cream suede settee: am I mad to consider it?

[lucy123]

We've just been out to buy our very first non-second-hand settee. Well, we may yet buy a second hand one, but this was our first mission.

By far the best one in the shop in terms of both comfort and value for money was a cream suede one and dp is showing signs of having his heart set on it. What I would like to know is, would I be mad to consider it?

The covers were removeable, so we'd be able to rinse red wine/coffee straight away and that shouldn't be a problem. What I'm worried about are sticky hand prints (have 1 toddler and one on the way) and general build up of grime as obviously they can't be washed very hot.

Has anyone had such an item of furniture with kids and did you regret it?

gosh lucy I think the quick answer is yes, you'd be mad! A friend has a white sofa and 1 x 3yo and I have to say, it always looks disgusting. I wouldn't do it, I have to say but it's up to you!

A white sofa was biggest mistake - I'd steer well clear of anything not dark and patterned when have babs about - ours in beige and chenille and is a nightmare as it is with a 3 year old - cannot imagine what suede would be like!!

Leather good though - wipe clean!!

MAD, MAD, MAD!!!

Why would you do that to yourself? I guess that you could always get throws, then take them off when the kids go to bed. But even then you'd still be wondering just how that sticky mark got there, and where that bit of jammy toast came from. Plus you'd always be pulling the throws back on.

Oh well you never know your children might be very very clean children who don't (unlike mine) attract all dirt and grim going and then transfer it on to other previously clean / sterile objects etc.

ditto. if you love them so much why not buy some cheap throws for them?

yes, you'd be mad!
it will just get grubby and sticky and you'll get agitated about your lovely sofa being ruined. You should probably stick to dark colours (or at least untextured light colours that you can hot-wash) until they are older I'm afraid...

Good grief, do NOT do it !!!!!!!!!!!

You could be like the looneys in League fo Gentlemen and keep the plastic on them when they are delivered!!

Bit rustly though!!

Really a spilt cup of coffee would how ever hard you try to get it out completely take the beautiful creamy newness of off your lovely new furniture - you want paisly draylon - they can even be sick on it and you would not notice until it got really whiffy!!

hmmm, obviously I've been hoplessly naive here.

Think we should hold out for a darker coloured one then. Throws would be an option, but in my mind they are something you use when you hate your settee!

Sorry, you'd be bonkers. Save it for when they've left home!

I have a beautiful mottled browny red sofa and its brill as the pattern doesn't show the dirt - even a plain dark coloured one looks grim after a year in our house (i am the main offender as I tend to leave coffee rings and crumbs in my wake whereever I go). My friend has a brown suede sofa and no kids and it still looks horrible after three years as the sweat/heat from their legs has marked it. Leather sofas are better as at least they look 'vintage' as they age.

Cream leather is OK - provided it's SMOOTH leather and not suede - ie it needs to be wipe-able. My best friend has a cream leather suite and it is only now starting to show signs of age - 15 years and 4 kids later!

The other thing they were told (her dh was persuaded in to it by a salesman at the Ideal Home show) was that they were better NOT to get the "best" leather - it's much finer and so less hard wearing. Better to get one of the heavier duty leathers.

Ours are white. Well they were. I actually managed to keep them white for 6 months but then dd started on solids!

I have a huge raspberry coloured sofa big enough for me, dh, ds, sdd and the cat! We love it. It's got a slighly velvety cotton upholstery and marks never, ever show on it. Cream suede? Bonkers! Sofa Workshop is my top tip. Endless options and fun deciding what you want. Also interest free credit at certain times of the year. Had our sofa five years now and it looks like new.
If you want a white sofa get one with machine washable covers and buy two or even three sets of covers. And make sure the covers actually fit in your washing machine!

YES YUES YES YES YES.
Mine is cream - well it was - do you get me!

Aloha - ours were machine washable but they fray at the edges and are a nightmare to get on or off - or should I say were x2b got lumbered with it - I have nice clean sofa at DPs house which we just Vanish Powershot the stains off.

Mind you we also had a dog which used to run around the garden then bound in all over the sofa - gggrrr

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So a cotton 'throw' is a waterproof barrier to Ribena, is it? And come on, how many of us actually DO haul the washable covers off all those heavy awkward cushions, pop them in the machine, dry them and then struggle to stuff and stretch them back on? Not me, I haven't tackled that job in 10 years. I reckon it's a marketing ploy! there are enough points of conflict and negotiation in the life of parents and toddlers, without adding anxiety over the sofa to the mix. My Mum used to say that if a parent needed to tell a child to 'mind your clothes' they were wearing the wrong clothes for the outing, and I reckon the same is true for furniture.

Blu I do wash mine I'm afraid! Every couple of weeks as even though they are terracotta and patterned they get revolting!

Anyhow, I am looking for a new sofa as my 2 are now potty trained and we did have rather a lot of accidents so although they look clean I dread to think what is in there!!

Lucy123 please save your sanity at this stage, and go for a dark patterned sofa if you can. Save the cream suede until they grow up. I am tempted with a brown leather number but we have a dog and the claws would scratch.

I wash mine but I have to wash them quite a lot and they are beginning to look worn in places now. It's also a nightmare job having to try and stuff a huge cushion into a hole the size of a large melon! Hence I'm putting off washing a small chicken tikka stain off, I'm just hiding it under a throw cushion!

Phew! I finally have the motivation to challenge my Inner Slut and wash my sofa covers.Thank you, Thomcat and Crunchie! (I have been scrubbing at patches, and a regular going over with the Dyson on full power removes dried crusty bits, but 10 years without washing is a bit shameful, even if the first 8 were child free!). Actually, I might get dp to do it...

Well, I'm going to be the lone voice! I think that if they are fake suede (ie a micro fibre) and washable, and you are prepared to wash them, why not?
I'm planning to get very light green settee with fake suede washable covers as soon as I have a minute to pick it out.
I had couches with white cotton removable covers that I had the cleaner wash once a week. They were in my guest house that I rented out to a guy with a perpetually muddy dog. They lasted years before they started to look a little frayed from all the washing.

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Sofia - enjoy that pale green sofa while it lasts and then curse the day you bought it after it's threadbare from over wshing and the stains that just won't come out!!! i'm sure it'll look lovely (for 2 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!)

Have a cream settee and armchairs or did- now multistained. However not by the kids- coffee, choc ice cream, all mine. Baby puke is OK -completely camouflaged- but prob not now the wee one has started on carrot etc. Have a throw on settee - makes a good tent for toddlers.

i say go for it kids will be kids no matter what the material of the sofa!