3 Simple Ways to Clean and Organise your Pet-Friendly Home

You might love your pets, but you don’t love the mess they often leave behind.

I completely agree. After introducing a new kitten into our home 6 months ago, alongside our 12 year old cat, I’ve found it hard to maintain tidiness and organisation in every room.

The fact that the 2 cats need to be separated hasn’t helped, so our living room has been taken over by cat paraphernalia, which seems to be permeating many spaces in the house.

So, it’s time to declutter. And it’s time to rid the house of cat fur, fleas and general pet mess.

This is how I’ve tackled it.

A cat sitting inside a clean cardboard box on a carpeted floor in a pet-friendly home.

Article Contents

1. Cleaning the Floors

Do you find once Spring kicks in the pet mess increases? From shedding fur, to muddy paws, smelly carpets and dirty sofas, I keep finding cat detritus everywhere.

I’m tackling it with a new vacuum. Having used a cordless Dyson for many years, which doesn’t do the job anymore, I’ve tried the Shark Stratos Cordless Stick Vacuum Pet Pro Model from very.co.uk.

It took me a while to decide on the model but after some research in the Shark Vacuum section, I chose this one.

A cordless vacuum cleaner in a modern living room with a decorative fireplace and houseplants, designed for clean pet-friendly home maintenance. — *I even kept all the dirt in it to show you!*

After using this vacuum for a few weeks there are a few features that I really love, as a home with pets and teenage girls with very long hair.

Anti-Hair Wrap

This features removes long, medium and short pet hair from the brushes so you don’t have to spend time doing it yourself. This was a big problem with our Dyson which would stop working when clogged, and so I used to spend ages pulling out pet hair, and long teenage hair from the rollers. I’ve checked the Shark already and there’s no hair wrapped around the rollers at all. Genius.

A handheld shark vacuum cleaner being used to clean a patterned carpet in a pet-friendly home.

Good for all Floor Types

Our home is a mix of vinyl, engineered wood and carpet flooring so the vacuum needs to be excellent at cleaning all types. I’ve often found in the past that the Dyson didn’t work as well on the vinyl flooring in particular.

The DuoClean floorhead glides from carpets to hard floors with 2 motorised brush-rolls working together in one floorhead – the Anti Hair Wrap Plus brush-roll cleans deep into carpets, while a soft front brush-roll tackles hard floors.

I have definitely found this to be the case.

What also works well is the Clean Sense IQ function, which does use more battery power, but gives the carpets a very good clean – essential with pets. Clean Sense IQ senses the dirt you can’t see and adjusts cleaning power for optimised suction. An indicator in the floorhead illuminates as the suction automatically increases to meet a cleaning challenge – and decreases again when debris is cleared.

So the cleaner your floors, the Shark works less hard, and takes up less battery life.

Woman using pet-friendly cleaning tips while vacuuming a carpet in a living room.

The Battery

The Shark Stratos claims to be able to run the battery for 60 minutes as long as it’s on Eco mode. Eco mode means a steadier power, less intensity of cleaning and so saving energy.

We’ve spent some time cleaning the house and found that vacuuming most of the floors takes less than 1 hour – we have a 4 bedroomed Victorian semi, with 2 bathrooms and 3 reception rooms. (This experiment doesn’t include cleaning the teens’ bedrooms). The battery lasts well but you do have to maintain a habit of charging it before you begin, and then immediately afterwards.

The charge takes very little time, and the vacuum sits neatly anywhere – no need to slot into a dedicated wall charger. There are pros and cons to this, but I find the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

A person wearing a striped shirt with blue nail polish is holding a black car gear stick, following pet-friendly cleaning tips. — *Cleaning pet hair from the living room chair with the attachment.*

2. Organise the Cat Toys

I’m a neat freak, it’s true and I can’t tolerate clutter, particularly in my living room. This is my safe space, a calm room that helps me clear my mind from the hassles of life. So that fact that it’s been overrun by the new kitten for 6 months has been difficult.

We have to keep her in here at night, and often for periods in the day when the older cat needs feeding.

The room is looking tired and dishevelled, so I gave it a good clean with the Shark Stratos (as above) and organised the pet toys which seem to get strewn everywhere! I even found them behind the tv.

I’ve chosen a selection of storage baskets from very.co.uk to organise the room better.

A cozy living space with a modern olive green armchair, a clean basket of pet toys on the table, and a cat tree by the window creates the ultimate pet-friendly home atmosphere. — **Set of 2 rattan baskets from very.co.uk £20**

I do like a good set of rattan baskets and this has 2 different sizes, ideal for storage around the home. Each one is woven from a combination of soft white cotton and seagrass reeds.

A stylishly decorated fireplace with decorative objects and plants in a modern, clean pet-friendly living room.

In our dining room area which doubles as a hangout space for teens and cats, we’ve accumulated a lot of cat toys. And the cats like to carry them around the place too.

Our older cat who refused to partake in the photo shoot, arrived from the pet rescue with her favourite cardboard box, and so we’ve kept it ever since to help her feel safe. It’s now become a dumping ground for pet toys, including yards of yarn!

A cat lying on a fluffy, clean rug with sunlight streaming through the window in a pet-friendly home. — *Biscuit poses beautifully for the camera in front of her toy box*

So again with a lovely set of storage baskets, I’ve tidied up the cat toys and made the corner of this room look a little more stylish. I may have to keep the cardboard box though!

A bright, modern living room corner with a fireplace, potted plants, white furniture, and a geometric-patterned rug is organised in a pet-friendly manner.

3. Store the Pet Food

Another area that gets out of hand and disorganised is our storage of cat food. That’s increased a lot, and we like to keep a good store of supplies for them.

In a pet-friendly home, a person's hand selecting a clean cat food pouch from a wire basket on an organised pantry shelf. — **Set of 2 metal baskets £14**

This cupboard needed better organisation and a way to prevent the food from spilling and moving around. These metal baskets from very.co.uk are great because I can see through them. They contain the food packages but also make it easy to monitor the levels and ensure we’re not running out.

A cat peering into a pantry shelf, organized with various clean kitchen items and pet-friendly food packages. — ***Biscuit the kitten living up to her name and sniffing out the treats***

Office Pod Organisation

Finally, and a little aside from cats, although they do like to spend time in here, I’ve added an extra storage idea to my brand new garden office pod.

We completed this just a few weeks ago and I’ve started working in here – and collecting clutter.

A cozy, pet-friendly home office setup with a white desk, ergonomic chair, and decorative shelves against a wall with a portrait, featuring a cowhide rug on the floor and a resting dog.

I’m keen to keep this room feeling calm and uncluttered but still practical. So I took one last basket – this beautiful large rattan black basket – from very.co.uk and used it keep my bags and other bits neat and tidy.