A Reader Writes:
My husband and I have been back and forth about what kind of furniture to purchase. We will be replacing our current living room set this fall and want something that is not going to get totally icky with 4 kids and 2 dogs. We are debating getting leather or just getting some used couches with good lines at a thrift store, covering them with some moisture-proof material and then using a bunch of nice couch covers. What do you think?
Since we just bought our first leather couches a couple of months ago, I am definitely biased toward leather. It’s beautiful, comfortable, durable, and (here’s what really sold me) it cleans up better than any apholstered furniture we have ever had. Think about it. An ordinary couch cushion completely absorbs whatever … fluids your child deposits there. In my experience, even if you manage to get the outside clean, you are still left with a disgustingly fluid-filled inner cushion. Ew. Leather, however, simply wipes clean.
Of course buying thrift store furniture that you don’t care much about and covering it with throws would solve your problem in a less expensive way. But probably not in the long run. And besides, would you love it? If you can afford buying quality new pet proofing furniture that you really love, I recommend that option. We mothers are queens of our homes and we should make ourselves and our families feel as happy and comfortable there as possible. There is enough about parenting small children that’s messy and unpleasant. We spend long days (and in the winter, long weeks and months) here inside these walls. I’m all for making our homes as beautiful and personally pleasing as possible. We recently got a new recliner for sleeping, its amazing.
What do others think? Learn more and share your family-friendly furniture recommendations!
We just usually go with the used thrift store stuff. However, I recently saw some awesome stuff on an HGTV show that I just love and will definitely be purchasing next time we buy a brand new set. It was the "distressed" leather and it actually kind of wears with time and is perfect for kids since it’s durable, wipes clean, AND the distressed look just adds to the beauty. I am all for that for sure!
We have bought two leather couches (and still use both) since having children. Both have at least a little of the distressed look to it and have worn well. Just like Danielle said, I am all for beautiful and durable…and leather seems to be the ticket for that combo!
It depends on the function of the room –
Will your living room be used a lot? If not, I would go to a reputable furniture store and buy a beautiful set that you love. I think it’s important to have a "fancy" room in the house, a room which you teach your children not to jump on the furntiture, bring in food or juice boxes, whatever. The furniture will hold up for a long time and if you ever get tired of the upholstery, you can always have it reupholstered somewhere down the line. I inherited a 30 yr old Henredon sofa that I’ve had reupholstered and recoiled and restuffed twice in the past 13 years. It looks awesome.
For a family room that will have to take a lot of wear and tear, I would go as cheap as possible. Macys, Costco & Bloomingdales usually have blow out sales and you can save even more if you buy the floor samples. In a few years when the kids get older, you can toss the stuff and buy some new furniture and not worry about preserving a family heirloom. I agree with Danielle about leather – it’s fantastic for a family with lots of kids and pets.
2 years ago we filled an Rx for leather with our tax return,(don’t you love the child tax credit!) We have lots of people with allergies and noticed an immediate difference. Be careful the style you pick. My MIL learned the hard way that some with sewn on pillows get torn. The ones where the pillow is attached to the arm and people learn on it to lower themselves, or pull themselves up.
Also the very tightly stretched leather you should watch out for girls buckle shoes.
We found a great deal at a local family owned store that was a better deal than Macy’s and better made than Bob’s Discount.
Baby wipes get them clean- except for the pen marks from the 3 year old.
Also watch out if your teen goes through the ‘goth’ stage. When our son was 16 he wasn’t allowed on the good furniture in his goth, studded pants.
(BTW for the first 18 years all we had were hand me down couches. )
I really appreciated growing up that my parents had a usable house — I have seen homes that look like museums and the children aren’t allowed to touch anything — so my main criteria for furniture is that it look nice and be usable by kids. No white couches here! That said, I do think it’s important that kids learn to use the furniture as furniture, and not as jungle gyms. I had never thought of leather being easier to clean…I’ll have to consider that when our current couch is finished with its service.
