Originally published in Furniture/Today's April 8, 2013, print issue

Americans plan to be messy this year as stain-resistant fabrics are a must-have for consumers buying stationary sofas in 2013. That's part of the exclusive results from nearly 3,500 consumers answering a recent Furniture/Today and HGTV survey. More than six out of 10 say performance fabric is very important when shopping for new product and another 29% say it's important. Nearly one-third of consumers currently own a sofa with performance fabrics, according to data from Furniture/Today and FurnitureDealer.net. More than 2,000 people provided their thoughts on fabric last November as part of a survey posted to the American Home Furnishings Alliance's website, catalog.findyourfurniture.com. In 2012, 6.2% of all U.S. households purchased a stationary sofa, spending a combined $12.7 billion.

Last year's retail sales increased 5.3% from 2011's total of $12.1 billion. Furniture/Today and HGTV's Consumer Views Survey received responses from 3,465 U.S. consumers. The survey fielded as part of HGTV's Inspiration weekly e-newsletter. Because of the large sample size, the survey data can be projected, within this population, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.7%.

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