by Jack Oldham
Decorating any house is a complicated procedure with many things to take into consideration. These complications increase hugely when the household also includes pets. Not only do the home-owners need to decide whether the items they are fitting look good; they also need to determine whether they pose a threat to their pets safety or whether the pets may be tempted to damage them when home alone.
One of the most tempting things for pets – especially cats and dogs – to play with is a pair of curtains. In their minds, the options are endless. They can scratch them, climb up them and pull them down for their own entertainment. If your pet has done this before, then you may wish to consider changing to roller blinds.
Not only will they save you the hassle and money of continually replacing your window treatments, they will also make your home a safer environment. The wear and tear placed on curtains by your pets means that eventually, they are likely to break and cause a potential hazard to those in the home.
Despite this being a useful point, there are many more reasons to fit roller blinds than just safety. For a start, they are particularly budget-friendly. They are generally cheaper than most other window treatments anyway and tend to last longer. Add to this the fact they can rolled up to prevent your pets playing with them means they are less likely to require replacing any time soon and you could see yourself saving quite a lot of money.
No matter how high quality and expensive your curtains are, they are very unlikely to survive playtime with your four-legged friend. Pet owners will be aware more than anyone just how persistent their beloved companion can be, and curtains are unable to put up much of a fight. Roller blinds, on the other hand, reduce the risk of damage as they give the pet less opportunities to get a good hold of them, even when unrolled.
As well as being a safe option, roller blinds are also extremely convenient too. They can be raised out of the way of pets so they can sit or play by the window, and when lowered can provide the right environment for people and pets to sleep in. The opacity of the blinds means there are no concerns over the room being dark enough to get your head down for the night.
It’s important to remember that when decorating your home, you are also decorating for your pet. Roller blinds help create the most comfortable and convenient environment for both yourself and your pets.
Jack Oldham is a recent BA (Hons) Journalism graduate who regularly blogs on a variety of topics, including blinds, curtain poles and DIY.
5 Comments
This is a good article/blog. Thanks
I agree very useful information. I think when decorating you should always think of your animals as well as your children.
As a long time cat owner, I can testify that curtains are a cat magnet. Climbing, scratching, playing…our cat was forever doing something with them! And sadly, that something usually involves claws, which to your point, are not kind to the curtains. However, we went with the wooden blinds option rather than the roller blinds, and they worked out pretty well. There’s still sometimes a tendency to play with the cord, but nothing’s perfect, right?
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Good idea. Pets have been known to chew and damage blinds as well but they are cheaper than curtains. We just want to watch that the material that the blind is made of is not toxic to pets.