Pets may drive some interior design decisions, such as window treatments.

Over the years, I have worked with clients who have dogs and cats. Interior design solutions were based on the final overall look in the house. However, recently I was helping clients with three Siamese cats – the first time I’ve experienced cats taking notice of furnishings in the house. In other homes, dogs and cats pretty much stayed on the floor. But in this case, the cats loved to explore surfaces well above the floor throughout the house. Despite their small size, they managed to leap well over my head, and I am 5 feet 6 inches tall.

Once my clients shared this fact, we had to base interior decisions on it. This translated into choosing items that did not attract the cat’s attention. Potted plants or floral arrangements were items that could easily be knocked over or played with, so out of question. Breakable items for their bookcases another one. But, the most challenging was with the fabrics that we used.

Our goal through the process was examining fabrics to see if they were “cat-friendly.” By cat friendly, I learned that meant no loose fabric threads for the cats to play with and try to unwind. Decorative trim often has raised surfaces and threads that could be very easily unraveled, so they often should be avoided.

However, it was in the dining room (see photo) where I found a window treatment solution that allowed us to use trim and achieve the overall look they desired. My clients had an existing rug that they wanted to use in the room. Their rug had a pattern with multiple shades of reds and burgundy’s. Modern in feel, it allowed the possibility of numerous colors to include in the room. From that I selected a shade of light burgundy as the color palette to use for the fabric. Because of the metallic gold design running through it, we determined that it would catch the attention of the cats. The look of the fabric was what needed to compliment the rug, but not simply as drapery panels.

Pictured is the solution that I designed for the dining room window treatment. The burgundy gold scroll motif fabric was only used on most of the upper part of the drapery panels. The lower part has a plain fabric that definitely did not attract the cat’s attention. So that it looked finished in design and not like two fabrics were sewn together to make them longer, I used a flat decorative trim. The trim worked because it pulled together the two fabrics but more importantly, it did not attract any attention by the cat. To ensure that it was cat friendly, I made the swags over the panels narrower and shorter so that they were not viewed as high perching areas for the cats.

Teal Michel ASID, is a licensed full-service interior design firm specializing in residential interior design and renovation-remodeling design throughout the Carolinas. Teal has won awards from ASID for interior spaces and furniture design and from the Home Builder’s Association of Charlotte Excellence in Remodeling for remodel design and interior renovation. She has participated in HGTV’s “Designer’s Challenge” and her work has been featured in several books. www.tealmichelasid.com. Read her past columns on DavidsonNews.net.