Keep your home pet-friendly and fresh

Of course you love your pets, but let's face it: Whether you're hosting guests or trying to sell your home, the last thing you want visitors to remember is an odor. Luckily, there are a number of ways to eliminate odors and let your home's personality shine.

Refreshing walls
Paint is one of the most dramatic and cost-effective ways to give your home's interior a new look, and now it can also give your home a new fresh scent. Dutch Boy's Refresh paint features odor-eliminating technology from Arm & Hammer. It reduces odors caused by pets and other sources, keeping your home smelling as good as it looks. Proven to reduce household smells, a coat of Refresh paint will prevent bad odors from lingering for months. By trapping and neutralizing odor molecules, this paint doesn't cover up unappealing smells, but actually reduces them. And Refresh paint is available in Dutch Boy's broad range of colors, so you can reduce unpleasant smells without compromising your decorating taste.

Clean with steam
Even if your pet isn't allowed on the furniture, your home furnishing fabrics are holding onto unpleasant scents. Though you may vacuum regularly, animal hair and dander are trapped in the fibers of your cushions, curtains, sofa and other decor. Using a steam cleaner is the best way to eliminate bad smells in upholstered furniture and other items that cannot be laundered. Hire a professional service to treat the common areas in your home, or purchase a steam cleaner specifically designed for pet hair removal. Deep-clean common area fabrics several times each year, and to help maintain a fresh smell day to day, use an odor-neutralizing fabric spray regularly.

Hit the floor
The biggest source of your home's objectionable smell could be right under your feet. As anyone who has house-trained a pet knows, they don't always get it right, and sometimes those accidents go unnoticed and cause stains to inevitably set in. To remove odors of any age, scrub bare floors with white vinegar and water or an odor-neutralizing cleaner, and thoroughly wash carpets and rugs using an odor-neutralizing shampoo. You can also hire a professional to clean the carpets and provide extra deodorizing treatments. If stains or smells remain, you'll likely need to replace the carpet and padding. If this is the case, be sure to scrub the floor beneath before laying new carpet down. After the carpet has been thoroughly cleaned or replaced, regularly use carpet deodorizer formulated for pet odors when vacuuming.

Scented accessories
Tie a ribbon on your odor-free home with strategically placed candles and air fresheners. Choose classic scents that complement your decor, and use a variety throughout the home to avoid an overpowering result. Many candles and fresheners offer odor-neutralizing technology as well as pleasant scents, ensuring unfavorable smells are not only covered up but eliminated. Jars of potpourri or scented crystals add touches of personality to any room decor as well.

No matter what types or the number of pets that share your home, these tips will help keep it smelling fresh all year round.