The first thing visitors notice when they arrive at Devan's Jacksonville, Florida, home isn't the airy furniture or beachy color palette — it's Jax, the lovable golden retriever who inspired nearly every design decision inside.
“This is our boho-style
home that we decorated with Jax in mind,” Devan told The Dodo.
Devan welcomed in Dodo Digs and Melanie Demi of @themeldemi for a tour of her sun-filled home, where Jax’s comfort and enjoyment have been considered as thoughtfully and artfully as every other design element within the space.
“There's a lot of wooden tones [and dog-safe] plants,” Devan said. “I really just like bringing nature indoors.”
And Jax does too — always eager to grab a nap in the sun by the home’s tall windows.
To help camouflage muddy paw prints and shedding fur, Devan swapped their white sofa for a seafoam green one. But for those times when the pup prefers a solo snuggle, he has plenty of other cozy options at home.
Rather than buying just any old dog bed, Devan decided to build something just for Jax that matched the decor.
“I drew up a little idea. So we found little legs online and then some plywood and [my husband] just kind of put the whole thing together for him,” Devan said. “We measured it out and it fit perfect.”
Every room offers Jax another cozy spot to claim.
One of Jax's favorite spots is the hammock in the home's plant-filled sunroom, where he loves relaxing with his mom.
“He loves to sit in the hammock with me,” Devan said.
In keeping with the home’s houseplant-loving vibe, even Jax’s chew toys fit right in.
Naturally, when it came time to designate Jax’s feeding station area, Devan didn’t skimp on design touches. As the pup enjoys a meal or gets a drink of water, he’s surrounded by framed family photos and personalized decor displayed as a gallery wall above his bowls.
While the home was designed with Jax in mind, these days he's learning to share it with a new baby brother.
“It took a couple of weeks for him to kind of get used to him,” Devan said. “And now his tail will wag when we bring Ezra, our son, out of his crib in the morning, and Jax will get all excited to see him.”
Every design choice comes back to one simple goal: making sure Jax feels just as at home as everyone else.
“It's definitely our family's home, and he's part of our family,” Devan said. “And so we want it to be a place that he feels most comfortable in.”