Hi Danielle,
I have a leather chair and a chair and a sofa with slipcovers. Both are great, but I prefer the slipcovers. They are white canvas and go right into the washing machine. Add detergent and bleach and they come out white and beautiful. The leather wipes clean easily but it can get scratched or puncutred by errant ball point pens. Small rips in the canvas slipcovers are easier for us to fix than mars to the leather.
Whatever a mom chooses, I think it is totally worth it to spend the money she has to make a beautiful and welcoming home for her family. What better way to teach our kids how to be adults who can be good stewards and who can create welcoming hospitable homes of their own some day?
When my husband and I were first married and went to buy our first couch together, I was all misty-eyed and excited over the idea of our future children jumping all over this yet-to-be-bought couch and getting it dirty and napping on it, etc., so my criteria were:
— Cushy and comfy
— Dark color so the dirt wouldn’t show too much
— Not too expensive, since it wouldn’t stay nice for long
We found a great one — navy blue, big plump cushions — and for only a little bit more money ($50?) we had this "coating" added to it — I don’t really remember what it’s called … teflon comes to mind — is that something that can coat furniture? Anyway, the couch doesn’t feel like it’s coated in anything, but juice beads right up and doesn’t soak in, just like on a raincoat.
Unfortunately, it’s not terribly comfortable for adults — maybe because it was fairly cheap, but it’s only four years old, and our kids are only 2 1/2 and 9 months old so it hasn’t gotten too much abuse yet, and it already sinks in the middle. But it looks nice — the solid navy goes really well with every room it’s ever been in — and my older son is cozy on it right now, so I’m happy.
My brothers (no kids but a big dog) and my aunt and uncle (four kids, a big dog, and a cat) both recently bought suede couches that had some treatment done to it that makes it easy to clean, and they all love it. So we might consider something like that when we need a new couch.
Also, Sure Fit slipcovers are great — I have another old ripped couch and an old ugly mustard-color loveseat that I covered with slipcovers, and they look fantastic. The slipcovers can be thrown right in the wash when they’re dirty, and they make otherwise embarrassing furniture usable and beautiful.
We decorate in an "Early American Garage Sale" motif…
🙂
I consider furniture to be largely a disposable purchase, especially for something that will be used as hard as a sofa. If you have the money to invest in really good quality stuff that will stand up to a lot of abuse, go for it. We do not. I have invested in a couple of nice wood tables that can be refinished when they show signs of wear and tear, and someday I hope to purchase a really nice dining room table that can hold up to heavy use and be refinished as needed. Otherwise, picking up a $50 couch at a yard sale or thrift store every few years has worked nicely for us for a couple of reasons. 1- if it’s lasted through another person’s family well enough to make it to a thrift store in decent shape, it’ll probably hold us for a while. And 2-It improves mother/child relations. I have a much smaller stroke when the 2 year old takes a Sharpie to a $50 couch instead of an $800 one. Yes, there are some ugly couches at thrift stores. You can go often hold out for a pretty one, or you can shop for comfort and invest in some slipcovers to make up for what is lacking in style. If you happen to luck upon one that is comfy *and* pretty, jump on it because it won’t last long!
Our family room furniture (treated with Scotch Guard) is quickly nearing the end of its life and I am definitely planning on replacing it with leather – preferably already with the distressed look it will acquire anyway.
For me, the harder decision was what kind of dining room furniture to get: good, solid wood we loved and could refinish in another decade or two, or something "disposable." This sets had to accomodate 3 meals a day plus schoolwork and craft projects. We ended up finding a used, decent, okay set – not my favorite style, but not bad looking. The plan is to abuse the daylights out of it for 15 years or so, and then shed no tears when we replace it with the set of my dreams.
I believe in teaching children how to treat furniture (and all their belongings) with care. But I already have several nice pieces of furniture that need to be refinished due to carelessness, and I’d prefer to teach them using something a little less valuable.
LEATHER – Definitely leather. It is amazingly easy to clean, just wipe with leather cleaner/conditioner every 6 months or so. I almost cannot believe how dirty my rag is! It is super comfy and very usable, but yet it looks neat. I would recommend a dark color, just in case a little person uses pen to decorate. It happened to us, but the couch is navy! Can’t notice a thing. We don’t plan to ever go back.
