A Fine Room for Fido: It’s a Dog’s Life at Homearama

by hookedonhouses on June 13, 2008

Doesn’t this dog look happy to have his own doggy sofa to sit on? At the Homearama house show that I told you about Wednesday, one of the most popular rooms was this one, created just for the canine residents of the home.

There were little doggy beds for each pet. Note the paw-print cut-outs in the headboards and the bone-shaped pillows. Lily loved the little table between them with the silhouettes of the dogs on it.

On the other side of the room, the dogs have a place for their leashes, a flat-screen TV (a dog show was playing for them), dog treats in glass jars, silver bowls for their food and water, and framed photos.

Doesn’t this look like doggy heaven? Okay, it’s way over the top and ridiculous, but that’s Homearama for you. The excess is part of the fun. These houses were so big that they had to invent creative uses for rooms like this.

The Dog Room was featured in the Manier Sherridan house at Homerama, built by Hensley Homes. Here’s what it looks like from the outside:

I’ll be showing you more photos from inside this beautiful ranch-style home as soon as I get all 500 of the photos I took of the Homearama houses cropped, sorted, and labeled. This was one of the smallest houses on the Homearama block at “only” 6,180 square feet, and one of the least expensive at $1.8 million. I loved the exterior with the shutters.

Would you like to have a room just for your pets? Or are you one of those people who hate to see dogs dressed up like people and treated like them, too? We have pet allergies in our family, but before we realized our cat Darcy was what was making our son so sick and had to give her away, I would’ve loved to have had a room set aside like this for her kitty litter and food, at least.

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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Bonnie June 13, 2008 at 8:35 am

I HATE great big houses, but I LOVE this doggie room! I’m actually jealous.

2 JLB June 13, 2008 at 10:04 am

I am dog lover!! We have two “furry children” in our house. I agree that it is over the top, but I love it! I would love for the puppies to have a room of thier own…especially if it had a bathtub just for them. I saw a “doggie” shower in a showhouse last year that was too cool.

3 courtney @ nesting instincts June 13, 2008 at 10:08 am

ha ha ha…sorry I’m trying to compose myself, but this is just so funny…LOL. This is just too over the top for me…(some people have way too much disposable income, I think!) but I do love JLB’s idea of a bathtub just for the dogs. They certainly made it cute though.

4 courtney @ nesting instincts June 13, 2008 at 10:09 am

Julia – you and I were commenting on each other’s blogs at EXACTLY the same time!!! Great minds think alike I guess!

5 deserae June 13, 2008 at 10:10 am

I have three fur babies of my own so of course I can see my babies totally lovin that room. I would add a grooming space with shower if it were my pet’s palace though! I’m not sure they would need furniture their own size….they lounge all over the full size stuff in my house just fine! LOL..Can’t wait to see more pics!
Have a great weekend!
~Des

6 plantingoaks June 13, 2008 at 10:34 am

I’m another who would love this room with a bathing station. And probably furniture more resistant to being chewed if someone got cranky…

So, love the idea, not so hot on the execution. How long do you think it would take before the dog realized what tasty things were inside those precarious glass jars and brought the whole thing to the floor?

Oh, and were those real dogs in the room? The certainly look real, but the beagle (?) has the exact same pose in both shots, and I can see how having live animals in a home show wouldn’t be the best idea. Now I’m making myself a bit nuts trying to decide.

7 hookedonhouses June 13, 2008 at 10:47 am

The dogs weren’t real. They were just very life-like! :-)

A bathing station would really make this space practical. Love that idea, JLB! -Julia

8 Pat June 13, 2008 at 2:18 pm

Oh, I better not let Molly see this. She thinks she owns the house, as it is!

Pat

9 Kristina Taimi June 13, 2008 at 4:00 pm

You have a really inspiring blog!!

10 tattingchic June 13, 2008 at 5:35 pm

Lucky DOG!

11 Billy June 13, 2008 at 9:54 pm

This is so old news, had one growing up but we called it the back porch.

12 Karla June 13, 2008 at 11:55 pm

Are we all really THAT crazy??? I love our pooch & all…….but her own designer room? Ha!! I guess once everything else had been done in the house that I wanted…hmmmmmm

13 Hairy Weisenheimmer June 14, 2008 at 8:42 am

Billy…LOL
No kidding!!
Honestly? Being a bit of a minimalist and a raging humanist, I find the whole idea ostentatious and embarassing. I mean, really…..there are PEOPLE out there that don’t even have clean water to drink for Gods sake.

14 Ann June 14, 2008 at 12:06 pm

What a thoughtful way to show our appreciation and love to our pooch. That is…if you can afford it.

15 Brandee June 15, 2008 at 7:15 pm

If only I had an extra room, it would go to the dogs.

16 Diana June 15, 2008 at 11:44 pm

Oh my – what a room for a dog!

17 melissa lewis - off the wall June 16, 2008 at 10:31 am

Oh my goodness, that doggie room is too cute! Love it!

18 Kathy July 5, 2008 at 12:38 pm

We bought an 1889 house that needs a ton of work. We’ve got a good start but lots more to do. We have six house cats (all adopted). We are using the living room for a cat room for now. They love to look out the windows. Their toys, cat trees, food, water, litter boxes, and beds are in that room. We visit them and take them to other rooms to be with us, but the cat room is their main living space. I hope to add a sunroom onto the back of the house later for the cats, so I can reclaim my living room.

I like knowing where the cats are. I love them very much, but I don’t like cat hair all over the whole house nor do I like cats in food prep areas. I like to have some furniture that won’t be clawed as well as some other items that I don’t have to worry about. I don’t care if the cats “mess up” some things, just not the whole entire house.

If that’s “over the top,” as my daddy used to say, “so be it.” I’m recycling the house and saving the cats. Nuff said.

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