
Having one child can seem like a dream, but when you start adding on to your family, you may also find yourself needing to add on to your furniture. Luckily there are many great living room furniture sets and sofas that provide versatility and durability at affordable prices.
Before rushing to your local furniture store or jumping online to purchase a sofa on impulse, think carefully about what you need out of your new sofa. You can see the most popular sofas at https://www.1stopbedrooms.com/living/living-room-furniture/sofas. Meanwhile, here are some criteria to start with.
Sofa upholstery options
You have a lot of options when it comes to the upholstery on your new sofa, but some of them aren’t really practical with young children. You need a fabric that is comfortable but will also stand up against spills and frequent climbing or crawling all over the furniture.
Your best options are:
Polyester
This usually means getting a polyester upholstery or a polyester blend treated with scotch guard. Polyester is also resistant to heat and flame, so it is a good option for reducing the risk of injury in a fire. The scotch guard will cause anything spilled to simply run off, much like rain runs away on your waxed windshield. Polyester is also somewhat cut-resistant. It’s a great fabric to last through years of abuse.
Ultrasuede
Ultrasuede upholstery is extremely durable, with a tight weave that even stands up against pets as well as children. However, this option is a bit more expensive than others, and it can still stain if not treated regularly with a scotch guard.
Microfiber
Microfiber is the more affordable version of Ultrasuede. Microfiber is also tightly woven to make it less susceptible to claws and sharp objects. This type of fabric can stain horribly, especially if not treated immediately with an appropriate upholstery cleaner or steam cleaner. For that reason, it may not be the best option for families with toddlers.
Leather
Leather has been the go-to sofa upholstery of parents for decades. Leather sofas look stylish and sleek, but they also repel spills and, unless you get white leather, stains are unlikely. Leather furniture can become a bit pricey, so you might consider other options if you’re on a tight budget. The downside is that leather is easy to rip with sharp objects. You can repair them with the appropriate leather repair kit, but it will never look as good as when the sofa was new.
Vinyl
There are certain living room furniture collections that give you additional protection against rowdy children and wound-up pets. These furniture collections are usually marketed as outdoor furniture, but they may also be described as suitable for both indoors and outdoors. The advantage to vinyl is that it will never stain and spills will run right off. However, like leather, vinyl can be fairly easy to cut.
Features that every family sofa needs
There are a lot of things to keep in mind when choosing a new sofa for your family. With all of the affordable options out there, you will be sure to find one that matches the style you want. In addition, when you shop online furniture stores you will quickly realize that you get more bang for your buck.
Here are the most important features for your sofa:
Reclining sofas
Some loveseats offer individual recliners on each side, while some larger sofas come with reclining seats on either end of the sofa. If you would like to look at getting a sectional sofa, you may be able to find one that offers a reclining seat toward the middle as well. Reclining sofas are great for relaxing, especially after a hard day of working on your feet.
Built-in cup holders
If you choose a new sofa that allows you to add or take away seat cubes at will, you will probably be able to find an option that comes with cup holders. Most of the time they are placed in the center or corner of your sectional or modular sofa.
Need a place to set your drink while watching a movie? Flip down the back of the seat to reveal one or two cupholders and potentially other features as well. When you need that seat for a guest, you just flip the cupholder folded back the way it was and it will look like the solid back of the couch.
Charging stations
Regardless of the ages of your children, it is likely that every person in your household has at least one smart device that they use on a daily basis. Children are especially forgetful when it comes to charging their devices, not plugging them in until the device is about to turn off. Even then they can be relentless, plugging in to charge while still playing their game or watching their videos.
But parents can forget to charge their phones too. If you are a parent stretched to your limits, the anxiety and stress will literally make your brain stop functioning normally, which can lead to absentmindedness. Thankfully, many of the newest sofas, as well as other furniture for your home, now offer built-in USB ports or a charging station so that you can plug in your smart devices while you continue to use them.
At one time, technology experts recommended that you do not use a smart device while it is plugged in to avoid overheating and permanent damage. However, this has become such a habit for so many people that these devices are now starting to have longer battery life, even with use while charging. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”
Versatility
When you have a household full of children, and especially if their mates come to hang out with your kids, you need your living room to be as versatile as possible. Being able to rearrange at a moment’s notice can be important if your child has an unscheduled sleepover or you have a child’s birthday party for friends and family.
It can also be beneficial to choose a modular sofa with enough pieces that you can arrange them any way you wish at the drop of a hat.