Decorating a home in which cats dwell

How do you guys go about decorating your homes when you're living with cats?

Our cats turn into Godzilla incarnate whenever we introduce some decoration in our living room. They will generally ignore stuff when we're in the room, but the moment we leave or get occupied with something else, they both go at it to the point of complete and utter destruction.

• We had a money tree in a vase. We were able to enjoy it for half a day, but when we went out to the store and returned an hour later, they had felled the tree, broken the stone pot it was in (don't ask me how) and had ripped off all the leaves.
• We had a vase with roses. I brough them home one evening to surprise the missus, they were there for an hour or 2, but when I returned from taking a shower, the table was covered in ripped up leafs, petals and stems (I was gone for maybe 5 minutes).
• Candles? Denied.
• Herbs in the kitchen? Denied.
• Art? Denied.

We did get some thin picture ledges for our artsy decoration that they seem to ignore (probably because it's too thin for them to wreak havoc on), but any normal ledge/shelf will experience kitty destruction at some point (unless we hang them so high even we can't reach them).

At this point I would love to get some decoration going, because right now it's a bare apartment with furniture, but nothing to really bring the place to life. Especially with Christmas coming up (we already decided to not get a proper tree and just go with alternative decoration).

I was thinking of maybe trying to put a nice twig in a glass bottle or something. Maybe put candles in glass preserving jars with some nuts and twigs, but I can't seem to think of anything else to do that may not interest the cats (or at least withstand an assassination attempt).

So does anyone of you have any tips or ideas on how to decorate a home where cats live?

PS: Feliway (both the spray and the vaporizer) had no effect at all on either cat. They're super relaxed at home with or without Feliway. They just seem to hate anything decorative. Our cats might just be mini Grinches.

How old are your cat's? It sounds to me like they are still pretty young by their behaviour.
I have 2 cats one is 2 and one is 4. My eldest has always been pretty good with not getting into things but my youngest was a little terror as a kitten, always climbing shelves and pulling things over. We removed anything that was REALLY valuable or that would cause harm if chewed away for a while.
Silly question but do they have plenty of their own toys to play with? Do they have a cat tree to climb? We found getting a large cat tree was really helpful for them to be able to climb and get into mischief on.
Did you know you can get wall hung christmas trees? These are a really good idea as the cats are not able to climb up inside and if you attach the baubles very tightly with small cable ties they can't be knocked off to play with. I'm not sure of your location but I have seen them on Amazon: Even though my little terror is now 2 years old she still likes to investigate anything new but she doesn't feel the need to destroy it anymore (with the exception of twigs in vases, I like them too but they are just too irresistible :lol3

Edit: Also if you like candles then these are amazing, I love candles and we have these on a shelf in our living room and you really can't tell they are fake. Cat friendly too! :http://www.candleimpressions.com/products-mirage-candles-c-105_163.html

Well, our oldest is about 15 months, the youngest is a little over 6 months.

We have noticed that it's the oldest one that usually knocks stuff over while the youngest destroys them once they're on the floor/table.

They have a scratch barrel that's about 3.5 ft high and has 3 holes/compartments that they can climb in and out of. They also have a set of waved horizontal scratchers and a 5 ft tall cardboard (re-board) tree o climb into and scratch up. We occasionally hang their favorite plushies from the branches of this cardboard tree so they can climb it and try to figure out how to get the plushies off. They have plenty of toys (balls and plushies) to play with. They also play a lot with each other (mock fights, hunts and chases).

We also have a Kong Cat Wobbler as a food dispenser that we put out whenever we leave the home (however, the youngest one has this thing completely figured out and at this point this might as well act like a regular bowl of food for her) and we try to play with them using laser pointers and wand toys whenever we know we have to leave the apartment for a few hours.

All in all, I don't think boredom is the main reason behind their fanatic devotion to the destruction of our decorative assets.

I was thinking of trying to put out 3-4 (decorative, duh) plates and vases of grass around the house to see if that might convince them to not go after the decoration, but knowing my cats, they will most likely ignore it (just like they love the smell and taste of citrus, while normal cats hate it).

I might sound overly negative here, but I do not intend to. We love our kitty cats and they're super nice and loving when they're around us. They whine when we leave the room (luckily the crying at night is slowly going away) and love to be near us when we're watching TV or working on the computer.

But we also love our greenery and art (and fresh herbs), and simply cannot enjoy those things with these 2 rascals in the house.

Wow they certainly have some lovely things to play with!
Do they have all of their toys out all at once? I say this because I found that leaving the same toys out for too long causes them to lose interest in them. For example when we go to bed we bring out their pop up tunnels and a few quiet toys which are put away when we get up in the morning and when we are out the house for work or shopping we bring out paper plates (yes I know it sounds silly but they love them) and a few different toys. We rotate their toys so they don't get fed up with the same things.
Could you not shut the door to the living room when you are not home so they don't have access, we can't do this as our downstairs is open plan.
I find that putting big stones into plant pots on top of the soil stops cat's digging in them but I'm not sure what to suggest if yours are attacking the leaves.
There is no doubt you adore your fur babies and I know it's so frustrating when you can't have your home the way you want it, hopefully they will grow out of it as mine did.
I'm sure someone else will be along soon with some more suggestions for you. Good luck!

hmmm that is a tough one. I've got 3 kitty fur babies of my own...and I don't have the same issues as you do...they're very good with not knocking stuff over...but i've also just come to the realization, that I don't have any type of decorations or ornaments or plants! lol. And they could very well be the reason why...Because I always try to err on the side of caution, I don't keep stuff around that they would knock over and get hurt with, or keep plants that they could possibly eat and get sick from..

