And, just to distract me a bit, I need some living room furniture advice

[DawnM]

I really want a casual pottery barn type living room, white or off-white casual sofa, tan accents, white or cream shag rug, and one or two chairs.   It isn't a big formal living room and we mostly use our family room, so it is more for show.

BUT, and this is a big but.......we have an elderly dog with incontinence issues who seems to like the living room.....and we have a 1 year old golden doodle who doesn't seem to understand boundaries and gets muddy.

I was hoping to finally get the living space I have always wanted, but I think I need to revise my plans.

Even though it is a formal living room, we are casual people.   

would you just suck it up and go with darker furniture and rugs in my situation?

Oh, and the room has 2 very large archways on either end, so it can't be blocked off from the dogs.

Edited August 20, 2021 by DawnM

[HeartString]

IKEA has couches with really nice slip covers.  Tons of bloggers swear by the white slip cover being super washable because you can bleach them.  They are relatively inexpensive to replace too. If you can deal with washing everything every so often you can probably make white furniture work.  

[Katy]

With the dogs I would probably buy the slipcovered option from Ikea instead of pottery barn. That way if something is too gross to come out with bleach you can buy a new slipcover for fairly cheap. The problem is idk if any of that would be in stock right now (my ikea has been having serious supply issues, especially with furniture).   I might wait until the older dog is gone and the younger one is out of puppyhood to spend pottery barn prices.  Which were WAY up last I looked. 

[gardenmom5]

I didn't allow my GSDs on the furniture.    if the dogs are allowed on the furniture, you could get blanket type covers for most of the time, then take them off if you have guests come over.

I'd also add a dog bed in the living room since your older dog wants to be in there.

 

[Katy]

And no, I wouldn’t get darker furniture.  I’d wait and buy what you want.

[DawnM]

Just to clarify, I currently have NO furniture in there.   I need something before the older dog is gone and the younger dog has outgrown the puppy stage, so maybe I will get a temp used sofa or something for now.

And I wasn't planning to buy a $6k pottery barn sofa, I should have specified....the "look" of pottery barn is what I like.

But the rug.....??????   

[lmrich]

For the rug you could go with a washable rug. I know Ruggable makes them. I own one and will get more. If it is a large area, you can get two rugs. 

Are the Ikea sofas comfortable? 

 

[Carrie12345]

I, personally, would work on finding a second favorite style that’s more pet (and toddler!) friendly. 
I say that as someone who resisted buying a decent (to my taste) couch for almost 2 decades due to grubby kids and pets. Then I gave in because kids were older, most pets had passed, and remaining cat seemed under control. 
Said cat destroyed my couch and then died about 3 years later. I was so close to keeping a nice couch!

Also, tiny dog did used to piddle on my (non-shag) cream rug. Thoroughly cleaned, zero smell, but I swear I can see faint stains even if some people swear they can’t. 

Anyway, I’m on team easy-care/expect destruction.

[Corraleno]

I also have an elderly dog who sometimes pees in the house and I purposely designed my family room with that in mind. I have a white slipcovered Ikea sofa and I also put a white faux fur throw over the seat cushion, which the dog loves to curl up on. It's super easy to wash the throw, but the slipcover is also washable if he gets that dirty.

For rugs, I bought a couple of Loloi printed rugs from Amazon. They're cheap and easy to clean (more like a printed mat than a plush rug), but they look decent. No one is going to mistake them for a $$$ vintage wool rug, but my $$$ wool rugs from Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware were ruined by dogs, so I think the Loloi rugs are a good compromise. This is the rug I have (the terra cotta one below), but they also make a lot of different patterns and some come in pale colors — just search Loloi on Amazon. A lot of designers like Studio McGee and Joanna Gaines have collections with Loloi (the pale rug below is Joanna Gaines/Magnolia Home) but they are much cheaper on Amazon than from Loloi. (I paid $150 for a 7.5 x 9.5 and $70 for a 5 x 7.5, looks like they are now $180 & $90.) Ruggable washable rugs are another option.

[Junie]

52 minutes ago, Carrie12345 said:

I, personally, would work on finding a second favorite style that’s more pet (and toddler!) friendly. 
I say that as someone who resisted buying a decent (to my taste) couch for almost 2 decades due to grubby kids and pets. Then I gave in because kids were older, most pets had passed, and remaining cat seemed under control. 
Said cat destroyed my couch and then died about 3 years later. I was so close to keeping a nice couch!

Also, tiny dog did used to piddle on my (non-shag) cream rug. Thoroughly cleaned, zero smell, but I swear I can see faint stains even if some people swear they can’t. 

Anyway, I’m on team easy-care/expect destruction.

This.

[Scarlett]

We got a good leather sectional because of the dog.  I think it will hold up to her.  It would also hold up to a toddler.

