I wasn't sure about leather either, but we bought a sofa a little over a year ago. That isn't a long time, but I will say that I woke in the middle of the night to the sound of my 90-pound dog digging in the cushions. It didn't leave a mark!

In my experience, kids are going to pretty much abuse anything you get - fabric or leather.

My kids didn't SIT down on the sofa as much as they launched themselves onto from about 6 feet away. They also consumed all manner of food and drink on it, wiping their hands on the cushions instead of using a napkin.

We went through two sets of family room furniture while my kids were growing up-and it wasn't cheapo stuff. The furniture was fabric and got stained (despite steam cleaning) and threadbare, but also the springs and cushions just wore down from them propelling themselves onto it.

When the kids left home, we ditched the old stuff and bought a couple of Lazyboy leather recliners and a microfiber fabric sofa which we expect will last us many more years.

Get what you like and can afford, but keep in mind that probably 10 years or so down the road, you'll have to replace it.

Hi, we had dogs and kids and always had leather. Why? Because you can wipe it down yourself and keep a clean house. Large dogs like Rotties claws might scratch, donâÂÂt let them, you are boss. Kids should not eat on furniture, thatâÂÂs why we have kitchens and dining rooms. DonâÂÂt let them, you are boss. Say no to "bonded" leather.

This post was edited by jterrilynn on Tue, Jun 18, 13 at 23:35

Four dogs and a man who is like a bull in a china shop-leather sofa has been a blessing.

Raised kids with every other kind of sofa you can imagine-herculone, slip covers, canvas, chenille, brocade-even once with bonded leather-and none held up well. Real leather-yeah, it's a work horse.

We have real leather and yeah it wears well. But I would not do it again. It is cold when you first sit and takes a bit of body warmth to get comfortable. We are in northern California and have enough cold days that this becomes irritating. Everyone avoids the leather sofa unless there is no other fabric seating option. Or the throw blankets become seat covers on top of the leather sofa.

Oops, wrong forum!

This post was edited by ogrose on Wed, Jun 19, 13 at 4:47

Wow thanks for all your tips and feedback..guess its a yes for us too then. Thank you!!!

Maybe this would be a good time to use the new sofa as a learning experience for the kids to be taught to respect family possessions and treat furniture appropriately?? (This is said as the mother of 3 boys and grandmother of 7, 4 of whom are boys.) Kids can learn to behave and will do what is expected of them if the rules are firm and enforced.

We have had a leather sofa and love seat in the living room for more than 10 years, with twin boys and an assortment of dogs (including a 100-lb lab). Spills wipe right up. Dog hair doesn't stick. It is comfortable. We live in a very cold climate - when it's cold, we wear long pants, so we don't notice a difference between sitting on leather or fabric.

I wish I had gotten leather for our family room sectional - the fabric isn't holding up well at all.

we had a leather sofa in the family room for most of the time my kids were growing up -the kids were fine but the dog, when she was young, damaged the sofa by pawing at it -even so, we bought a new leather sofa, and it is holding up well even with two small dogs on it daily

I've never had a leather sofa. We do have a pair of leather chairs and I think they are super comfortable to sit in but not Necessarily comfortable for lounging. I just find fabric much more comfortable.

Now, I only have one child so take this with a grain of salt, but he is not allowed to eat or drink unless he's sitting at the kitchen table and he's certainly not allowed to jump on the sofa. We don't have pets. OTOH, it would be nice for the kids to have a sofa that they can jump on and make forts. Would it be possible to move the current slipcovered one into a basement or playroom. Then they can be rough with it, but not on the new furniture?

PPS7..

That is exactly what I am doing! I am moving my fave slipcovered Ikea Ektorp downstairs for their playroom and keeping leather up in family room. Not to say though that the 10 year old twin boys and 4 year old sister won't still trample/launch/bounce on the new set.

I am not sure I will ever love the leather..but in the spirit of easy care and durability I think I'm going to go for it :)

kids -- ok.

cats -- no.

dogs -- ??

I keep writing posts and deleting them with similar comments to jterrilynn's and pattie's posts. I heartily agree with them! I'm a mom to 2, grandma to 2, and aunt to more nieces and nephews than I can count. Believe me when I tell you that if they don't learn to respect their own homes and the furnishings in it, they'll show the same attitude when they go to others' homes. You are the boss, and calm consistency is the key (withholding privileges works wonders). Now is the perfect time to start.

And we've had good success with leather, fabric, microfiber, and linen. Obviously leather will scratch unless you keep sharp things away, and as was mentioned above, stay away from bonded leather if you want it to last.

If you allow them to trample/launch/bounce on the new sofa, it will be trashed in no time. It doesn't matter how durable the upholstery is; sofas aren't built to withstand that kind of abuse. I have two boys, and they don't abuse the furniture. They only eat and drink in the kitchen, and the dog has been trained to stay off the furniture. It can be done!

Need I say more.

my feeling, again, is that your home and furniture are there for comfort and functionality -- pets and kids make life complete and are far more important than any furniture or material items; therefore, their needs come first.

If you are constantly worrying (and this isn't directed at the OP or other poster) about keeping pets and kids off furniture, your priorities are skewed.

In other words, make your furniture fit your lifestyle, not the other way 'round.

Gee, whatever happened to once-in-a-while movie/pizza night with plates (with placemats, lol!) on large square coffee table, and weekend football games, with plates on the large coffee table? Each to their own, and I certainly respect everyone's right to raise their children as they see fit...

I have a curved leather sofa in my den and I love it. It was a Natuzzi and the leather is very soft. We bought it over 15 years ago. The only problem is it gets scratched easily and the dye on top doesn't go very deep so the scratches show. My husband always shoves his laptop across it or his belt buckle scratches when he lays down for a nap... or my cats or toy poodle scratch it when they run across it). I noticed that my cats don't really like to lay on the leather sofa whereas they will on my fabric covered ones. But they will lay on the top of it .. just not the seats.

