Notes From A Nester: Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
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A blogumn by Debra Barlow
Something about the prolonged Los Angeles summer this year has me feeling in a not very nesty mood lately. My house is actually quite disgusting, if I’m being honest. Sunday, I spent most of my morning weeding through three weeks of newspapers that had accumulated by my front door. I only subscribe for the coupons (who doesn’t love coupons?) and I spent about an hour happily clipping while sipping my morning coffee. That was about the only chore I could muster the energy to complete. I thought about vacuuming. Or doing laundry. But between the heat and the smoke in the atmosphere, all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and watch cheesy movies. That’s when I noticed it: a huge tear in my duvet cover. It wasn’t too hard to figure out where it came from. The culprit was napping at my feet.
Who Me?
Cats are fantastic pets, but I’ve come to the conclusion that I can never own anything really nice as long as I have them in the house. My cats aren’t that bad – they don’t claw the furniture or anything. It’s damage caused by general feline antics. The couch is pilled from their claws just walking over it. The buffet in my dining room has a scratch in the wood from a mistimed jump. And the tear in the duvet cover is the product of a play fight between the two of them. The same can be said for the pulls in my bath towels, the broken wine rack, the now-lopsided rattan chair in my bedroom…you get the idea. Reading the list of grievances, I realize I do have extremely klutzy kitties, but still — it’s frustrating!
I love the cats much more than any of these things, but I do want a home that looks presentable (assuming I ever cleaned it, that is). So, fellow fierce and nerdy cat owners, we know there’s no stopping the cats from misbehaving, what do you do to keep your home looking nice? Any go-to fabrics you use or any methods for keeping things looking new? Leave your solutions in the comments.
I have lost many a knick-knack to clumsy cats, so now I don't keep anything breakable near a ledge.
We had an awesome Red Velvety microfiber couch and chair that no nail could puncture. It was imune to most kitty stains too, as it was easy to wipe off and the fur came up with just simple swipe of a lint roller. Next time we buy furniture, I think we'll go to that same fabric. Our current couch which we bought in a bit of a re-design hustle has arms that look a bit ghetto from the climbing and hi-jinks of 3 ornery cats.
I have lost many a knick-knack to clumsy cats, so now I don't keep anything breakable near a ledge.
We had an awesome Red Velvety microfiber couch and chair that no nail could puncture. It was imune to most kitty stains too, as it was easy to wipe off and the fur came up with just simple swipe of a lint roller. Next time we buy furniture, I think we'll go to that same fabric. Our current couch which we bought in a bit of a re-design hustle has arms that look a bit ghetto from the climbing and hi-jinks of 3 ornery cats.
I basically read this 5 minutes before Steve broke one of our Riedel stemless glasses while running away from Cornelious. So basically they're on a mission to destroy everything that we'd have to keep out of a kid's reach anyway. Thanks for the extra help guys.Bored? Check out http://www.fierceandnerdy.com
I basically read this 5 minutes before Steve broke one of our Riedel stemless glasses while running away from Cornelious. So basically they're on a mission to destroy everything that we'd have to keep out of a kid's reach anyway. Thanks for the extra help guys.
Bored? Check out http://www.fierceandnerdy.com
It's definitely kid training, though admittedly the cats can climb high enough to destroy items no child could ever reach. Lockable stainless steel hutches, anyone?
It's definitely kid training, though admittedly the cats can climb high enough to destroy items no child could ever reach. Lockable stainless steel hutches, anyone?
You just need very old cats.
You just need very old cats.
JD gets upset over the shredded couch and scratched tables, but I just tell him to wait til we have children. No one notices those flaws as much as you do anyways, but I will agree that it is frustrating that items can never stay nice.
JD gets upset over the shredded couch and scratched tables, but I just tell him to wait til we have children. No one notices those flaws as much as you do anyways, but I will agree that it is frustrating that items can never stay nice.
Declawing helps immensely! However, that said it doesn't do much when you have a bulimic kitty such as Pete. C'est la vie… it just reminds you continuously that it's just "stuff" and the important things in life are small and furry! Besides, this way when a little one comes along everything is already destroyed so there are no bad feelings toward the bundle of joy. The cats are doing you a favor really….
Besides, who says IKEA doesn't spell classy? :)
Declawing helps immensely! However, that said it doesn't do much when you have a bulimic kitty such as Pete. C'est la vie… it just reminds you continuously that it's just "stuff" and the important things in life are small and furry! Besides, this way when a little one comes along everything is already destroyed so there are no bad feelings toward the bundle of joy. The cats are doing you a favor really….
Besides, who says IKEA doesn't spell classy? :)
If you want real destruction, get a dog. My two cats do a fair amount of damage to furniture, etc., but all the real damage in our house came from our dog. No wine glass was safe with that tail, no potted plant was safe on a window sill, and we won't even mention the face that he could shed more hair in a week than the two cats could shed in three years.
If you want real destruction, get a dog. My two cats do a fair amount of damage to furniture, etc., but all the real damage in our house came from our dog. No wine glass was safe with that tail, no potted plant was safe on a window sill, and we won't even mention the face that he could shed more hair in a week than the two cats could shed in three years.
Things can't stay nice and I feel like it's a waste of money to invest in anything nice. For our wedding, we registered for this gorgeous silk duvet. It was probably around $300. When the time came to do our registry completion, I just couldn't do it. I knew it would end up like our $25 set from Ikea — shredded. Alas, it's the life of a cat person!
Things can't stay nice and I feel like it's a waste of money to invest in anything nice. For our wedding, we registered for this gorgeous silk duvet. It was probably around $300. When the time came to do our registry completion, I just couldn't do it. I knew it would end up like our $25 set from Ikea — shredded. Alas, it's the life of a cat person!