Building Fido's Castle

Here are 10 practical and visually appealing design ideas you can use when remodeling with your pet in mind:

• Indoor Pet Retreats. These rooms are generally located by an outside back door, with a lockable exterior access door designed for your pet to go inside and out. These pet retreats sport automatic feeders and drinking fountains, and some feature a doggy shower.

• Disguised Litter Boxes. Apart from offering privacy, many of these designs resemble furniture. Some cat box designs are situated in a separate room such as a with access provided by a secret cat door hidden inside a cabinet.

• Heated Floors. Pets appreciate warm floors as much as humans. Just ask cats who curl up to radiators.

• Platform Beds. Much like one would design a window seat, these beds are attached to the wall, and are much less expensive to build than, say, buying a Gucci doggy bed.

• Cat Ramps and Cat Trees. Cat ramps are stairs that diagonally run up a wall to meet a shelf, which runs below and along the perimeter of the ceiling. Floor-to-ceiling cat trees are constructed like columns throughout the home and wrapped in carpet or rope.

• Doggy Overlooks. This design feature lets your dog stick his head through a square opening on the second floor, so your dog can keep tabs on his owners below.

• Wood Floors / High-End Linoleum. While it may seem like an oxymoron, expensive linoleum floors are becoming popular because they offer easy clean up after pet accidents. Wood floors are easier to maintain than carpet, and light to medium finishes minimize scratches.

• Storage Rooms. For people who purchase pet supplies in bulk, special storage rooms are a terrific solution for storing bags of pet food, cat litter and other pet supplies.

• Built-in Benches With Removable Covers. These look like a bench, but open the cover and it's a toy box. It's also a convenient place to stash leashes and large doggy balls.

• Stain-Resistant Fabrics and Carpeting. Pet owners who don't like the look of shedding hair choose fabrics, rugs and non-toxic carpeting that match their pet's fur.

Credit: about.com