NP here. We got our nicer stuff over time and my kids are now 11 and 13. Our current home is MCM so I am still buying pieces for it after 3+years.

My 2 cents:
For sofas, we have a Joybird MCM sofa that we got in a sunbrella/washable fabric. It’s a pale grey and not as fun as a blue velvet, but is more durable. We still have our earlier sofa downstairs and it’s black, woven fabric that does show spill marks, but that is our “family/rec room” casual space. So as others have said, be prudent with sofa choices.
For tables, I would reiterate others’ comments about getting solid wood as it can be sanded. You can even get a vintage one in not-great condition but live with the condition if the lines and wood color are beautiful. And eventually you can refinish it when you feel it’s time. These pieces can be bought through estate sales or Etsy or the like.
For kids’ bedroom furniture, we have done ikea because we got some living room stuff from Ikea and it is now re-used in the kids’ rooms. My DD likes to redecorate so her changing tastes means it isn’t worth getting her long-term furniture.

We didn’t want to wait. We did purchase crypton fabric for the couch (which has a solid wood frame and can be reupholstered) and wood that can be refinished for tables/chairs/consoles if it gets scratched. I got tired of paying high prices for particle board that would fall apart.

Depending on the kid, you might be able to get nicer stuff once your youngest is in upper elementary. Until then, you could still get a new sofa that isn't expensive. We got a huge, comfortable, nice looking sectional from Costco years ago for around $900. It looks nice but I'm not losing it when the kids get stuff on it. You could also try collecting some nicer accessory pieces that the kids aren't allowed to touch, just nothing like a sofa or dining set that gets high usage.

The people who furnish their homes with high end furniture with little kids are typically wealthy. They have a nanny watching the kids when they're not in school, housekeeper to immediately clean messes, etc. Otherwise you're chasing them yourself 24/7 which would be exhausting.

Anonymous wrote:I have three young kids. The only thing they have ruined is a couch that never came clean after my daughter vomited right in the middle of the couch.

If you had disciplined her properly, she would not have vomited on the couch. /s

We just bought room and board solid wood stuff. The steel and walnut parson's table will be just fine after kids.

Anonymous wrote:I Have never had any furniture item that was decent and im 15 and going into high school so i think others shouldnt have to hate there furniture in there room until high school

I think you shouldn't resurrect 8 yr old threads. Start your own. Really, as a teen you should know the ettiquette of internet postings better than to do that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What type of kid is your child? My oldest boy (6) is a calmer kid who loves to follows rules. He never wrote on walls, ate on the couch, stood on the table, etc. My youngest son (4) writes on walls, spills on the sofa, jumps on furniture, tapped the fork into dining room table to see how many little holes he could make, took a toy saw and made gashes in a chair (the serrated toy saw really made marks).

To me, you don't leave pens and markers out unsupervised. No drinking on the sofa and consequences for furniture jumping (yes, we have a couch jumper and he gets taken off and to his room each time). No way would he take the fork into the dining room table that many times or at the first mark it would have been taken away. Likewise, with the saw - why give them that kind of access if they abuse things/it. All kids will test limits but to me that behavior is not acceptable.

+1

My kids are teens now, but they both pushed the limits with this behaviour. Or tried to, anyway.

Anonymous wrote:My kid is almost 7 and still writes on her furniture and walls, no matter how many times we punish her for it.

Might want to try a different form of "punishment". It clearly doesn't impact her at all since she keeps doing it. That's a parenting problem, not a furniture problem.

Anonymous wrote:I Have never had any furniture item that was decent and im 15 and going into high school so i think others shouldnt have to hate there furniture in there room until high school

'their' furniture

As you go into high school, learning the difference between their, there and they're will be more useful than new furniture.

You can get creative about decorating. You don't need expensive furniture to have a pulled together look. Have you looked at Ikea for some basics? Look at dorm room photos for inspiration. College-issued furniture is very institutional yet kids are able to make it work.

Buy furniture you like now, but buy it with kids in mind. We got a couch that was big and cozy, with the idea that we would all tumble on it and have snuggle movie nights and such. We've had it ... not quite five years, and it sags from kids climbing on it but I mean, it's a comfy couch. I'm glad we aren't spending these years on something less comfortable. That said, we'll probably get a new one when the kids are older, but I don't think of most furniture as lasting forever. We also got a nice dining room table and I love it and it fits our space well. It's already showing some wear (we are working on the whole, don't bang your silverware thing, but it's a process). But I don't mind a patina in the furniture. My motto in my home and furniture is "nothing to precious." If I really didn't want my kids to ruin a certain piece, I might put it in a room that gets less use, or just hold off on buying anything that is going to cause more stress.

I Have never had any furniture item that was decent and im 15 and going into high school so i think others shouldnt have to hate there furniture in there room until high school

I am also so sick of hand-me-down junk that I have, but I'm glad we've had it for the past 9 years. My boys are 6 and 9 now and while they are still spazzy, I am ready to live with better furniture.

Any suggestions re: fabrics for pets and kids. I love mid century modern pieces, but a lot of that is fabric. Scared to get something too nice!!!!

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the kid. My son never wrote on a wall or ruined furniture but he's just very neat in general. Never even drooled as a baby! (Not a perfect kid and throws his clothes ont he floor but was just born neat in terms of not spilling or getting things dirty).

leather couches are key though. Upholstery would be destroyed by any kid because they are on and off so much (esp boys). We furnish our house the way we want it -including all white carpets and never had a problem. Our 6 yr old reminds people to remove their shoes for us which is so much cuter than when i say it.

Is your son Ernesto Lacuna from Cul de Sac?
"Ernesto belongs to a group called Future Adults of America whose purpose is to gradually take over the world so that they'll be running it by the time they're in their forties"

http://www.gocomics.com/culdesac/

Anonymous wrote:
You're missing the point, many kids pee in the bed, snack in the living room, and run laps naked around the house. As crazy as they are at home, they are awesome at their school and with others. There is not necessarily a correlation between how kids are at home and how they do at school.

My three years old may pee in his bed once every two months, but he and his sister know they are not suppose to snack in the living room, run around like mad dog or other crazy stuff like that. I don't understand how parents can cope with that kind of behavior or even consider it normal. I was raised the way I am raising my kids and so was my husband and so were our parents. My kids can have their moments, they are kids after all, but I am not waiting 20 years to get my life back.
And I always lived surrounded by nice furniture, from the day I was born until today.

Anonymous wrote:depends on your financial aspect, you only live once, so you will waste 15 years not enjoying?

I totally agree with this.