My cat is a complete outlier in the countertop thing. Very early on we got him used to not get on countertops and tables. We never used a squirt bottle either just picked him up and put him down til he got it or for the vast majority it's honestly me making a sound like "uh uh". When we aren't home who knows (the cat has free range of the home and always has) BUT when we are home he does not get up on the island, counter, tables, etc. The exception is if the wreath holder box is on the table as he simply can't resist. Some local DISers can personally attest to the cat not getting up on the tables and counters. The tables we don't mind he gets on are the side tables next to the couches. They are at his level when walking on the furniture and I didn't feel that was fair to try and stop him from that. He will sit on chairs which is totally fine.
He loves to watch me do the dishes (sink and dishwasher are in the island); here's a pic of him doing that:
He will lay on the dresser (that has a mirror with it) but we're fine with that.
My mother-in-law on the other hand those cats crawl over everything. She gets mad and frustrated at the cats but she used to feed at least some of them on the counter, she doesn't shoo them off only when she has something there she doesn't want them to get into, etc so honestly the cats are just confused. One time it's okay, but the next moment it's not. They can lay on the kitchen table but not when it's game time but they don't understand that.
We do have scratching posts and our cat is fairly good at not destroying things. However, he has messed up the stairs going up the stairs. We're okay with that, the carpet was builders grade (a step up from the crappiest really) and eventually we'll replace it with much tougher carpet. The furniture has a few random strings out because of him scratching a time or two., Do expect cat scratching behavior to happen even with scratching posts and nails trimmed though those two things can minimize interest in tearing up your furniture and other stuff. If you are concerned with it you might opt for a cat that has already been declawed. I would personally not suggest declawing a cat just to own one (there are nail caps and keeping nails trimmed that can be tried first) but there are cats in shelters and in rescues that were brought into them already declawed. Also in regards to the blanket we have a few blankets that were more meant for our cat, that helps out they are fuzzy ones (cats tend to like those) and they may just make it
their blanket which could help leave other ones less desirable.
Out cat sheds (he has medium fur at the least) but we do brush him. Expect hair to be all around, it's a part of owning a pet, more a cat, unless you get a hairless one. His fur is everywhere. I grew up with dogs and cats so I'm well used to it.
Our cat is a temperamental one. He loves us and is territorial of us and his home. He doesn't really like other people but he likes to be around them to keep his eye on them. He will bat at you but almost always gives you a warning shot. By that I mean he'll bat at you without his claws first. I warn all guests he has all of his claws. For us our cat is a 1 pet household. This means at this time no other pets will be around. We accepted this and for our cat's well-being this is what it will be for the time being.
Our cat LOVES toys and at age 7 he still plays with them all the time. But my mother-in-law most of her cats have had mild interest at best in toys and pretty much don't really interact with them. One cat does love ribbon though. Also cat behaviors change over time. Our cat used to always sleep on the pillow above my head but once we moved and got an actual bedroom furniture with a headboard he stopped doing that, a few years ago he found the tub water and now it's his obsession (no really it is he's very demanding on getting that lol).
Your biggest hurdle OP may very well be adjusting to the outdoor to indoor aspect. You've already had animals in your life but you haven't had to care for one in the same sense that you would be now and indoor cats often need different things than one simply outdoors. Indoor cats may need more interaction due to boredom for example and brushing (depending on the fur) than an outdoor only cat would.
For litter boxes we have 3 now. 2 of them are rolling ones where you roll them and a grate catches it and you pull out a tray. The other one is an open one. We used to have 1 but now we have 3. It's recommended to have 1 additional litter box per cat you own. So if you own 1 cat it's recommended to have 2. We do have a water fountain. Our cat when we moved from our old house to our new one with all the stress ended up getting a bladder stone. The vet recommended a water fountain and if we would be willing to substitute one of his feedings (he was fed 3 times a day 1/4 cup each dry food) with a can of wet food as wet food has more moisture in it. So that's what we did. When we moved to this house we got a tamper proof (it requires dexterity to open the hinge to get the food and the food is dispensed via a step-ladder conveyer belt) automatic dry food feeder and that has been great for our cat.
I'd say the biggest thing is many of us can tell you how our own personal animals behave but you do have to go in expecting the cat to do this and to do that. To me it would be worse to expect a cat NOT to scratch up furniture at least some than to happen upon a cat that isn't interested in it as much, it would be worse to expect a cat NOT to get up on the tables and countertops than it would be to happen upon a cat that doesn't do that as much, etc. There are things you can do that may alleviate or lessen the interest but it's different than simply expecting it or get very angry or upset with the cat who does those things.
