Your place is so beautiful and a white slipcovered couch would be lovely. I want slipcovers, but haven't done it yet. I tend to agree with your salesperson though, I have two little couch-potato dogs and they frequently have dirty paws. I keep white matelasse coverlets tucked onto my sofa so the actual upholstery doesn't get dirty from dog-naps all day. The coverlets do start looking not so clean after a couple of weeks, sometimes more frequently in the summer. So, I just start a wash and in about 2 hours, I have a clean coverlet. (Since I use coverlets, I have extras, but perhaps you could have an extra slipcover or at least, cushion covers made, just for that purpose.)

One thing about white, you CAN use bleach, and it doesn't fade out into anything, so it seems like a safer choice to me.

Red

I just happened to see some opinions on this on a blog the other day. Some things to consider.

Here is a link that might be useful: white slipcovers

I love the slipcovered look, not so sure I would do white though. The white slipcover has been a hot topic on two blogs that I read. Yesterday, at the Inspired Room blog, Melissa had a very good post about white slipcovers. The other blog is called the Nesting Place (search for addy, I don't have it on this computer).

tina

Here is a link that might be useful: The Inspired Room blog

LOL tina, must have been posting around the same time. Same site I linked :)

I have off white slipcovered furniture. I live in the country, 1 dog, 1 cat, 1 teenage boy, and 1 messy husband. Plus run a business from my home, and have many men that work for us coming in and out. That being said: I love the look but be prepared to do frequent laundring if you dont want them to look dirty. I was mine about every 2 or 3 days. They do wash up great. Good luck in the decision.

Thanks everyone for the comments. I think we'd have a very light load on the sofas, since we don't spend too much time at home and don't have kids/pets yet.

I told my wife that I'd agree to the white slipcovers if she promised that i would be allowed to have snacks on them and she couldn't yell at me for lounging on them. :)

How hard are they to remove/replace?

Go for it, it will look wonderful. :)

I have a white slipcovered sofa and even with kids a messy husband and a cat, I don't find I have to wash it more than every few months. I wouldn't do it again while we have kids, but if it was just me and my dh, I'd do it again in a flash. Get a darker slipcover when/ if you have kids.

I have 2 white slip covered sofas in my living room,, 2 dogs that spend the better part of the day on one sofa and a dark haired cat that loves to roll around in the dirt and then spend the day on the other sofa. The room is used as a reading room or for entertaining. It dosen't get as much use as the family room, we don't eat on the sofas unless it's a party and were nibling on snacks.

I wash the slipcovers several times a year usually before a big holiday or get together when I often will have 20 people in the room. I have never bleached them, they always come clean with a regular wash and look like new after 7 years. I think part of the reason is it's a tone on tone fabric with an almost invisible pattern. Unless you look closely the fabric just looks white. I also have an off white fabric, not bright white. It looks white unless you hold it next to a very bright white.

If I replace the sofas, I would get slipcovers again, mainly because of my loveable but often dirty pets.

i really appreciate all the thoughts and comments

thanks again everyone

I agree with Loribee. Just do it :)

I have two white slipcovered Baldwin sofas and a white chair and a half and ottoman from Arhaus. We have two daughters and two cats and they are quite easy to care for. Mine are waashable and if there is an issue in the front loader with some tide on cold and back onto the sofa they go. I love putting different colored pillows on them for each season and the room is really versitle. I have ivory bedding in my master bedroom and do the same thing with pillows there. I get bored very easilt and this was a great solution for us! Ours still look great and are VERY comfy!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Arhaus sofas

Tom, I've had two cream colored sofas in our living room for the past 17 years and love them. They're not slip-covered, just a linen-type fabric. We have kids and dogs, but don't' allow the dobie on them ;^D
Every year at Christmas we host a large gathering at our house and people do eat and drink while sitting on them. The kids were not allowed to eat or drink on them and we've only had one problem in all those years . . . when our then 3 y/o DD decided they needed "decorating" and drew all over them with a pen. We had a professional come out and they cleaned up with no residual stains. Every couple of years, I have someone come out and clean them, but the small stains that happen every now and then clean up with just water or a mild Oxyclean solution. With no kids or pets, I think you'll do fine with white slipcovers.
Lynn

How tight are your windows? I live in downtown LA, and the dust and dirt that seep in can really make everything white look dingy pretty quickly. I like white slipcovers, but even without kids, pets, and snacks, your environment can really wreak havoc with pristine white surfaces. Are you planning on an alternative color for winter? White in a white room can look chilly.

I have a barely off white sofa that is not a slipcover and I love it. We've had it for over a year now and not one spot is on it. I do have cats but don't allow them in this room. No children at home, but occassionally guests eat on it. Everyone is super careful when they are drinking red wine on a white sofa! We bought a lifetime cleaning policy on the sofa which made me feel better about the purchase.

I bought a couch with white slipcovers when my kids were about 2 and 4, and everyone thought I was nuts. But it was easy to take them off and wash them (just took a couple of loads, because we have a big chair and ottoman too.) They have been spilled on, drooled on (sleeping kids) etc. The only thing that really caused discoloration was yellowing from the sun through the southern exposure windows (now tinted.) Washing and drying them also made them seem to fit nice and tight on the cushions again - kind of spruces up the whole look.

We have since replaced them with new slip covers in a chocolate brown, but kept the white ones just in case we want to use them again. That's one great thing about slip covers: you can replace them without replacing the whole couch. They're not cheap, but we purchased through Crate and Barrel, which has a sale every September. So I would just make sure that you can purchase new ones even years from now from the same place where you're getting your couch, just in case you want to.

I have the Alexa by Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams.

I admit that I was very nervous the first time I washed the covers (you can do the cushion covers in your home machine, but probably need to wash the sofa cover in one of the extra large machines at a laundry), but they came out beautifully.

The first time I washed them, I just used All Free & Clear detergent. The second time, I used All and a small amount of OxyClean. The third time, I used All and a small amount of bleach. I now use All and bleach regularly with great results.

I have a dog and a sloppy boyfriend. I am so glad to have the slipcovers. I no longer worry about my sofa at all (which I did when I had a custom made sofa that was darker, but four times the cost of my Alexa!).

{{!gwi}}