerous proposals, each characterized by the creative drive and care that we increasingly want to pay to the life of our animal friends: United Pets has created a bench that serves as a dog house. The Chinese studio LYCS Architecture has instead put together a series of furnishings that animals and humans can share, using overlapping planes and small devices that allow for synchronous use. Thinking Design has instead created real cat-homes using shelving systems equipped with strategic hiding places for cats. But the examples could never end.

Salvioni collaborates with many companies that have introduced pet-friendly collections into their catalog. The reason is to exploit new trends and offer all those who own pets a luxury choice, a high-level solution not only for their home, but also for all those who live inside it, including animals.

Eurispes 2023 (Dati di sintesi)