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Outdoor fabric, like Sunbrella (though there are other brands), is pretty easy to clean off. It comes in a lot of different patterns and solids so you could easily find something that works for both your decor and your cats. Microfiber/microsuede is another option, though probably much more expensive.

My couch is chenille and it's pretty easy to clean (with a vacuum attachment). You can never get every little hair, but that's just part of living with pets.

I'll tell you what doesn't work—dark blue velvet. What was I thinking when I bought that sofa?

unless your cats are declawed or you're really good about trimming their nails, do *not* do leather. cat hair comes off no problem, but that doesn't really matter when the leather is all torn up (seriously, we didn't cut their nails for one week and the cats went to town on the chair!). much better to vacuum/use a lint brush the sofa every now and again. i've heard lots of recommendations for microfiber, too, but don't have any experience with it.

I love my microfiber couch. Dog hair doesn't stick to it and no cat could scratch it up -- the gal who sold it to me tried to scratch the crap out of it with a wire brush -- no damage!

I have two cats, one of which I adore. He's a Maine Coon (or as close as a shelter kitty can get). I rely on Static Guard and daily brushing with a FURminator to keep loose cat hair in check.

Finally gave up and got a leather sofa, which has been great. The other sofa is microfiber, which is definitely as close to pet proof as you can get. One tip: remove pet hair by donning those rubber dishwashing gloves (the ones with raised bumps on the palms work best) and run your hands over the upholstery--like magic. Much more effective than vacuuming. Even works on blue velvet, judes (we have a midnight blue velvet chair too).

Buy furniture the same color as your pet.

Mohair.
Cats hate mohair.

I have a mohair throw and my black kiddies love it. I use slightly damp hands to get the cat fur off my white bed covers, blue chairs, tan window seats, etc. I had a sponge from BB&B that probably didn't work as well as the rubber gloves (or glubs, as my friend's mom called them).

I have five cats and leather furniture in three rooms. Works okay for me (husband hates it). But then he doesn't do much cleaning so I picked the furniture this time.

judes, you were thinking the same thing I was when I got a brown velvet sofa with two golden retrievers. Not thinking at all! Argh!

Crypton Super fabrics (cryptonfabrics.com) are commercial grade and clean up easily. Dog hair does not "stick" to their microfiber.

My kitties love to sit on fabric upholstery and I have just resigned myself to using a washable throw over the back of their favorite chair. We used to sell an extra yard of fabric to people ordering custom upholstery so they could lay it over the cushion that the cat sits on. FYI this sometimes causes the cat to vomit on the adjacent cushion.

You can't train a cat, you can only cater to her instincts. Good Luck!

Try a distressed ( soft ) leather. Our cats do not like to scratch the leather- I think it reminds them of skin... so they will sit on it/jump off of it/ but not do the stretch and penetrate number with their claws. Cleans up well too.

Oh flesh furniture!

We don't currently have any leather furniture but when we did, cats and dogs both avoided it like the plague and preferred the upholstered pieces or the rug. I didn't like sitting on the stuff much myself...

We had chocolate brown ultrasuede upholstery, and..then we got a kitty. Lord.

Eventually we recovered in a silk dupioni, and for some reason the hair doesn't stick to it at all. I've never heard silk would repel animal hair, but it seems to work for us.

I haven`t found a fabric, that does not attract to cat hair in a way so I decideed to get something washable.
We have white linen slipcovers and a greybrown fluffy tabby that spend hours on the sofa.

I hover it once a week and every second week I wash the slipcovers and use my other slipcover. This is a little bit time consuming, but the best way to cope with all the hair.

A few years ago I reupholstered my sofa, and before I picked a fabric I brought home a ton of palm-sized swatches and used them to pet my cats with. It also gave me a chance to see how easily they would clean up. It was very easy to tell which were going to work well for me in the long run. Also, since both cats are black, I chose a simple black upholstery fabric that had the look of chenille but was more heavy duty. Wish I could remember the name. Good luck with your project!

kiddo that's a great idea!
I have a couch with a black blankety slipcover which I wash when I have time. otherwise I just put up with it. One of my cats is a calico, so no matter what color is on anything, she can get fur on it that shows.

Some cats like leather and some don't it seems... unfortunately it's impossible to tell until you take the piece home. I suppose you could take your cats to visit someone else's leather furniture, but most people probably wouldn't appreciate that. ;)

I have heard good things about Crypton Fabrics too from various sources, and finally a friend got it and *loves* it. I'm going to try it as soon as I can.

I have microfiber. They don't photograph well and they're not particularly pretty, but we never have problems with cat hair sticking to them and if a cat does happen to yack on one of the cushions, it's a snap to clean up.