My mother in law purchased for us a beautiful leather couch about 10 years ago when I was pregnant with our first child. I was shocked that she found a pricey leather couch to be a better choice than our current upholstered and well worn couch. I figured we would keep that couch until the kids were "old enough" for us to buy something nice. I can’t tell you how much I have appreciated the wisdom of her purchse over the years. Every leaky diaper, explosion of partially digested breast milk, spill and the like have wiped up easily and completely! Now, 10 years later, the expensive couch I worried would get battered and torn by children and pets, remains one of the most beautiful pieces of furniture in my home.
We love our Norwalk couches. One is a Red microsuede and it is in our kitchen in the most high traffic area and near FOOD too. It wipes down so nicely – just like Leather but doesn’t have that ‘cold’ feel when you sit down at first. (I love Leather-don’t get me wrong, but I know some people like something ‘warmer’) BUT don’t get the cheapest fake’suede. All fabrics aren’t created equal. If you go to a good furniture store, there should
be sales people who can tell you which fabrics are most durable and can easily wipe down. Also, go for the fabric guard. Our living room sectional has a life time warranty for food or human excrement, or cuts, tears or burns. I’ve gotten several pillows replaced already – we have a lot of bodily fluids around here with 8 kids 1yo-18yo.
So, in short – go for the sturdiest, most well made furniture with the best grade furniture that you can afford.
We just bought a "micro-fiber" couch and loveseat last year, and got the stain-guard treatment for it. So far it works great…everything wipes up really well, if you do it right away… not sure what happens if you let it dry there. But we only have a two year old and a seven month old so it really hasn’t been put the test that much.
The other thing that I would suggest is deciding whether you want a couch for sitting on with company or for lounging on. Ours is very deep, so it’s more of a lounging couch… when you try to sit on it you end up kinda slouched with your feet off the floor… unless you’re really tall, which I’m not. Right now it’s our only couch, but if/when we get a bigger house it’ll be in the family room with a more formal couch "for company" in the living room.
I vote leather furniture too. We have it in our living room and family room. It’s not bullet proof, of course. Things like ink don’t come out without ruining the tint. But compared with fabric, leather will wear much better. We just had 20,000 gallons of water literally pour onto our furniture from a burst pipe above in the ceiling while we were out of town. ServePro put in fans and a dehumidifier and Furniture Medic cleaned the surface — THE COUCHES SURVIVED THAT! Only the recliner needed some new inner workings as the metal rusted. Wow!
I wouldn’t personally choose leather furniture, but then I live in Texas, and I don’t want the kind of couches I’m going to stick to nine months out of twelve. 🙂
We bought our family room couch from a local salvage store that has since then, sadly, closed. The couch is a giant squashy well of down-filled cushions and unbelievable comfort; all five of us can sit on it at once (though as the girls get bigger that may change). We could never have afforded it brand new, but it looked like new–it came from the house of some wealthy people that had placed it in the hall outside their ‘theater room’ and it was rarely used.
To me, couches tend to be furniture that gets replaced, so I don’t mind buying inexpensive or used ones.
Since the topic is "family-friendly furniture," does anyone have advice about a kitchen table that will seat up to six in a relatively small space? I can find tables for four and tables for eight, but it seems like the in-between size isn’t all that available.
I vote leather too, though we can’t really afford new furniture. We got a set of slightly-older leather recliners a few years ago (for $20!) and they’re still favorite pieces of furniture around here. The garage sale couches aren’t too bad in the interim since we can replace them fairly easily another time. The hard one for us was the used (in really great condition at the time!) sofa-bed that we paid a fair amount for ($250) at a consignment shop – sure wish that one was leather!
I have to agree with Red Cardigan that in the past 14 years the most frequently replaced furniture item was…our family room couch(es). None were expensive, many were second hand and all were bought with comfort in mind.
