The Best New Home Features for Pets
Pets are a part of the family, and that means you’ll want to include them in your plans for a new home. Building a pet-friendly home today comes with plenty of options to make an ideal environment for your four-legged family members. The best new home features for pets combine style and a functional place for your pets to sleep, play, eat or simply enjoy living in a new home.
If you want to create a custom home that’s perfect for you and your pets, we’re here to help. Discover new home features for pets along with tips for building a custom home with pets in mind below.
Building With Pets in Mind
When you build with your pets in mind, they don’t become an afterthought in your home’s design. They’ll have integrated components that make their living spaces more enriching and suitable for them. Take these factors into consideration as you’re building a pet-friendly home:
- The type of pet you have: Consider what type or types of pets you have to incorporate the best home features for pets. You might have
traditional cats and dogs, or you may live in a farmette with animals like chickens, goats, cows and other barn animals. With lots of larger pets, you’ll
want a larger living space, and with unique pets, you’ll need specialized areas. - How many pets you have: The more pets you have, the more space you need. This is especially true if you have large animals living in your home or on
your property with you. You may need space to separate animals from each other, spots where they can sleep at night and separate feeding areas. - Whether they’re indoor or outdoor pets or a combination: With indoor pets, you may want designs that help keep them inside. Doors that lead into enclosed porches will help ensure your pets stay inside when you leave your home. Outdoor pets will require fenced-in areas to stay safe. If you have pets who enjoy time inside and out, you might need features like dog doors.
Pet-Friendly Home Features
Building a custom home with pets lets you create special places just for them. New home features for pets are now integrated into the design of your home to create a place that’s special for your animal friends. They also make caring for your pets much easier with smart design considerations. These are among the best home features for pets:
- Feeding stations: Make feeding time easier with a carefully designed eating area for your pets. Most homeowners integrate this spot into the kitchen for house pets. Tuck it into a cabinet or on the side of a kitchen island. You can then hide the food away if it’s not time for your pets to eat. Incorporate storage nearby to hold the food and treats for your pets. If you have outdoor animals or pets like chickens, cows and other barn animals, create a feeding station outside and remember to add storage.
- Sleeping areas: Your pets should have somewhere warm and comfortable to cozy up in at night or throughout the day. Ensure you have enough space in the room where you want your pets to sleep. Dedicate a corner of your bedroom or living room to pet sleeping areas. Leave space for a crate, pet bed or whatever your pet sleeps on. You may even create a comfortable nook under steps or inset along a wall for pets to curl up in.
- Washing stations: You’ll need to bathe large pets, from dogs to farm animals. Create a convenient space to wash these animals, whether it’s inside or outside. Popular new home pet features include a walk-in shower stall at an appropriate height for your animals. They feature a drain at the bottom and a detachable showerhead and hose to help bathe your pets. The walls and doors of the stall are low enough for you to reach over easily but high enough to help keep your pet in place.
- Mudrooms: These spaces are convenient for both you and your pets. If you have animals outside that you take care of or your pets go in and out, a mudroom keeps the rest of your home clean. You can remove your muddy boots and wipe off your pets’ paws before they go inside. You may even put a pet washing station in your mudroom for a convenient way to wash pets who go outside.
- Specialized areas: Animals love exploring their surroundings. With smaller animals, you can incorporate enriching features into your home for them to use. Cats would love to walk through tunnels or climb their own set of platforms along the wall, and dogs would appreciate a cozy nook under the stairs where they can go to lay down. Barn animals like goats also need a place to play and somewhere to sleep. Touches like these ensure your pets aren’t an afterthought as you’re building a custom home with pets.
The Best Custom Homes to Build for Pets and the Benefits
A custom home is the way to go if you want to give your pets a functional and enriching space. Choosing a custom home is especially vital if you have barn animal pets living with you or on your property. They need specialty spaces, and a custom-built home will provide that. Consider building a pet-friendly home in styles like these:
Custom-Built Barndominiums
A barndominium combines “barn” and “condominium” to describe a home with a barn style. It may also feature space for an attached barn or garage, combining space in one building for you and your pets. Barndominiums are among the best custom homes when you have farm animals as pets or a lot of animals living with you. Custom-built barndominiums also come with these benefits:
- They’re low maintenance: With everything on your property in one building, you won’t have to worry about upkeep for other buildings unless you add them onto your property. Barndominium exteriors are usually durable, as well, cutting down on maintenance the outside of your home will need.
- They’re convenient: In unfavorable weather, it could be difficult to go from your home to another building to check on your animals. With a custom-built barndominium, you can have your animals’ living quarters in the same building as your own.
- They give you more space: Custom-built barndominiums can give you about as much space as you want. Add on a workshop, garage, barn or a combination along with your living space. That gives your pets enough space to have for themselves, but you’re still under the same roof.
Custom-Built Farmettes
A farmette or a hobby farm is a small residential farm. With a hobby farm, you likely have another source of income and keep farm animals as pets. As the owner of a farmette, you have your own area for your home and outbuildings to keep pets in. A farmette works best for those with farm animals as pets, but you may have traditional household pets, as well. If you choose a custom-built farmette, you’ll get these benefits:
- They require less space: A farmette needs less space than a farm. You may not have as many animals and buildings or as much land to attend to, perfect for farming as a hobby. Of course, the more buildings you add, the more space you’ll need.
- They give you your own space: For some, having a separation from their pets is essential. It makes it easier to care for your home and keep it clean while your pets enjoy their own space. You can choose any style of home that suits your tastes, as well, without focusing on integrating pet design features.
- They let you customize space for your animals fully: Having a custom-built farmette doesn’t mean you’re neglecting to create special spaces for your animals. If anything, you can create an entire separate building just for your pets. They can have everything they need in one space.
Build Your Home With Green Diamond Builders
Ready to get building a custom home with pets in mind? Green Diamond Builders, Inc. is here to help. Since 2004, our full-service construction company has been turning dreams into reality with residential and commercial builds in Delaware and Maryland. We take your vision and your needs into account, putting all your desires into your new custom home. Green Diamond Builders is with you from drafting your initial concepts to the day we hand you your certificate of occupancy.
Contact Green Diamond Builders today for more information about how we can make your dream home a reality for you and your pets.