Family room wear and tear

[Bini]

We have started shopping around for a new reclining sectional in the family room, which is our TV area and not our formal sitting area, so the vitals are comfort and durability above all else. Currently, we have leather (it's just shy of 10-years old) and has proven to be an excellent choice in taking the wear-n-tear of 3 indoor dogs and now a toddler. We'd keep it but it's just too contemporary for the new house - so it's going.

Does anyone have anything positive to say about fabric sectionals? I know that the microfiber isn't a bad choice and is in fact a good one for stains but I'm really liking the corduroy fabric, which I understand to have blends of this and that material, and is also stain-resistant. (Really it sounds like fabric anymore is all stain-resistant even if it's not called microfiber on the tag.) If you own fabric, how durable has it been as family room furniture? How often is it used? Are pets and kids lounging on it? Throughout the years, how often do you replace your fabric furniture? Every 5 years?

Lastly, our current pieces are not powered. Leather or fabric, if you have power-recliners, have you experienced malfunction at all? I've been doing price comparison and depending on the furniture, you're looking at about $99-199 difference from powered and pop-out. But if those things tend to burn out with a lot of use, maybe it's best not to go that route.

[Guest]

Resist the temptation to go fabric. Microfiber is not a good one for stains regardless of its claims. You should see my microfiber couch. And it is even worse for dog hair and slobber.

There is no way I am going for anything other than leather (or even pleather or vinyl if I don't mind the un-HGTV-ness of it) as long as I have 3 dogs and 2 boys.

Right now I have 2 power recliners and one manual one on the sectional. I've had it for 3 years. It is made in China so it was cheap. The recliners are "American sized" which fits my husband's big brother (250 lbs at least) very comfortably. My husband and I fit in it too (300+ lbs together), so we usually sit snuggled in that one chair on the right. And then, my 10-year-old snuggler sometimes sits on the arm to snuggle with us! Besides it sagging a tiny bit in that arm (which I'm fairly certain can be avoided if I just lay down the law on my kid), it is still working perfectly.

I'm one to keep furniture for a very long time. I grew up in a house where the main pieces of furniture were older than my older brother and it is still there until today! So, I would rather spend extra money for something that will last a while. Our microfiber couch is 10 years old this year. We delegated it to another room 3 years ago and drape it with couch covers when we have company.

P.S. Leather works with non-contemporary designs as well especially if its earth tone color. It's pretty versatile. I got the rustic look going in my family room.

Edited October 29, 2013 by anatess

[Quin]

What I have for my fabric couch :

- Zip off covers for ALL pillows (back is loose pillows, not attached).

- Down wrappers

Why?

Because I zip off the covers and was them monthly

I zip off down wrappers and wash those, biannually

I wasn't able to wash my couch for a year at one point (long story), and I had to wash everything 5 or 6 times before the water would run clear. Gross. Gross. Gross.

Boys & Dogs, here, too.

(My leather stuff, meanwhile, just gets swiped with Murphy's Oil Soap and is lustrous & rockin. I don't regret my fabric couch, it saved me 2 grand I really needed elsewhere... But I have to work to keep it clean).

Q

[Bini]

Thanks, Anatess.

My husband is a really big fan of leather. I've always been partial to it for a couple reasons but not enough to put up a stink about it. Leather is durable, I can attest to that. I just feel like trying something a bit different for the family room. Something more 'homey' feeling. I think we will always keep leather in the formal sitting room because it just has a sleeker look but as you said, there are different kinds of leather looks that can fit just about any style. That said - I am sooo liking this sage sectional! I seriously couldn't sleep last night because I kept thinking about how great it'd be in our family room..

So from your experience, the power recliners don't seem to have any problems, and you've had yours for several years now? I think we might go that route. I assume you got all the warranties and protection for it, too? We were debating last night if it was worth getting those. I know that the warranties cover you 5-10 years for stains, tears, and damage - they'll replace furniture too if that's what it comes to. We didn't get the protection plan on our last leather sectional (that was bought before DH and I married and he was a bachelor) - and we haven't had any problems at all - granted it is not powered though. I don't remember if those warranties/protection plans cover electric malfunction..

[Bini]

Quin, thinks for your input.

I guess yay for me because dogs won't be on it and I have a girl? You make good points though, points that I wish weren't true because I'm really intrigued by fabric but long term durability is what's important really.

[pam]

Resist the temptation to go fabric. Microfiber is not a good one for stains regardless of its claims. You should see my microfiber couch. And it is even worse for dog hair and slobber.

I have to agree with anatess. I currently have microfiber in my familyroom. I'll never go with furniture that has this again.

[Guest]

Dark colors, whatever fabric you choose. And invest in a shampooer with an upholstery attachment.

[Guest]

Dark colors, whatever fabric you choose. And invest in a shampooer with an upholstery attachment.

From experience: If you have microfiber, check first that your couch is labeled for W (water-based solvent). Not all of them are. A lot of them are X (vacuum only) or like my couch which is S (water-less solvent). You can only use the shampooer on W couches. Of course, I scrubbed mine with diluted hand soap and baking soda. Big mistake.

[Bini]

The corduroy I'm looking at is not microfiber, neither of us really found a microfiber sectional that we liked, but the corduroy is supposed to be quite durable for a fabric. The particular one I like is just so cosy - something you don't really get with leather.

[Quin]

I used to LOVE our corduroy couch.

Because I loved the lines in made on our skin from sitting on it, and laying on it was even better... Lines on our faces!!!

My mom grew to despise, it, though.

Possibly for the same reason.

Q

[pam]

From experience: If you have microfiber, check first that your couch is labeled for W (water-based solvent). Not all of them are. A lot of them are X (vacuum only) or like my couch which is S (water-less solvent). You can only use the shampooer on W couches. Of course, I scrubbed mine with diluted hand soap and baking soda. Big mistake.

Also microfiber needs to be cleaned with an alcohol mix because it evaporates quickly. You spray it on..use a clean sponge to clean and then once dry take a clean dry brush to brush it out. You just can't clean them like you would a fabric couch.

[classylady]

My son and DIL have a microfiber couch. They hate it. I'm not impressed with it either. It's dark brown, and shows every single little water drop, etc. I have a fabric couch, and have liked it. One of my couches is a navy blue, and we have two long haired white cats. That is not a good mix.

Leather is nice, except for when you have a son that likes to go around stabbing the furniture with a fork!

When I was a younger married women, I thought I would finally have nice furniture when my kids were all grown. But, now I have grandkids.

[Bini]

Quin, yikes! No, the corduroy I was looking at was not heavy lined like that. It was very subtle and very elegant looking but super soft and cosy.

Well turns out that we're doing the leather sectional, the real stuff, all-power reclining too. I really liked that other sectional but as we weighed out the pros and cons I think DH and I made a good decision on it. Hoping we can get it delivered and setup before Thanksgiving but as of now some of the modular pieces are not in stock. Very strange.

[Normandy]

We have a real leather sofa and loveseat. It holds up well to 4 little boys. We've had ours for about 10 years and they still function well. They are not powered (I had no idea they made those now).

What doesn't hold up well is our beige carpet and white flat painted walls. Ha!