I think it's nice for kids to have SOME things that
they're free to treat pretty much as they like, and
SOME things that they have to treat with care.
The first category gives them freedom and opportunity
to develop creativity, as well as possibly a way
to learn on their own from their own mistakes.
The second category teaches them appropriate behaviour.

It might be nice to give a child one piece of furniture that
they're allowed to colour and paint and draw on as
much as they like. Probably not to be allowed to
cut up or destroy, though. (Though see the
Project Lab pages about letting kids take
things apart as a sort-of creative activity
http://borntoexplore.org/plab/plab.html

After the child is finished with it, it
could be repainted.

However, I don't think it's necessary for
every child to have a piece of furniture like that.
They could have other outlets for creativity
or other ways to take control of a territory:
some kids might have the freedom to arrange the
furniture in their room how they want, for
example. Or decide which shelves are for toys.

I think it's up to the parents to decide which
items of furniture, if any, need to be treated with
care and which can be coloured or destroyed
by the child. (If allowing a child to
actually take the furniture apart, there
could also be safety issues.) I think it's usually
nice to keep things in a condition where they
can eventually be given away or sold and
used by another family.

Another issue: if a child writes on something
or partially destroys it, the same child when older
might not like the destruction or even remember
doing it, and might even blame the parents for letting
them do that. With some justification, perhaps.
This may apply more to 2-year-olds destroying
things than 5-year-olds.