As for the table question–we purchased a rectangular table with only two chairs (one for each end) and had benches made by the table maker to fit along each of the two long sides and hold either 4 small kids on each or 3 larger kids. The benches can also be made to fit directly under the table, which makes them a little shorter, but then they are more space efficient. Good luck!
As for the sofas, we bought 2 new sofas from LaZBoy last spring. They are dark blue microfiber and I call them my wonder sofas. EVERYTHING comes out of them and they are sturdy and solid. I periodically do a once over with a wet rag to wipe off spots. The spots never stay. I got blood out the first full day we had them and not too long after that I got out ball point pen.
We bought a table and chairs 9 years ago. I think it is by Ashley and it has really taken a good beating. It is not necessarily new looking anymore but it has stood up to wiping and lots of hard wear. It seats four without the leaf and six with. It is oval with four legs. I love it.
We have never regretted any of the leather furniture that we’ve purchased. We started years ago by buying a leather recliner for our office in our home, and it still looks new. We have a leather sofa and what my husband calls our "fat boy chair" and ottoman – they have held up very well with our nine kids. We’ve had them for over four years, and they are light beige in color (to be neutral and match the great room). I love the color, but they have been through a few marker and pen problems from our younger kids. Those stains have faded though, and any other spills, vomit, diaper leaks, etc. wipe right up. We don’t allow the kids to jump on them but I’m sure they do it behind our back :).
We also have two Lazy Boy recliners that are dark green upholstered – we’ve had them for 5-6 years and they also have held up well. Probably the dark color is hiding a multitude of sins and I tend to try not to smell them too closely :). But they look nice and feel nice still.
You won’t regret leather.
I can assure you the "slipcovers" never look as attractive as they so in the catalog. Furthermore, they never fit qutie as they should and need to be readjusted frequently; save your money and go with the leather.
From a mother of three
When it’s hot out and you’re wearing shorts do you stick to the leather? That’s my biggest concern about it… and is microfiber better for the sticking factor? It seems it would be!
It depends also on whether you move a lot. We are military and most of the severe damage to our furniture has come from all those moves (10 so far). We invested in Cargo wood crate furniture (sadly now outsourced to Brazil, and limited to kids’ room furnishings) and it’s been tough and wonderful. We are about to purchase new cushions after 15 years.
If you go for leather, I suggest a dark color (my parents bought sueded leather in a light chestnut and ball point pen never did come out of it).
No one has addressed the dog toenail scratching issue…we don’t have dogs, but my two cats are pretty hard on things that they scratch at. Do the dogs jump on your sofa now? If so, they may mar the leather. Maybe a dog owner could weigh in?
Does anyone have recommendations regarding where to purchase leather furniture? I see such a huge range in prices that I wonder if Pottery Barn can POSSIBLY be worth what they charge, yet JC Penney seems so reasonable when they have sales that I wonder if it’s good quality. (These are just examples, of course).
Anon,
When we purchased our leather sofa and big chair 4 years ago, we went to a reputable local furniture store – not Penny’s or Macy’s that carries lower end stuff, but not the other local place that carries very high end stuff – and discussed our family situation with the leather sales man. We went middle of the road – our sofa was around $1500, and the chair $800 (although about 2-3 kids can fit in the chair). That was certainly more than we’d ever paid for a new sofa, but moderate in price in the leather selections. The brand we got is Flexsteel. I would ask the sales man about the frame – this brand has a steel frame and is very sturdy….we still aren’t sinking to the floor or sinking at all when we sit on it, or I should say pile on it as the kids do.
I know we all tend to think that furniture sales people are sharks who want to lure us in to buy something, but the ones we’ve dealt with at this store have been very knowledgeable and educated us regarding our choices. They usually know the brand names that hold up well over time.
Someone asked about sticking to the leather – I also always thought that I would stick to it in the hot months. I was remembering our fake leather (vinyl!) sofas growing up – we sure stuck to those. I haven’t had a problem with sticking – the leather actually cools in the summer, especially if the air conditioning is on. But we live in northeast Ohio where it doesn’t get nearly as hot as Texas, or at least is only hot for a few months. So you may stick more there!