[mmasc]

1 hour ago, Corraleno said:

I also have an elderly dog who sometimes pees in the house and I purposely designed my family room with that in mind. I have a white slipcovered Ikea sofa and I also put a white faux fur throw over the seat cushion, which the dog loves to curl up on. It's super easy to wash the throw, but the slipcover is also washable if he gets that dirty.

For rugs, I bought a couple of Loloi printed rugs from Amazon. They're cheap and easy to clean (more like a printed mat than a plush rug), but they look decent. No one is going to mistake them for a $$$ vintage wool rug, but my $$$ wool rugs from Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware were ruined by dogs, so I think the Loloi rugs are a good compromise. This is the rug I have (the terra cotta one below), but they also make a lot of different patterns and some come in pale colors — just search Loloi on Amazon. A lot of designers like Studio McGee and Joanna Gaines have collections with Loloi (the pale rug below is Joanna Gaines/Magnolia Home) but they are much cheaper on Amazon than from Loloi. (I paid $150 for a 7.5 x 9.5 and $70 for a 5 x 7.5, looks like they are now $180 & $90.) Ruggable washable rugs are another option.

What easily washable faux fur throw do you have? 

[DawnM]

4 hours ago, gardenmom5 said:

I didn't allow my GSDs on the furniture.    if the dogs are allowed on the furniture, you could get blanket type covers for most of the time, then take them off if you have guests come over.

I'd also add a dog bed in the living room since your older dog wants to be in there.

 

She doesn't want to BE in there, she only wants to poop in there.  Sigh.

[DawnM]

2 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

I, personally, would work on finding a second favorite style that’s more pet (and toddler!) friendly. 
I say that as someone who resisted buying a decent (to my taste) couch for almost 2 decades due to grubby kids and pets. Then I gave in because kids were older, most pets had passed, and remaining cat seemed under control. 
Said cat destroyed my couch and then died about 3 years later. I was so close to keeping a nice couch!

Also, tiny dog did used to piddle on my (non-shag) cream rug. Thoroughly cleaned, zero smell, but I swear I can see faint stains even if some people swear they can’t. 

Anyway, I’m on team easy-care/expect destruction.

Yeah, I figure I will need an alternative.   Wondering what that should be?

[DawnM]

2 hours ago, Corraleno said:

I also have an elderly dog who sometimes pees in the house and I purposely designed my family room with that in mind. I have a white slipcovered Ikea sofa and I also put a white faux fur throw over the seat cushion, which the dog loves to curl up on. It's super easy to wash the throw, but the slipcover is also washable if he gets that dirty.

For rugs, I bought a couple of Loloi printed rugs from Amazon. They're cheap and easy to clean (more like a printed mat than a plush rug), but they look decent. No one is going to mistake them for a $$$ vintage wool rug, but my $$$ wool rugs from Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware were ruined by dogs, so I think the Loloi rugs are a good compromise. This is the rug I have (the terra cotta one below), but they also make a lot of different patterns and some come in pale colors — just search Loloi on Amazon. A lot of designers like Studio McGee and Joanna Gaines have collections with Loloi (the pale rug below is Joanna Gaines/Magnolia Home) but they are much cheaper on Amazon than from Loloi. (I paid $150 for a 7.5 x 9.5 and $70 for a 5 x 7.5, looks like they are now $180 & $90.) Ruggable washable rugs are another option.

Thanks.   I will take a look.   I like the more muted one for the look I would like to have.   

[Corraleno]

1 hour ago, mmasc said:

What easily washable faux fur throw do you have? 

I just bought cheap white throws from Target, they were $20-25. I have a couple in the family room, one on the living room sofa, and one on my bed, and the dog knows those are his "spot" if he's on a sofa or bed. They look more like sherpa than fur after washing, but for 20 bucks I can just replace them if they get ratty.

[Spryte]

Would leather work for you? We’ve been very happy with leather and dogs. Light leather, not dark.  Pottery Barn may even have some light leather, I think we sat on some while shopping there.

Ruggables and washable fur look throws here, too.

[hippymamato3]

We have Ruggable rugs. We just throw them in the washer when they need to be freshened up! 

[Tap]

Not all of the IKEA slip covers are easy to wash. I have a dark grey slip covered couch and chair (the fabric was supposed to be washable). I washed them one time in cold water and air dried them. I had to force them back on the couch and cushions. It was horrible. I was seriously expecting to rip a seam as hard as I was pulling on them. One seam is crooked because the other end of the furniture is pulling so hard, that I can't pull it back to where it belongs.  Now I only use a washcloth to get minor thing off, and use a carpet shampooer to get anything more serious. 

Edited August 22, 2021 by Tap