According to a recent poll by home insurance company esure, the prize possession of most homes – the sofa – endures some heavy abuse in its lifetime, which apparently averages only 8 years, 1 month, and 8 days. Here are some amusing and insightful facts from their poll of 3,000 homeowners…

The average sofa will witness 293 arguments, 1,300 cuddles, and suffer over 1,600 spillages in its lifetime.

The most comfortable seat in the house will also host the bums of up to 782 visitors and tolerate 391 lads’ nights and 293 girly nights.

It will also be a bed for up to 489 visitors and be slept on by one member of the household for 293 nights due to a heated domestic spat.

In addition, couples who own the sofa will use it to kiss each other 12 times a month and cuddle up 14 times a month – that’s 1,174 kisses and 1,369 cuddles over the sofa’s lifetime.

The study also found that the sofa is home to its residents for an average of four hours per day.

It also emerged that the average child will lose approximately four toys a month down the back of the sofa and lose three socks or other random items of clothing.

Owners will also find money inside the sofa three time a month, totaling about 60 pence on each occasion – that’s the equivalent of £1.80 a month and £176.04 over the sofa’s lifetime.

Unfortunately for the sofa, and its upholstery, spillages are common in most households – the average sofa has wine spilt on it fortnightly and tea or coffee three times a week.

In addition, children will drop food and drink on the sofa three times a fortnight or 72 times a year, and even their parents will spill some of their dinner on the sofa six times a month.

That’s a staggering total of 1,663 spillages over the sofa’s lifetime – and yet 87 percent of respondents wouldn’t consider getting their sofa cleaned or re-covered.

The poll also showed the average sofa puts up with children jumping up and down on it 587 times during its lifetime.

It seats residents for 13 TV dinners a month, and homeowners snuggle up on the sofa for 1,271 soap operas and 782 films.

Here in the LDG office, we can’t help feeling our sofas are getting off lightly!