I say it depends on the age of the children and the behaviour of the pets. If your kids are still terribly young and prone to get into mischief, or if your dogs scratch, dig or chew, you may want to get a thrift store find for the next few years and save for that leather living room furniture.
At the present time, my youngest thinks that the sofa and chair are a trampoline. The new pup is still scratching at the sofa… So even though I could use a new sofa (hey, the springs are shot in it!) I’m waiting a while before I get new stuff.
I just want to say that the slipcovers aren’t exactly cheap, but they do cost less than a new couch. I boughtone twice for my first couch and it lasted 13 years and I just gave it away for further use.
A few years ago I would have given my vote to leather , however my mind has been changed. I am the mother of three ages 11 to 17 and two cocker spaniels. When we moved to a house with a family room as well as a living room we needed an additional set of furniture. I had Lazy Boy furniture , that had been scotch guarded and waterproofed in my old house that we just loved but we decided to go with leather for the family room. The leather looked great for about a year when one of the dogs jumped on it. their nail left an indentation that never went away. A few months later a rip on another spot in the leather occurred. We are not sure wether it was from another dog nail, a pen in someone’s pocket or what caused it. We had the rip patched but the furniture never looked the same. I finally threw it out and replaced it with a couple Lazy Boy chairs coated with scotch guard . My suggestion is to visit a furniture store and ask for a demo on scotch guard with waterproofing. They will pour liquid on a piece that has been coated and you will see how the liquid beads up and does not soak in.
In our house in the US, we have IKEA fabric slip-covered furniture. The couches come with the slip covers tailored for them. Pottery Barn also makes them. I have gotten everything out of the slip covers that have ever been spilled, including ink (lots of hairspray before the laundry), Birkenstock cork sealant, various football party foods and drinks, chocolate ice cream…you name it. I just strip them and throw the covers in the wash. We don’t have pets, so I can’t testify to the durability against dogs.
The only thing I would do differently would be to get a sectional. When we bought the couches, my husband and I had no children and lived in a 200-year-old row house in suburban Philadelphia. The rooms were so small so we had to get 2 love seats instead of full couches.
I must say, regarding the "fluids" deposited by children…
We do not have leather furniture, but we did invest in a good steamer vacuum. Wow! This has paid for itself! The ick factor has been totally removed when sitting on *certain* spots on our couch, thanks to our oxy-clean steamer solution.
Thanks for the discussion thread; I’ve never even considered leather as an option for families with kids. Isn’t there a difference in "grade" for leathers? I noticed last time at the furniture store that they are selling a lot of relatively inexpensive leather sofas now. Would I be correct in assuming there’s a quality issue to consider as well?
Wow! Y’all have furniture *and* kids! I’m impressed….how do you afford both?????
I wonder how many moms who check this site regularly do not have the money to go out and buy new furniture. Considering this website is to support the large families out there, many living on one income, I think there should be some sensitivity when discussing new vehicles, new furniture, etc. Consider this. I have been married for 28 years and have 8 children. I have yet to purchase a piece of new furniture or a car or vehicle newer than 10 years old. Yet my home is nicely decorated in an "early morning garage sale" theme. Check freecycle. Check newspaper ads. There is nice used furniture to be had.
Leather– our dog was to old to jump when we got the leather and he has not been replaced.
Lazy Boys– If your only date night is couch cuddles after tucking skip it!!! Ours was free but I hated it till hubby took the hint.
Tables– LOVE the Hitchcock we bought but they went out of business. It was narrow. My husband turned the porch at our old house into the Dining Room. He pulled the picture window and turned what was the front of the house into a bench of maple from an old factory. My sister and I could line up six toddlers in tap shoes and it wouldn’t show a thing!
Now we have his grandparents mahogany set. I worry about it because we school in that room. I miss my indestructable school/dining/sewing room.
I highly recommend the leather couches sold at good ol’ Costco. We bought a full-size sofa and a loveseat, and together they came to $1900. That was about 4 years ago, and they still look like new today, which, if you knew my family, you too would consider a miracle. Shipping & delivery were included in the price. The delivery company was an independent contractor, and the guys told us the quality of the Costco furniture was a lot better than most leather furniture they deliver, including that sold from high-end stores that would have been much more expensive. I don’t know whether the prices have gone up since then, but I’d definitely advise checking with Costco for leather furniture.
