September 12, 2026
Pet-sized
On tiny beds, smaller hammocks, and the things we've been making for animals for a very long time.
In a 1932 issue of The New Yorker, Barbara Blake wrote about all the new things people were buying for their pets. There was an upholstered armchair bed from Saks Fifth Avenue, a little dining table for dogs, and a custom wooden bed that featured a side-view portrait of your dog. They’d turn that portrait into two painted wooden silhouettes, one for the headboard and one for the footboard. A Scottie version, bedding included, cost $24.
Almost 100 years later, none of this seems strange or surprising anymore. Now we've got tiny sofas, window hammocks, mini tents, cat towers that match the living room decor, and pet beds that are probably more luxurious than most of our own furniture.
We’ve been making pet-sized items for a really long time, and it’s not just at home.
If you look through old maritime archives, you'll find cats tucked into hammocks made just for them. Some of these hammocks are just simple pieces of fabric hung anywhere there was space, and others look like smaller versions of what the sailors had.
That cute little wooden dog bed now becomes a cat hammock, a tiny couch, a window perch, or a stylish piece that goes with the coffee table. The idea stays pretty much the same. We want to get comfortable ourselves, and then we look over at our pets and think they could use some comfort too, in pet size.
