Yeah, I'd vote no on the declawing, just because my philosophy on pets is that people shouldn't have them for the sake of convenience (and conversely, people shouldn't dump them/remove claws because they become inconvenient). They should be cared for as animal companions, not entertainment items. If the furniture is more important than your cat, then that's an issue of priorities (and/or boundaries with the cat; block it from going into the room with the nice couches).
We had cats all throughout my childhood, and they were indoor/outdoor. Our couches never suffered because the cats did most of their claw-business outdoors (sharpening, hunting, climbing, etc)... by the time they came inside, they just wanted to eat and sleep. In any case, the couches were old and it didn't matter much what the cats did to them... it wasn't enough to notice.
Ours was a rough-and-tumble house with plenty of pets and nothing too expensive to be broken/shredded.
If I had a fancy house now, I wouldn't keep a pet that might be destructive (get a fish! or a hamster, jeesh).