The Room: Pet Project

Burrowed Time

Say hi to Clubber: on most days, you can find the five-year-old bunny lounging beneath a Bensen Neo sectional sofa, treating it like her own personal burrow. She’s also one of the main reasons why Sharon Hollingsworth, interior designer and founder of Husk Interior Design, was selective about the materials she used in the renovation of her 1,200-square-foot half-duplex. For the project, built in collaboration with Alair Homes, she opted for durable oak and elm for the cabin­etry and furniture so that Clubber’s nibbles would do minimal damage; a matte finish and pronounced grain on the wooden floors keep her from slipping. Hollingsworth also installed a removable metal mesh on the balcony for safety—ensuring Clubber won’t get loose (and nothing else gets in). And if that wasn’t enough, Clubber also has a powder room—er, bunny hutch—all to herself, and it’s built right into the dining room. —X.Q.W.

The Bark Side

For an active dog-owning family on Vancouver’s North Shore, daily walks on the surrounding trails mean muddy paws are just part of the equation—so designer Sophie Burke integrated this dog-washing station into the home’s combined mud and laundry room. Tough-wearing porcelain tiles were selected for the backsplash, the floor, the counter and the bath itself, the last of which was custom constructed from those tiles. A custom design meant the bath could be deeper (and better for bathing) than a stand-alone sink, and the piece itself could be seamless—and for easy maintenance, the plumbing is accessed via the niche, where a cozy dog bed rests. A custom black-metal rod overhead doubles for drying-off towels and hanging clothes from the nearby washer and dryer—and even the wall sconces from Rich Brilliant Willing are tough enough to handle a hard-working room like this one.—A.Q.

Fancy Feast Zone

It’s a problem most pet owners are familiar with: how to position the cat’s food bowls so they’re useful for the cat but not underfoot in the kitchen. And while the homeowner behind this Vancouver kitchen was keen to get something more  functional for her own cat, she didn’t want to introduce a permanent feature in case she ever sold her home. Enter  the cat buffet, a solution that designer Ira Lopez of Falken Reynolds created after researching cat behaviour. Built into the toe kick of the cabinets, the Corian slab is deep enough that kitty can position herself behind her bowls to face the room if she wants—part of the cat research Lopez threw himself into—and tough enough to handle any abuse she throws at it. It’s also easily removable if a future homeowner isn’t of the #CatLife variety (the horrors).—A.Q.