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Look! A Place for Pet Bowls

atla-092408-pethome.jpgOne of our pet peeves (sorry, we couldn't resist!) is tripping over pet bowls. How many times have you stepped into your pet's water bowl or kicked it, splashing water all over your floor? Here's one simple solution that incorporates a space for your pet's bowls into the design...

 
 

Our friends at Form Los Angeles, Joshua and Rafael, whose home we toured last year came up with this elegant and "easy to incorporate into your own home" idea which allows the bowls to be accessible without being underfoot. A designated space for water and food bowls is tucked under a counter. If your pet's bowls need to be little less accessible, we could also see retrofitting a low drawer or drawers as bowls for pets (much in the same way old kitchens in Los Angeles have potato and onion drawers), which would pull out for feeding and pushed away when not in use.


[image: Russel Taylor for Form Los Angeles]

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pets: dogs, cats, snakes, etc., pets, design

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Comments (14)

How does the dog drink it's water throughout the day? I don't see many dogs comfortably fitting their heads into that cubby.

Are pet bowls really that much of a hassle to have tucked in a corner or along a small wall? Please.

posted by Kimber on September 24th 2008 at 5:08pm
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Agreed. And with space at a premium in my tiny kitchen, I'll deal with the occasional splash of water or scattered food rather than give up storage for my cookware and bowls.

posted by madsarah on September 24th 2008 at 5:37pm
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I have a very tiny kitchen (under 100 sqft), and a very large dog. Her food and water bowls are elevated on a small old wooden step-stool, in a corner next to the fridge. Keeps me from kicking the waterbowl, and keeps her tummy happy (big dogs do better if their food and water bowls are not at floor level). I can easily move the whole setup out of the way for mopping. I think that putting dog food and water in a drawer would be very messy and hard to clean.

posted by fjorlief on September 24th 2008 at 7:31pm
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My house (that I rent) comes with a little hole like this under the coat closet in the entryway, it is ideal for our cats water dish, but it get very VERY cruddy in there if I forget about it (because they like to splash the water around) and its not the easiest nook to clean out. I doubt I would go out of my way installing one into a house I could redo. I find a low traffic corner is the best solution.

posted by Hollie on September 24th 2008 at 8:40pm
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Each of us have our pet peeve. But I've found that, if you make your problem small enough, you can solve it. So, if kicking the pet bowl is what irks you, what a great solution. I put my pet bowls underneath a small bench in my kitchen after I had kicked the water bowl once too often. (Dry food mishaps are so much easier to clean.) Putting those pet bowls there looks so good, almost sculptural, do you really have to have a pet to create this terrific vignette?

posted by LauraE on September 25th 2008 at 3:57am
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Surely the other solution is to find a corner in your house where you won't kick the bowls. You don't need to feed your little ones in the kitchen. I'm sure they don't care.

posted by *heather leaf* on September 25th 2008 at 4:09am
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I don't mind the dog bowl, but I do mind my dog eating the cat food, which she does if the cat bowl is on the floor. Currently we have the cat food up on a counter, which really annoys me because it leads to the cats thinking they own the entire counter, not just their little end of it.

We are doing a kitchen renovation, and I have been thinking about a nook exactly like this, only higher up, for the cat food.

posted by laribrooklyn on September 25th 2008 at 4:44am
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would never work for my dog. he doesn't eat unless he can see me. (i know, it's very odd). i have to keep his crunchies bowl right next to the kitchen door so he can have his eye on me while he crunches.

and i also have to keep the cats bowl up on the counter, away from dogs reach.

i have a drinkwell fountain that they share, but i put it purposely in a corner out of the way of walking path, (and aways from windows) so it doesn't get knocked about or have dirty bits drift into it so much.

posted by dM on September 25th 2008 at 5:06am
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I could see myself tripping over my cats instead of tripping over the bowls in such a scenario...

I just keep food and water bowls tucked near the canopy of a huge houseplant, almost out of sight and definitely out of foot traffic range. Thankfully they are disinterested in nibbling on the plant!

posted by -jenny- on September 25th 2008 at 5:12am
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Nice, but would the pet like it???

posted by thebitterfoodie on September 25th 2008 at 5:26am
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I tried this a my house, and I know that for cats, it doesn't work. They don't like it and will pull the bowls out.

posted by ce_pelle on September 25th 2008 at 6:14am
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After the Roomba knocked over the water bowl and spread (formerly) dry cat food through the flood, I moved the cat feeding station to higher ground.

In many ways, Vack the roomba is a second pet. It needs to have feeding and grooming, and along with Mack the cat, the house is arranged for their convenience.

posted by m_j_s on September 25th 2008 at 7:03am
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I keep the pet bowls under the kitchen table. The cats feel safe that they're not in the way of being stepped on, I don't knock anything over by accident, everyone wins.

posted by kuroneko on September 25th 2008 at 7:16am
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Hmm. I am thinking of using pretty glass wide mouth goblets for my cat's food and water. I have a spot right next to the stairs that is perfect because I never walk there. But, I think it's a bit much to install something on the off chance you knock over the water bowl.

posted by am_clarke on September 7th 2009 at 8:31am
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