Congratulations on your new baby! I know about this problem very well. The best fabrics for cat houses (I intended that...) is a hard smooth cotton chintz. Next best is cotton velvet, and then microfiber/ultrasuede. Anything coarse with a large thread is doomed. Goodbye, beautiful linen....! As noted, leather holds up well with proper care. You can use Sticky Paws double-sided adhesive strips to keep her from getting in the habit of working on the spots you most want to protect, but it may not be safe for good leather. The label will tell you. Cats like edges and corners best. Get your vet to show you how to clip her claws correctly, and then get in the habit of keeping them trimmed. She'll still need to scratch, but not with such sharpness and frequency. When you catch her scratching the wrong thing, very gently take her little feet and move her to the thing you want her to use. Some people say shout "NO!" - but I can promise you that it will only make her avoid you and not care what you want. The gentler you are with her, the more she will cooperate with what you want. And lower your standards a little bit! Cats are cats, and declawing is really ten little amputations of the last joint of their fingers. They need to scratch to work the muscles of their shoulders and front legs because they are climbing animals and need to be strong. Some cats who have been declawed are fearful and tend to bite, because they know they can't use their natural defense of climbing to escape. (Way more than you asked. It's my character flaw....)

This is a wake-up call. If you do not like to be woken-up, do not read it, for you will only get agitated. I'm not being nice here, just honest. Your premises look neglected. First of all I would put all my energy in removing the rest of the overgrowths and removing the weeds. This house would look so much better if it only had well defined pathways. The lawn needs some help (= work) too. Bohemian/Farmhouse doesn't equal sloppy. We can hardly see the house, because so much greenery is too close to it. I love pergola's, but in your case that would only add to the clutter. Your house looks half of what it could be worth. The roof looks like it could use some cleaning too. Maybe you can get another color sprayed on it, for this one is rather drab. That opens up whole new possibilities for the color(s) of the house as well. I'd go for a nice big deck, where you can place some nice farmhouse (swing) chairs. I'd place more lights from the ceiling part that's over the deck, to create a more luxurious feeling. Windowframes, doors and deck all in the same warm tone of wood would become a farmhouse real well, but with another color of the roof some more splashy color like fresh blue would become possible for all but the deck. With the roof this color: off-white is a good choice. Maybe you can whitewash the bricks? Please help the garage to a lighter color, for now it looks like the mouth of a dark and dangerous cave. I'd definitely get rid of the oversized number on the garage door. Looks like its wearing convict's clothes and that's his inmate number. Now you are either angry with me, or thankful that I pointed out some much needed things. This house and yard need upkeep, ongoing upkeep. Some decent, honest sweat.

I agree with Chris’ suggestion. I had to do some quick and cheap fix ups for an appraisal. The area around the utilitarian looking RV shelter over the parking pad made it look out of place and the grass around it just looked patchy and scruffy. My crew and I measured and marked the grassy area then used pegs and string to make a guide to dig around the concrete pad. I used cheap tarps from the hardware or dollar store and cut them to fit a 4 inch depth but you may want it deeper depending if the dogs want to dig. Dig up the area making sure the cuts I into the sod are straight — I used an edger tool (also one of my best investments for keeping things tidy) to cut along the string guide lines. Lay the tarps down and contact a local gravel yard directly because they are usually cheapest. They may be able to deliver but they will also help calculate how much you’ll need. You’ll measure depth x width x length for yardage of gravel but get Chris’ recommendation 3/4” is nice and easy on the pups paws. Once its down you can rake it into the area and it’s going to be awesome until you afford to get pavers or concrete or bricks. Good luck…PS also think about a covered porch on a larger landing so you have a good resting area for when the dogs and people come in from outside fun.

If you go for a swivel, look into one with a slipcover and a skirt that will cover the base. One of my pet peeves is swivels where you can see the ring base. Black and metal. BTW, not all swivels are alike. I had one set that NEVER stayed in place. (Rowe brand, I believe.). They would always settle into a wonky position, not at the angle that I wanted them to remain when NOT moved. They always rebounded to some strange position. Lee makes good ones that hold their position.