15 Doggone-Good Tips for a Pet Washing Station

Article By: Becky Harris

This is going to sound harsh, but your dog stinks. Don't feel bad — it's natural, and you are nice to let him swim in that creek and run in the mud and roll around in yucky things. You don't notice anymore, because your schnoz is used to it. But when I come over to visit, the smell of your dog's bed and the smell on my hand after I pet him is very noticeable, so chances are, the same smell is in your carpets, car and any furniture Fido lounges on. 

You probably mean to wash the dog more often, but it's a pain in the neck. Large dogs are tough to get into bathtubs, the big shake afterward makes a mess, and the whole thing can be quite an ordeal. 

Now that we've got that out of the way, a home pet washing station isn't looking so crazy. In fact, you can use them for other things, too. A builder who's been adding them for years, Vincent Longo, says that one client uses his pet care station for cleaning dirty golf clubs, gardening tools and even the kids after a busy day making mud pies. 

Whatever your thoughts about pet wash stations, there's no denying their popularity. If you're thinking about adding one, here are some ideas to consider. 

Rustic Laundry Room by Mississauga Architects & Designers Parkyn Design 

Incorporate the washing station into the mudroom. Mudrooms are a very popular spot for dog wash stations. Dogs enter from the back or side door, and their muddy paws never make it into the rest of the house.

Traditional Laundry Room by Chicago Design-Build Firms Orren Pickell Building Group 

Include a handheld showerhead or sprayer. Not only will it help you get your dog's entire bod nice and clean, but it will also let you do a quick paws-only wash.

Traditional Hall by Denver Architects & Designers Doug Walter Architects 

Be prepared for the big shake. Anyone who has ever washed dogs knows that afterward they shake off the water with gusto and get the entire area wet (including the person doing the washing). Having a surround and floor that can stand up to water will keep the big shake from damaging drywall and floors. 

If your dog is the type that runs around the house in crazy circles after a bath, all I can recommend is shutting the mudroom door until Sparky dries off and calms down, or else letting him into the garage for the runaround.

Traditional Laundry Room by Ann Arbor Architects & Designers Angelini and Associates Architects 

Go bigger with the drain. Longo recommends using a 3-inch drain in a pet washing station. It will handle dog hair better than the standard 1½- to 2-inch shower drain. He also recommends adding a hair filter over the drain.

Clearly, this dog loves the pet wash station and is just begging for a rinse. 

Modern Laundry Room 

Consider an elevated dog bath for smaller pets. It will be easier on your back and knees in the long run, as long as your dog is willing and able to jump into it, or you don't have a problem lifting your pet into place.

Contemporary Laundry Room by Half Moon Bay Interior Designers & Decorators Designs Dell'Ario Interiors 

Step it up. In this clever design, the counters double as steps up to the basin. The middle step serves as a drying station and has room for a cozy pet bed underneath. 

Modern Laundry Room by Sarasota Home Builders josh wynne construction 

For smaller dogs a large utility sink plus a sprayer is all you need. 

Traditional Garage And Shed by Fort Worth Architects & Designers Direct Home Design 

Use what the pros use. You can find professional bathing stations complete with ladders or ramps at places like ProGroom. 

Traditional Laundry Room by Colorado Springs Design-Build Firms DesignWorks Development 

Combine gardening and pet grooming. Pet washers are also great places to water plants, rinse off mucky Wellies and clean your gardening tools.

Traditional Laundry Room by Lexington General Contractors BACK Construction 

Traditional Laundry Room by Norwich Architects & Designers Smith & Vansant Architects PC 

Incorporate your own style. This custom dog bath utilizes vintage tiles that the homeowner had been collecting for years.

Traditional Laundry Room by Houston Design-Build Firms Morning Star Builders LTD 

Have drying towels handy. An overhead drying rack is a handy spot for drying dog towels as well as laundry. If you utilize this kind of system, be sure to remove your people laundry before the big shake. 

Traditional Spaces by Saratoga Springs Design-Build Firms Witt Construction 

Embrace the theme. This area celebrates dogs in the wallpaper and has plenty of shelves for dog supplies.

Contemporary Bathtubs 

Consider going high-end. Do you and your pet have luxurious tastes? If so, try a dog-specific tub. When family-owned company Hydro Systemsdecided to dip into dog bath design, the owners collaborated with their groomer of more than 20 years, adding features like skidproofing to prevent slips and slides, and even an optional jetted whirlpool system. 

