Your Dog May Love It if You Add Some “Barkitecture” Into Your Home! But Will Future Buyers?

Dogs can be a touchy subject between homeowners and their real estate agents…even when the agent loves dogs.

From suggesting that a dog shouldn’t be home during showings, to mentioning a noticeable dog odor, to passing along feedback about barking, jumping, or growling, to pointing out that buyers had to carefully navigate a backyard full of “surprises.” It’s all meant to be helpful advice.

It isn’t that agents don’t understand how much people love their dogs. Many are devoted dog owners themselves. But even well-intentioned advice can easily feel like a personal attack.

The reality is that selling a home requires separating how you feel about your dog, and your desire to make the house as much theirs as yours, from how it will feel to the people considering buying it.

And that’s becoming even more important now that dogs aren’t just members of the household. In some cases, the household is being designed around them.

What Is “Barkitecture?”

According to a recent Forbes article, there’s a growing design trend called “barkitecture”…and dog owners should embrace it.

Let’s be honest, plenty of dog owners would probably respond, “You had me at ‘bark.’” No need to explain further. They’re in. All in.

But before leaping into the trend headfirst, it’s probably worth defining what it actually is.

Barkitecture is the practice of incorporating features into a home that make dogs safer, happier, and more comfortable.

That can mean something as simple as creating a cozy nook for their bed or adding a built-in feeding station. But it can also include more substantial features, such as a dedicated dog-washing station, custom kennel, ramp, dog run, or even an entire room designed around a pet’s needs.

It’s easy to understand the appeal.

If you’re constantly bending over a bathtub to wash muddy paws, a raised dog shower could make life much easier. A feeding station might keep bowls from sliding across the kitchen floor. Nonslip flooring or a ramp could help an older dog move around more safely.

The Forbes article makes an appealing case for embracing barkitecture. But before you hand your dog the renovation budget, it’s worth considering how those features could affect more than just your life together.

And Should You Embrace It?

If a barkitecture feature will make life easier for you and safer or more comfortable for your dog, there’s certainly nothing wrong with adding it.

Not every decision you make about your home needs to revolve around what some hypothetical future buyer might want. If you’ll get years of use and enjoyment out of a built-in feeding station or custom sleeping nook, that may be enough reason to create one.

But there’s a big difference between tucking a dog bed into an otherwise unused space beneath the stairs and converting an entire room into a dedicated dog shower and grooming area.

One adds character without necessarily changing how the home functions. The other requires a much larger investment and permanently devotes valuable space to a highly specific use.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. But the more expensive, permanent, and customized the feature becomes, the more thought you should give to whether it can be removed, adapted, or used for something else if you eventually decide to sell.

Because when it comes to resale value, barkitecture can be a lot like another home feature people tend to either love or avoid…

Like a Pool, It May Limit Your Buyer Pool

People often ask real estate agents if adding a pool will increase the value of their home. There’s no absolute answer. It depends on a lot of factors. It certainly can…but it can also limit the number of potential buyers.

So if people truly start embracing barkitecture, it’s probably only a matter of time before agents are asked how much value was added by turning a bedroom into a dedicated dog shower and grooming room.

And it may not go over well when they explain that it might not add value at all, and could potentially hurt it unless the room is converted back into a bedroom.

It may be tempting to argue that there are plenty of dog owners who would absolutely love having a room where they can wash their pup. And there may very well be a buyer or two out there who will.

But we’re not talking about something like a fenced yard, which dog owners often love because they can let their dog outside without worrying or taking on the cost of installing a fence themselves. A fenced yard may also appeal to buyers with children, people who want more privacy, or anyone who happens to be into “fencitecture.”

Highly customized dog features don’t necessarily have that same broad appeal.

Even another dog owner may not be the right dog owner. A shower designed for a Great Dane might be excessive for someone with a Chihuahua. A backyard dog park could feel like wasted space to someone whose elderly dog would rather spend the day sleeping on the couch.

So, will barkitecture add value to your home?

It could.

If the right buyer loves the features, they may see more value in your home than they would in a similar one without them. If more than one interested buyer feels that way, you could even have the makings of a bidding war.

But the more specific a feature is, the smaller the pool of buyers who may appreciate it. Anyone who doesn’t want it may view it as something they’ll need to spend money removing.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t create a home that works for you and your dog. Just keep resale in mind before making permanent changes, and consider whether the feature can be removed, repurposed, or marketed in a way that appeals to more than one type of buyer.

Because barkitecture may make your dog feel right at home. But when it’s time to sell, you’ll also need buyers to feel the same way.