Give me the honest low down on what level of destruction to expect

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Dear all,
I have another thread running at the minute on what type of cat breed might be right for me.
I'd also like to get some honest opinions on how much mess/destruction to expect from young cats / kittens. And whether having a pair will be worse /better / the same.
The house is probably the best we have had it in terms of new furnishings. I can get some throws for the chairs. The only thing I am 'precious' about is the dining table and chairs. Are they likely to be clawed to bits?
Just need honest experiences so I know what to prepare for. Thank you!!

Is leaving cooked meat on the floor a family tradition, cozie?

They're trained not to go on kitchen surfaces (a house rule) - and in some weird cat way that expands into not going on 'certain other' surfaces. (Why some and not others I've never worked out.) The concomitant of that is, however, that anything on the floor is fair game.

(I found out that, unusually, Seniorboy wasn't lactose intolerant because we caught him nicking cold milk left in glasses by chairs on the floor. (We had wondered why people's milk kept going down in their glass.) Our fault and not his.)

We've got a smasher. I didn't know they existed until she came, and I'm still not sure if her smashiness is intentional or not. If you have open kitchen shleves, or small indoor plants in naice ceramic pots, or, say, a windowsill outside with terracotta herb troughs that were actually quite large and made me think there'd been an explosion when they went well, it's all over for you, friend.

Neither of ours are big scratchers. They'll have a go at the doormat from time to time and there's a sort of raffia clothes hamper box thing they use sometimes, but that's ratty anyway so it's fine.

Ooh, forgot about the smashing.

MKitten pushes things to the edge of shelves/mantlepieces etc., looks at the floor as if weighing up the distance to sound ratio, then gives the final push. Then wears a mixture of pride and surprise at the ensuing big noise.

The carpet tile idea is brilliant -- many thanks Mushypeace.

My one year old cat is a very bolshie Siberian whose jumping prowess is amazing. She liked anything upholstered as a scratching post but ignored the wood furniture, tables and dining room chairs. I used a spray bottle of water to train her not to scratch. I have an old step ladder that I covered in twine and rope of varying thickness with a hot glue gun, with different materials on the steps including a few layers of sandpaper that I stapled to it with a wood stapler, and she loves giving all of that the once over with the claws. My previous cat was very hard on carpeting and rugs. No carpet or rugs here so no problem like that.

She climbs everything, so the fabric shower curtain has several pulled threads (what a surprise to see her head appearing over the shower rail), and I have had to take a lot of framed photos off bookshelves. She also jumps after roller blinds as they go up. She digs in pot pourri and large indoor plant pots. Loves water (apart from water sprayed at her), so I have to water the plants when she's in another room, or else she tries to poke the water as it soaks into the clay. I covered the Christmas tree water last year, but the main problem with her and the tree was batting at baubles and climbing into the tree. If you have ornaments that have any sentimental value, maybe keep them aside until your cat is a bit older and more sedate.

I have had to barricade a few chests of drawers in the DDs' rooms and also the diningroom sideboard as she kept getting up and amusing herself by knocking things off. She chirps as they hit the floor. If I go out I leave coins on windowsills and the coffee table so she can while away her time harmlessly. I also have a huge stock of ping pong balls, which she loves batting around the wood floors. She has a stash of treasures that she keeps in various boxes and will sometimes bat them around inside the boxes. We also find many little presents left in our shoes and wellies. She loves plastic bags and likes to lick them and carry them around. I cut the handles to prevent her choking, and tie the bags in a knot.

No problems with pooing and peeing in the wrong place after an initial few days of anxiety on everyone's part including the kitten's. She settled on one particular corner so we put her litter box there and thoroughly cleaned and disinfected the other places she had tried out.

Check if your house plants are on this list.

Kittens running up curtains, like my lovely kitten who had been wormed (and therefore had shits). Oh how my df swore.
Big bully cat who could open the fridge, thought any food left anywhere, including the plate in front of you, was his. (Fucker bit me for eating my own dinner)
Never sharpened claws on furniture, but do on bike tyres.
Saying that, I luffs my Billy and Smackhead cat.

I've never had a smasher - as I said previously, one fragile thing in all these years and that was my fault and not his. (Having said which, I would put away the Ming vases for a little if I acquired a new cat or kitten: there's no sense in foolhardiness.)

When mine had been with us two days she ran all the way up DD3 who was sprawling on the couch eating a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, and bit a piece of ham right out of DD3's mouth.

Ours do vertical fabric scratching - sofas are knackered, as was our divan bed. One has a go at the carpet occasionally, but I tell him off for that. The other's big thing is newel posts - he made a right mess in the old house, we had to sand the bottom one down when we cam to sell. In this house we've got scratch mats tied round both posts; he loves them.

We've got a new faux leather bed which I've Feliwayed in an attempt to stop them scratching. They've both just stuck their claws in a couple of times, but not actually scratched, so I'm optimistic for the leather sofas we're planning! Cats generally don't scratch leather I believe, but there are loads of things cats generally don't do that individual awkward buggers do! We do need to find a decent alternative scratching location for them when we get the sofas though.

Thinking about it, the most destructive thing ours have done is that one of them throws up a lot, so we have various patches of carpet that don't look quite right.