Is your dog the spa type? Do tell, because this idea is certainly new to me, and I can't quite wrap my head around it. Unless the dog's name is Zsa Zsa. Then it makes sense. (Seriously, though, the folks who designed this tub and added the spa option say it's a matter of personality on a case-by-case basis.)

Eclectic Bathtubs 

This model is for smaller dogs. I included it because a photo of a dog sitting in its own personal bath wearing a bling-bling necklace simply must be shared.

Contemporary Laundry Room by Lincolnwood Architects & Designers Gina Bon, Airoom Architects & Builders LLC 

Think about storage for supplies. Just like a human shower area, this one has handy shelves for dog shampoo and sponges.

 

Take it outside. Homeowners are increasingly incorporating pet washing stations into their outdoor showers. All it takes is a handheld sprayer or showerhead that can reach down to the ground. Rinse off muddy paws here before they can get inside and muck up your rugs.

Rustic Bathroom by New York Photographers Robert Granoff 

A second, lower handheld spay is good for pets and for rinsing off your own feet before going indoors.

Traditional Exterior by New Canaan Design-Build Firms TR Building & Remodeling Inc.

Provide a clean path to the door. A concrete, gravel or stone walkway will prevent your dog from dirtying up his paws on the way in from an outdoor wash. Unless, of course, the dog breaks free and does that crazy circle thing out in the yard.

The Kitchen Counter Goes to New Heights

Article By: Tiffany Carboni

Traditional counter heights are useful. They allow us to enter any kitchen and, even with our eyes closed, find the counter where we expect it to be. Despite this significant convenience, industry standard counter heights don’t work for everybody, because there’s no such thing as industry-standard human beings. 

You don’t have to stand for the one-size-fits-all mentality. I spoke with numerous designers who are bucking the norm to offer clients custom features that won't hurt (and might actually help) resale value. 

Midcentury Kitchen by Seattle Architects & Designers ROM architecture studio 

The benefits of multiheight kitchen counters. Do you feel overexerted every time you prepare a meal? Architect and universal design expert Carol Sundstrom explains why this might be. “If you are short, reaching up and extending forward to chop on a standard-height countertop contributes to shoulder strain,” she notes. “If you are tall and constantly bending forward to see the food you're prepping better, or extending your arms fully to reach a countertop that is too low for you, that contributes to both back and shoulder strain.” 

Having multiple counter heights is a great solution for multiple users. “I prefer to see more than one height of countertop in a kitchen, rather than all the counters raised up because the owners are tall, or all the counters lowered because the owners are petite,” Sundstrom continues. “Aside from making friends and family who may not share your same proportions feel comfortable when they are helping you, you also preserve your resale value.” 

Traditional Kitchen by Charleston Interior Designers & Decorators LORRAINE G VALE, Allied ASID 

A good height. Though there is no industry standard to such custom features, Sundstrom suggests raising and lowering counter heights in 2-inch increments when mocking up a kitchen, then fine-tuning them. 

Mediterranean Kitchen by Camarillo Interior Designers & Decorators Yvonne Randolph Lifestyle Design

Features that can be stepped up or down in a kitchen. Eat-at counters offer great benefits, as this one by Yvonne Randolph shows. The 12-foot island was divided in half to form a table-height eat-at counter. "The clients, who are in their 60s and entertain a lot, didn't want the clunky effect of sitting at bar stools," Randolph says. "They have a deaf son and daughter-in-law, so they decided to round the edge. It's much easier to sign around a table without corners."

You don’t need to communicate through sign language to appreciate such a feature. 

Traditional Kitchen by New York Kitchen & Bath Designers Toni Sabatino 

Counters that work for every preference and body. This kitchen, designed by Toni Sabatino, offers a lowered sink area, the height of which is 31½ inches, as opposed to the standard 34½ inches. The motive was purely aesthetic. “We chose to make the copper sink the focal point and felt the break in the counter would draw the eye.” 

Kitchen by New York Kitchen & Bath Designers Toni Sabatino 

In another of Sabatino’s designs, two stepped-down eating areas bring the food and conversation down to a comfortable seated level, rather than forcing bodies to climb up to the action. 

Contemporary Kitchen by Los Angeles Interior Designers & Decorators MJ Lanphier 

The idea for this kitchen design, by M.J. Lanphier, was to have standard dining-table-height seating for the clients' children. The homeowners didn't want any chairs to be too tall for them, especially in light of the island's above-standard height of 36½ inches. 

