You're talking a solid colour linen? I would avoid it. We have a lovely floral linen that has held up well, but it is a dark busy pattern that hides the dirt. I've had natural fabric slipcovers in off white and they get grimy in no time. They were okay because you could wash it. Right now our sofa is a very light wheat colour linen. We've had it for over a year and it is fine, but if it has the colour to it not an off white.

Do you have cats? Ours loves the linen to scratch on.

Yes, I have it all over my house --- in a washable slipcover (I didn't check but washable linen may be a blend)

I've sung its praises before, but IMHO the BEST upholstery with kids is something you can Shout stains out of and wash, or even use bleach on. Dark fabrics and patterns, not so much. Plain white or off white slipcovers --- yes!

In my DS's nursery we had a sofa that was slipcovered in white linen, and in the girls' nursery we had a chair and ottoman in white linen. Here in our new house, we have a big white sectional, and another white sofa in our Itty Bitty Stonehouse on the property. We will use the fabric again in our beachhouse. Love it.

thank you both!

no cats, but i went to the store to order and discovered that the stock fabric is dry clean only! gasp! and they're not slipcover style chairs, so i had to go with something practical. that immediately put me into the custom fabric category but i got to choose exactly what i wanted.

i went with a washable microfiber in a color called hemp. we've had good luck with light washable microfibers on our sofas in the past. i'm a color person, always drawn to color but really trying to exercise restraint in the main living area of this house, so i'm feeling so proud of myself for such mature color choices. :)

the base of the chair is a very light neutral, and then the pillow is a large plaid with a warm gray base and beige/cream. it looks very ski lodgey and cozy.

bad lighting, but you get the idea. the flash just made it worse on my phone.

Maggiepie said"
" i'm a color person, always drawn to color but really trying to exercise restraint in the main living area of this house, so i'm feeling so proud of myself for such mature color choices. :) "

Can I ask why you feel the need to exercise restraint in your living room if that isn't what you are drawn too? I have a red sofa and in another room a blue sofa and bright orange chairs ... none would describe it as not mature. I'm now looking for bright colors for my master and fatigued by all the beige drab inspiration photos on houzz! Just interested to know why you felt you had to choose something you aren't naturally drawn to ...

chispa - i love the look of the modern neutrals when all put together. my issue is, if you lay 100 swatches on the table, my eye will ALWAYS go to the aqua/mint, blue, purple, icy yellow. i know what you're saying though.

however, the living room is part of a wide open great room which includes the kitchen and casual dining area where i've already incorporated some strong accent colors. i've got a lilac colored buffet, light blue backsplash, mint green decorative accents here and there, and the ceiling is going to be a medium blue.

so i guess my point was - there were a lot of fun fabrics to choose from, so it was very hard to stay focused. :)

and i've loosened the color reins in other rooms - the office is full of peacock colors!

That makes sense. Just wanted to make sure that you weren't being "pressured" to follow the trend of monochromatic rooms that has been around for a few years. On houzz I have to narrow my searches by using terms like eclectic patterns or bright colors ... and even then I get beige rooms with one teal pillow! I do draw the line for patterns/colors in the bathroom and in those I'm removing colors and going more neutral ... if you saw them you would probably agree, one looks like Christmas with red and green tiles!