If your living room is the central hub of your hectic home, you know the simultaneous love and abuse that your couches and chairs see. Kids crash into them, pets jump all over the cushions, and drinks spill on the fabric almost daily. While quality and durability are the most important qualities for 91% of sofa buyers, there is no guarantee that your couches and chairs will able to survive the regular wear and tear of family life. Extend the life of your upholstered furniture with these easy tips, and you won't be buying a new sectional before you're done paying off the old one.

Provide leg support protection

The legs of your couches and recliners bear a lot of weight every day. They also take a lot of pressure when you move furniture around for cleaning or redecorating. To prevent your furniture legs from breaking off or wearing down, place furniture movers or floor protectors under each couch and chair leg. Not only do these handy sliders make it easier to move your furniture around, but they relieve the usual pressure the legs bear and make them last for much longer.

Avoid the sunlight

While you may appreciate natural light filling your living space, the fabric on your furniture does not. The sun's UV rays tend to fade upholstery in the same way that they damage your skin. Try to keep your furniture out of direct sunlight and add extra protection with blinds, shades, curtains, and windows that are designed to block UV radiation.

Use furniture slipcovers

Recliner seat covers and sofa slipcovers are the surest way to protect your furniture from damage. These covers take the daily wear and tear so that your furniture doesn't have to. They are especially useful as pet cover solutions and spill protection, as you can more easily remove recliner seat covers for regular cleaning than attempt to clean the recliner itself.

Vacuum regularly

Speaking of cleaning, something as simple as regular vacuuming can significantly extend the life of your furniture. It doesn't matter if your couch is made of leather, fabric, or always has a couch slipcover on it, you can easily protect it when you vacuum it weekly. Be sure to clean off pet hair with lint rollers before you vacuum to remove any embedded debris and to immediately wipe up spills to prevent permanent damage. It only takes a few easy steps to make your upholstered furniture last for years to come. Whether you choose to use protective methods like couch and recliner seat covers or create a regular cleaning schedule, you're taking the right steps to extend the life of your well-loved furniture.

You can get a slipcover to go on top of any recliner in your home. But to make such a cover work, you have to be cautious. You need to see how you can install it properly so it will look its best. This includes knowing how to work it around some of the tough spaces that might make it a challenge for you to get your cover installed properly. What Pieces Are There? The individual series of pieces in your slipcover set should be checked carefully. You should have individual pieces for features like a cushion, the backing and even the arms on the sides. A separate slipcover may be used for the middle part of the recliner that comes in and out. How Is the Seat Treated? The seating area that moves in and out of the recliner must be treated carefully. You might have a separate cover for this part of the recliner. In this case, you would have to pull the seat out all the way so more parts of the seat can be fully exposed. As it is open, the seat will reveal all of its backing features. You will have to fit your cover around the body of the seat so it will work its best. A cover for the seat often focuses on the top part of the seat that is visible. You would have to stretch a cover over that top area. It should be large enough to cover the seat while having enough space to support the edges of the bottom, thus keeping it all together in one simple setup. Look For Openings The openings around your slipcover set must be prepared carefully. This is especially the case for the seat. There should be enough openings to support the backing features that keep the seat together. You probably won’t have to move your cover over every single opening but it helps to at least watch for how it is designed. In most cases such a cover can include a hole on one side. This is to fit the cover around a handle you might use for moving the seat in and out. This can be helpful but it is even better if you have a handle that can be removed and put back together. That would keep the handle from being stuck and out in the open as you’re trying to get a good fit up and running. The same goes for any remote controls. A control may be linked directly to your recliner to help you move the seat out and back in. This should be flexible enough to where you can fit a slipcover around its opening but you should still try and remove it all the way first. This is just to simplify the overall process of getting it installed correctly. Be certain when looking for recliner slipcovers that you know how it is designed and that it can fit well. You must know how to get it installed properly so it will not be all that hard to use.