A bonus of varying heights. This lowered table also provides a physical separation between the children's clean homework area and the food prep station. 

Though this table purposely can fit only two chairs for the two children, your own stepped feature can just as easily fit more with judicious leg placement. 

Midcentury Kitchen by Seattle Architects & Designers ROM architecture studio 

“A center pedestal leg on a table allows people to pull up at the counter anywhere without straddling a leg or bumping into one as you get into place," Sundstrom says. "It also offers the ability of fitting more people around comfortably without triggering the need for table leaves.” 

Midcentury Kitchen by Seattle Architects & Designers ROM architecture studio 

Aside from dining counters and prep counters, baking centers and cooktops can also have stepped features.

Traditional Kitchen by Harrisburg Cabinets & Cabinetry Showplace Wood Products 

Dishwashers, too, can be taken to new heights — either in their conventional form, as shown here, or as drawers. “Two separate dishwasher drawers, each mounted right under the counter, can ease back strain,” Sundstrom says. “This also enables a dishwasher to be installed in a lower-than-standard countertop height.”

5 Common Bathroom Design Mistakes to Avoid

Article By: Dylan Chappell

Adding to or remodeling your house is one of the most exciting and creative processes you can go through. But with all that responsibility comes pressure to make informed decisions that will last for decades. How can you make sure to get the right design for your lifestyle, stay within your budget and maximize the return on your investment? Start with a great design for every room in your house — including (or especially) the bathroom.

Bathrooms, whether big or small, should always be well thought out and carefully located, and should function with multiple users in mind. We're long past the era where there was one bathroom for every three bedrooms in the house, and everyone had all the time needed to use it. Today's bathrooms need to be beautiful, use space efficiently and serve the users functionally. Avoiding the common design blunders below can help you be happier with your bathroom for the long haul.  

Eclectic Bathroom by New York Interior Designers & Decorators moment design + productions, llc 

1. No view out. No one likes a dark, damp bathroom with bad circulation — it's no fun spending time in a space like that. If you're building or relocating a bathroom, try to site it on an outside wall with windows. If windows are not an option, installing an operable skylight can allow for the fresh air and natural light needed to make the space feel comfortable.

Traditional Bathroom by Bluffton General Contractors Shoreline Construction and Development 

2. A clear view in. I once worked on a large remodel for which the existing design had a bathroom in the dining room — seems kind of like a conflict of interests, right? Whenever possible, avoid locating the bathroom directly off one of the home's public rooms — like the kitchen, living room or dining room. 

This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to put in long hallway, but create some sort of formal separation to break up the line of sight. The last thing you want is to be sitting in the living room with a glass of wine and looking straight into the bathroom at the toilet.

Modern Drawings by Carpinteria Architects & Designers Dylan Chappell Architects 

3. Making it all about the toilet. That leads me to my next blunder: Avoid making the toilet the first thing you see in the bathroom, and avoid any sight lines to it from adjacent rooms. I like to put the toilet and shower in their own room while keeping the sink separate. This allows someone to take a shower while someone else gets ready at the sink. In the bathroom floor plan here, the wall between the two rooms adds only a couple of inches to the overall size of the bathroom but doubles the room's functionality. 

Eclectic Bathroom by Brooklyn Artists & Artisans Green Mountain Construction & Design 

4. Curbed-shower enthusiasm. A curbless shower makes a bathroom feel bigger and look cleaner — plus, it's very practical for aging-in-place homeowners, since it adheres to universal design principles. This look is fairly easy to achieve in a new bathroom or a remodel — just make sure you mention it to your architect or contractor prior to construction. 

Modern Bathroom by Portland General Contractors Hammer And Hand 

5. Thinking bigger is better. That's right: Bigger isn't better; better is better. Whether you're designing a large master bathroom in your dream home or trying to figure out how to squeeze in an extra bathroom for your growing family, the most important aspect of your new bathroom is that it has a great design that functions efficiently for your specific lifestyle. 

Modern Bathroom by Miami Interior Designers & Decorators DKOR Interiors Inc.- Interior Designers Miami, FL 

The truth is, great design is less about how a bathroom looks (although it's always nice when it looks fantastic) and more about how it works. Great design translates to a house that functions better, costs less to build, is more efficient to maintain and gets you more for less.