Mary K, your point is a good one. There are plenty of times when I read/see what other moms are doing to their homes, furniture, decorating, even remodeling, and I think, "Wow. That must be nice." It’s easy to start being dissatisfied with what you have/what you can afford when you think "everyone else" is spending a couple thousand dollars on leather sofas, or building a deck, or whatever.
Like I said below, I’m looking to replace my kitchen table (which is our only table currently; the ‘dining room’ has desks for homeschooling). Our first table was my husband’s parents’ old table, and was much too big for the room. Our second table we bought on the last day of an estate sale, when everything had been marked down 50%; we paid $82.50 for the table and the six chairs (which were like matchsticks, unfortunately, and didn’t last). For a while we had both tables set up because we were trying to sell our house and thought that the "dining" half of the living room would look more attractive to buyers if it actually looked like a dining room. The house didn’t sell, and we got rid of MIL’s old table in favor of the smaller estate sale one.
Now I’ve reached the point where I’m tired of tripping over the outward-extending 1960s ‘Danish modern’ table legs; with all the old chairs from the first table the thing *still* takes up too much room in the kitchen. I’d like to buy a table that has two benches, but I plan to look for one that fits in our budget, which may take a while.
There’s nothing wrong with being a thrifty, garage/antique store/estate sale/flea market mom. The most important thing we put into our homes is our love for our families, and that works on every budget.
Mary K,
I don’t think anyone is being insensitive in talking about buying new furniture. If I were in the market for new (or used) living room furniture then I would happily take the comments made here into consideration when looking at stores as well as garage sales and classified ads. What I buy doesn’t have to be brand new for me to enjoy it. I love my "new" van that we bought a couple of months ago…it’s 6 years old and is still newer than what I had before that. We make do as best as we can. Other people talking about buying brand new cars or furniture doesn’t bother me or hurt my feelings.
MaryK,
As an un-rich person myself, I fail to see any kind of insensitivity here. I think there have been several different commenters who have shared sound advice for buying quality used furniture. No matter what our incomes, we all make choices about where and how to spend our money, and other people’s experiences can provide very helpful inside information. The point of this thread is not to talk about all the fancy new things rich families can afford, but to share information and experiences related to family-friendly furniture choices — and that most definitely does include buying used!
Thanks for this thread. I’ve always wondered about leather furniture. The wipeable factor was obvious, I just always wondered about how they would stand up in other categories.
We don’t have much money, and we’re not in the market for furniture right now. But, when we do spend money, (on anything) I am a firm believer in getting the best you can. I cut corners and use hand-me-downs so that I can afford new shoes and good quality winter boots and snowsuits. It would be the same with furniture. When we do go looking for new furniture, we will look at what is going to last longest, and stretch those dollars over the most number of years.
Thanks Danielle.
As far as getting used upholstered furniture, can any of you veterans give tips for getting the used *smell* out of them? I often see what I would consider nice couches at Goodwill or St. Vincent de Paul, but all of their stores have a strong smell that only comes out of the clothing I buy there with two or three washes. How do I wash the smell out of a couch? So far, I have only bought used wood furniture.
How does the cost of reupholstering compare with buying cheap new furniture?
Upholstering an old couch can be very expensive. Sometimes it’s better just to buy a new one. I recently reupholstered a Henredon couch with Robert Allen fabric that cost (including labor, recoiling cushions and restuffing) almost 3K. This was an investment for us, since the couch is in the formal living room and will not get trashed by children or pets. It is a wonderful piece of furniture that we inherited from my family and after 10 years of abuse in the family room, I decided rather than throwing it out on curbside (it was a gorgeous couch and I couldn’t let it go) I would invest in reupholstering and move it to my living room. We then bought an inexpensive leather couch in family room for the kids. Between the two pieces of furntiture, we spent about $3500.