Couch | Pillows | Top Rug (machine-washable) | Bottom Rug
Alright, so fiiiiiiine, the white family-room couch wasn’t my smartest-ever purchase. I rationalized it because a) it’s Ikea, and that’s where my budget tapped out, b) there was only one Ikea style that I really liked, and c) that one style only came in dark grey (too dark), pink (too pink), turquoise (just no) and – yes – white.
But I figured we’d be able to collectively hold it together for at least the minimum of two years that I feel like you should be able to get out of an Ikea sofa. …Right?
Wrong.
And it wasn’t the kids who killed the sofa. It was me. What can I say? This couch apparently exerts a powerful gravitational pull on my coffee. And I’ve been hauling off those cushion covers to wash them every couple of weeks, but – and if you have one of these couches, you feel me – putting the things back on is basically a full-time job. It is the actual worst, and I no longer have time in my life for such dilly-dallying.
Anyway, when I first posted a pic of this couch over on IG, reader Natalie commented saying that she had the same couch, and that she’d had it recovered in faux leather by a company called Comfort Works. I went on their site to check them out, and they’re more or less a dream come true: They make covers for popular couches from all the major brands (and custom versions, if your couch is more obscurely-sourced), and have bajagillions of different fabric options.
How the site works:
- You find your couch;
- You pick out a bunch of colors and fabrics you like;
- You get sent swatches so you can see those colors and fabrics in person before making your selection;
- You order your covers, and bask in the glory of having a new couch without having to actually buy a new couch.
I’m currently on Step 3 (pictured above), so I wanted to get your opinion.
My first thought was to choose a shade from Comfort Works’ Madison collection – a substantial-feeling but super-soft cotton that comes in really pretty, soft colors (I’m partial to the dove grey, although the pink is lovely too, and not too pink).
…And then I thought, you know, maybe get a little nutty with it and go full emerald velvet.
But then I remembered that if there is one thing velvet is not, it is amenable to stains. And while I’m OK with recovering a couch once, recovering it twice is not happening.
And then finally I checked out the faux leather covers, and remembered that I have always not-so-secretly coveted a caramel leather couch a la Restoration hardware, but that such a couch has never, ever been even close to being within my budget. And I remembered that Natalie said that she had the faux leather covers, and that they felt totally like the real thing. And then I looked at my caramel faux leather sample, which totally did feel real, and tried it out in a sunny spot and a shady spot…
And now I’m thinking faux caramel leather FTW.
But I’m curious what you think?? Which one would you go for, were you also the owner of a white Ikea couch with similarly disastrous coffee-related tendencies?
