Replacing Couches?

This weekend DH said that maybe in a few months we can replace just our couch in the living room.   It's 10 years old and not nearly as comfortable as it once was.  It's not the supports; it's the cushions themselves.  We have the matching chair and love seat as well.  Those are still comfortable; but they take up more floor space than I'd like.  (Noodles has clawed both up too.)  The arms kind of flare out.  It makes them nice and large for kitty naps and they are good to lay against; but they do waste space.  The couches are also the kind with separate pillow backs.  Those wore out ages ago and man are they annoying!!  My kids currently have ALL of them on the living room floor and they are bouncing around on them. 

I could use some advice on fabric choices please!  I'm not a fan of leather; at all.  I was thinking that maybe when it comes time to replace the love seat and chair we can just get 2 club chairs or something along those lines.  That should help me get a cohesive look to the living room.  But I'm dealing with small kids and the cats for several more years.  Any advice?  Is 10 years a decent lifespan on a couch?  I tend to sleep on the couch for the first half of every night (or all night when the kids are particularly needy; so DH can sleep before work) so I guess we put ours through a lot.

I am not fond of leather myself, so when I got my new furniture, I came up with an idea to stop the cat scratching, and it has worked perfectly.

Here's a couple pics-



Can you see on the ends? It is clear contact paper, sticky side out, attached with double sided tape.

Works like a charm

Whatever fabric you choose,  just make sure it doesn't clash with your carpeting.  If you do not have solid carpeting, do not get any type of printed furniture.  You just have to make sure carpeting and furniture do not clash cuz that looks terrible.

catwoman707 said:

furniture ends 002.JPG

• catwoman707
• Dec 30, 2013

Can you see on the ends? It is clear contact paper, sticky side out, attached with double sided tape.

Works like a charm

Click to expand...

It's hard to see; but that can be a good thing!  I may try that.  I'll just have to watch that the fur-less kids don't pick at it.  That's exactly where she goes to do her scratching. lol

LaRussa said:

 
Whatever fabric you choose,  just make sure it doesn't clash with your carpeting.  If you do not have solid carpeting, do not get any type of printed furniture.  You just have to make sure carpeting and furniture do not clash cuz that looks terrible.

Click to expand...

Fortunately and unfortunately; our carpeting is a light gray.  It shows spots terribly.  But it's neutral enough you can kind of ignore it too I guess.  I think patterned carpeting would be a no-go when house buying for me!    We hope to upgrade to a wood or nicer laminate flooring someday!