You could have hanging plant pots?? That's an idea...preferably in an area where there isn't anything your kitties can climb onto to reach them. You can also look up cat friendly plants, or cat grass (sold in pet stores). These are plants that are okay for the kitties to chew on or be around. 

as far as having glassware on display, the only thing I cant think of is keeping them in a closed off glass case or shelves. they will be on display, but no way for the cats to get to them and knock them over. I hope others chime in with more advice! and GOOD LUCK lol.

Luckily in the last two houses we have owned, both in rural areas, we have had a fenced yard area where our cats can play. Only one climbs the high chain link at our present abode, and that's simply to escape the others. He circles around the house and sits on the front porch. The coyotes have left him alone and he ignores birds, though snakes, field mice and lizards do interest him. The cats that stay in the yard are various ages and after a full day outside are less rambunctious inside. We have given up on buying anything new ifor inside the house that is expensive that a cat or dog can reach (we have several of each species). We second the suggestion of a variety of cat toys left around at ground level. Change the toys out regularly and hide the others, spend time playing with the cats if you can, and keep your fingers crossed. As they age, you may find yourself actually wishing they would play more...

I can see a Money Tree being irresistible to a young cat!  

My old home was on the small side.  Things on top of our entertainment center were ok.  We didn't have room for anything else that wasn't hung on a wall.  Our Christmas tree was a small one that I picked up off the kitchen table every night and put in our study and closed the door.  It worked and it was better than no tree.  The year they were kittens I tried a regular size tree and they climbed it.  I never even got lights on it. lol  

I think some things you just accept when you have young cats in the house.  Now my cats aren't the problem; it's small kids!  My home is less-decorated than it was a few years ago.  But we have an enclosed curio cabinet and an enclosed china cabinet that I keep some things in.  The space above my kitchen cabinets has some decor.  Other than that it's pretty much wall art.  Our house is pretty open concept; so that cuts down on available walls to decorate.  We removed our coffee table when my youngest was learning to walk and just never brought it back in.  Not that we could use that for decorations anyway.  The DVD cabinet has a small lamp, a little doily like decorations (I swear I'm not 90; it's actually pretty! lol) and the remotes.  That's about it.  

Basically anything that looks like it could be a cat toy; they will go for it.  Twigs in a vase; oh yeah!  Just imagine how they'd go for it if you dragged that on the ground!  Every cat I've ever had has gone bananas for the palm leaves they used to pass out at church before Easter.  Things like those are basically natural toys for them.  

Well, I'll be planting some wheat seeds in a bunch of scales and pots coming weekend. With a bit of luck and care we'll have 4-5 spots of soft grass in a week or 2. Once those are ready to go into the living room, we'll try putting some decoration again and see if that helps.

We're also thinking of having little pots of greenery in large glass jars, but first we need to figure out what plants can handle a confined situation like that.

PS: we do rotate toys and other objects that they're allowed to play with, but the balls and plushies are permanent, because they play with them no matter what (and have so for these past few months). But we occasionally leave cardboard boxes out for a few days or weeks (the older one absolutely loves sitting in a box), or crumpled up paper, corks, mini pillows, etc.

Like I said, I really do not think boredom is the driving force behind their destructive nature.

What are plushies?

 They really like the cat grass, but it does not distract them from decor. Box style wall shelves that have glass fronts could hold vases/candles, shelves not near any furniture that they could climb on to get to them .My older boy does not care. The kittens were 7 months old last Christmas.  I made my husband go to 10 different stores to buy all new shatter proof ornaments and lights that couldn't be broke by dropping and big enough they could not get in their mouth.  I was so proud of my decorated tree.  I went in to the kitchen for 5 minutes to find my ornaments on the floor and kitten eyes staring at me out of the branches.  I was able to keep tree up with just lights and topper. Mine are really observant of new items.  If something is new or out of place our little girl will find it and stare at it until she is brave enough to approach it. Good Luck!!!

Stewball said:

What are plushies?

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Stuffed toys. We have a set of mice we bought at Ikea some months ago, rubbed some catnip on them once and they haven't quit playing with them since.

Both our cats absolutely love these things, and they're dirt cheap as well: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50145473/

At this point we have a couple of ideas that we want to try out. One of them is planting some herbs in glass jars and mounting those jars on a wooden plank against the wall, our of reach of the the destructive powers that roam our home. We'll see how it goes.

Lamiatron said:

...but i've also just come to the realization, that I don't have any type of decorations or ornaments or plants! lol. And they could very well be the reason why...Because I always try to err on the side of caution, I don't keep stuff around that they would knock over and get hurt with, or keep plants that they could possibly eat and get sick from..

...as far as having glassware on display, the only thing I cant think of is keeping them in a closed off glass case or shelves. they will be on display, but no way for the cats to get to them and knock them over. I hope others chime in with more advice! and GOOD LUCK lol.

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That sounds like our house. We have very few decorations, and those that are on display are unbreakable. Fragile items are in a china closet. Other than cat grass, the plants are silk (and occasionally get shredded) or are outside. :lol3:

We do put up a Christmas tree, but learned with our last cat that we had to make compromises, i.e., have an artificial tree with wooden/resin/plastic/cloth ornaments and no tinsel or strings of lights. We invested in some wireless Christmas tree lights (candles) which have been well worth the cost.

Candles are taboo around here, although my old boss gave me a metal lantern to burn them in.

The older cats get, the less rambunctious they become, so whatever measures you take now don't have to be permanent.