How to Design Pet-Friendly Rooms With IKEA Cabinets

People are passionate about their home remodeling projects. But there’s one area that might be even more important to them: their pets. This is especially true when incorporating IKEA cabinets into pet-friendly rooms throughout the home, including the kitchen, laundry room and mudroom. So, why not combine the best of both worlds?

This article is for IKEA customers searching for ways to incorporate IKEA cabinets and custom design solutions into their pet-friendly project.

Examples of Different Pet-friendly Design Ideas

We at IKD believe pet-friendly designs offer a lot of possibilities — after all, every dog should have its day! Designs incorporating IKEA’s SEKTION cabinet framework could include a feeding station connected to custom cabinets in the kitchen or as a stand-alone.

Consider:

• a dedicated washing area in your laundry room or mudroom to clean off Fido’s paws
• a private cubby or bed for either a dog or cat to sleep
• or simply establish some extra kitchen storage to house pet food and pet litter

These ideas can be accomplished with IKEA cabinets as well as with custom fronts from third-party cabinet manufacturers, like Semihandmade. (IKD has been recommended by The New York Times as a design resource for customers considering custom doors for their cabinets.)

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As you’ll see, it also provides an ideal opportunity to incorporate IKD’s signature IKEA kitchen hacks (modifications made to standard IKEA cabinets in order to create custom design solutions while still working with IKEA’s SEKTION).

When done right, these pet-friendly enhancements will improve the style and efficiency of your home and ensure that your four-legged family member is well taken care of with minimal mess or stress for your family. Plus, these ideas won’t break your budget (so you won’t be in the doghouse).

IKEA Cabinet Options for Pet-Friendly Spaces

A pet-friendly space using IKEA cabinets provides a great opportunity to be stylish and practical.

One recent IKEA laundry room project we completed for IKD customers Sam and Teresa from Boston, MA, incorporates a dedicated dog-washing area next to the base cabinetry (which includes quartz countertops, IKEA MAXIMERA drawers, and a sink) along with Semihandmade cabinets in Classic Walnut for the wall cabinetry and Cream Mushroom slab cabinet fronts for the base cabinetry. Very unique!

Another example is the laundry room remodel designed for IKD customers Charlie and Rose from Los Angeles, CA, who wanted their dogs to be as pampered as possible.

Specifically, they were open to our IKEA hack suggestion of using IKEA trash pullout cabinets to hide dirty laundry and dog food containers. They also requested a spot under the open counter to hide dog food and water bowls.

To accomplish this, they selected IKEA’s SEKTION framework with IKEA VOXTORP doors in white for the upper cabinets on one side and Semihandmade Tahoe cabinet fronts for the lower and tall cabinets.

The open counter base cabinet is neatly tucked into the end of the run with room for a food and water dish. The look is complemented by IKEA FORBATTRA toe kicks, a FIXA countertop support fixture, and an IKEA VARIERA cover plate.

Lastly, we designed a recent IKEA kitchen renovation for IKD customer Charlotte from Canada and her spouse, who have three dogs that are very important to them.

To that end, they requested IKEA’s Black KUNGSBACKA cabinets with minimalist pulls and black on both the main cabinet wall and island. This look was complemented by white quartz countertops and a dedicated eating zone for their dogs with an open KUNGSBACKA base cabinet in the corner.

This way the family will always be eating supper together!

Keep in mind, you want to avoid potential hazards for you and your furry friend. To keep the pet from making a mess with kibble or water splashing around the base kitchen cabinet — and to keep you from constantly bending down to clean the area — consider adding a custom sliding door to conceal the bowls (and keep Fido on a steady eating schedule).

Or, consider using a cabinet hack to take a free-standing IKEA SEKTION base cabinet combined with custom doors for a stand-alone feeding station with a spot for bowls and a MAXIMERA drawer to store extra cans of pet food.

Custom Design Ideas

Just as with other remodel projects, pet-friendly designs can give you one-of-a-kind design options, too.

For a clever way to conceal Fluffy the cat’s litter box, combine IKEA’s SEKTION base cabinetry framework with a custom-cut solid wood door from Semihandmade to give kitty its own entrance. This also gives her privacy while keeping the litter box out of sight. (This idea could also be modified to create a sleeping spot for your pet by adding some comfortable pillows instead of the litter box).

Or, for an IKEA home office, you could use a couple of IKEA base cabinets to create the base to place a fish tank — very relaxing!

Storage Solutions

Maximizing space is always a key consideration in a remodel project, and this is especially true with pet-friendly layouts.

For instance, consider using different sizes of the IKEA 365+ dry food jar with lid which will keep food organized (especially if you have more than one pet or pets with special diet needs). Or, you can incorporate the IKEA LILLANGEN end unit in gray to provide a storage space for leashes, bowls, pet jackets, and brushes.

As you can see, designing spaces with your fur-baby in mind can really personalize your IKEA remodel project. Our design team is here to guide you through the design and product selection process and to make sure that your results are paw-some!