Being that it is blue it has been difficult finding a way to hide the scratches. I resolved the issue by going over to the art store and bought a set of blue permanent markers. I found a color that matched and I just color over the scratches and swirl it around with a paper towel to make it blend in. It works like a charm!

Violet West - While I agree with you that kids and pets make my life complete and are more important than material things, I disagree that children *need* to jump or bounce on the furniture. I don't worry about keeping my children off the furniture. They're welcome to *sit* on the sofa like civilized human beings. It's a sofa, not a trampoline.

I love my dog (really, really love him!) but I don't want him on the furniture. I grew up with dogs, and they weren't allowed on the furniture, either. DH grew up in a different part of the country (So, it's not regional.) and his dogs had to stay on the floor as well.

I promise, they're not deprived!

I would like to second what ogrose said:

Each to their own, and I certainly respect everyone's right to raise their children as they see fit...

My kids bounced on our leather furniture now and then, my dog goes up on it, and it and they have turned out just fine.

My comments were general in nature and not directed at you, porkandham. By all means, train your kids and dogs to behave and not mess up the furniture--necessary no matter what you have.

I just think sometimes people buy precious things sometimes without thinking about their lifestyles.

Maybe it's because I have cats -- I could never buy leather furniture, because even if they know not to get on things, they're not exactly trainable in the same way as dogs are, and sometimes they run around with their claws out and things get scratched or punctured.

So -- no expensive furniture which I would worry about. We spend too much time in our material culture worrying about our "stuff." Life's too short!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts! I grew up in a house where the living room sofa was covered in plastic and the room was off limits. I guess now as a mother myself I want my kids to use, sit, bounce, lay upside down on every surface in my home.

That being said, I do agree my kids could be a lot better about things like not spilling yogurt down between the sofa seats etc. My decision in part to get leather was to take back some of my adult space in my home and give them a playroom in the basement for friends, video games etc. That doesn't mean the kids won't be allowed in the family room nor do I plan to cover it in plastic (LOL) but 10 year old boys will be just that and I would prefer not to replace the sofa in 2 years because it was trashed.

Yes, things happen. I remember my boys had a large poster tacked to their bedroom wall, and for whatever reason I happened to look behind it, and there was a huge hole in the wall. The story I got was the dog had done it. Yeah, right, our German Shepherd went tearing down the hall, turned an abrupt 90 Degree turn into the bedroom and leapt on the bed, crashing into the wall. Didn't have too use too much imagination to figure that one out...

I called them from work one day and informed them if the stinky gerbil cage was not cleaned out by the time I got home, the whole thing, including gerbils, were going into the trash. It was clean when I got home. My vacuum cleaner motor was burned up...

Kids will be kids! They turned out fine.

I have a leather chesterfield sofa and a leather chair.

The sofa is Hancock Moore and the leather is 'protected'. My dogs are allowed on furniture and they have not made one scratch in the leather on the sofa.

The Sherill leather chair is aniline leather and it is able to be scratched by their claws, so I keep them off it for the most part.

If possible, I'd suggest trying to find a sofa in protected leather.

Here is a link that might be useful: Aniline leather from Wikipedia

When my kids were young I stopped inviting mothers over who fed their kids in my family room. I thought that was the rudest thing ever. Plus, I donâÂÂt get why feeding kids snacks all the time is necessary. WhatâÂÂs up with that? It would take me lots of precious time cleaning food off the floor, area rugs, slider doors, walls ,furniture and the TV area.
Granted kids seem to get stuff stuck on their person which can transfer to fabrics so I do understand the wish to find easy to maintain furnishings. Non-bonded leather is pretty hardy and easy to clean, plus, you can get away with lighter colors.
When my kids became older teens we did have Chinese takeout on the coffee table and movie nights once or twice a month. They were old enough to be mindful by then.
I do not get the comment that people who wish to teach their children to respect furnishings have their priorities skewed. Furnishings are expensive. Some of us do not have the funds to replace it all the time. Plus, I just wanted to teach my kids to get along better in society when grown. They are some things learned that will benefit them in the future, likeâ¦donâÂÂt scratch your butt in public, donâÂÂt pick your nose, donâÂÂt spit in public, donâÂÂt blow gas in public, donâÂÂt destroy others property or furnishings and take care of your personal things so they will last ect⦠ItâÂÂs all just such basic stuff that IâÂÂm having a hard time fathoming that some parents are against it. I know IâÂÂm probably coming across as one of those types that preach on how to raise kids but really this is all just the basics.

Happy medium is best.....should kids be allowed to hurl themselves at the furniture every time they sit down or use it as a trampoline? No, and they should be told so, even though they probably will do it anyway when you're not looking. It's important they respect their's and other's belongings. You wouldn't allow them to tap dance on top of your car because cars are expensive to replace and so is furniture. No eating in the "family" room? --no popcorn and movie night?... no eating dinner in front of the tube on election night?... = no fun or possibly happy memories. And it's amazing what they will remember!

Like everything else, there are different grades of leather and different types of leather, and different methods of dying leather, as well. Some take a beating, some scratch if you look at them.

I think leather could be a good choice for the OP, but would encourage her to do a bit of research about leather and leather furniture manufacturers before purchasing.

Many a times we opt for leather sofas as leather is a sign of luxury.But now a days it is like a necessity.Leather sofas can be easily installed in the house to provide comfort and relaxation to its owners.Cleaning also needs to be done once or twice a week with a vacuum or a damp cloth and you are done with its upkeep too.