Sofas - Slipcover and leather questions

12 years ago

For those of you with slipcovered sofas in high traffic areas (like family room), can you tell me - do the slips tend to fit well and stay in place, or are they constantly being pulled to one side, sagging, etc? I am talking about relatively inexpensive sofas and slips (think Ikea.) I am considering replacing our trashed upholstered sofas with inexpensive slipcovered pieces. I don't mind the hassle of removing, washing, and replacing the slips when they get dirty, but ill-fitting slips would be a real drag. My other option is to replace with relatively good quality leather sofas. My kids are at an age now where they won't do much damage to any furniture, but there are the cats and dog to think about and I'd hate to spend a lot of money on new leather only to have the cats use it as a scratching post. I appreciate your input!

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Comments (6)

canadianmiss
12 years ago
I have the Ektorp corner sofa, 2 chairs, the Karlstad sofa and 2 chairs and 2 Jenny Lund chairs. LOL..I guess that makes me a slipcover expert! Add to the mix 3 kids, 2 dogs and a cat..I find the Ektorp slipcovers fit great! So simple to slip on and off to wash and not alot of fussing with the fit. The Karlstad is a pain because you have to take apart the whole sofa to remove cover, blech.

Hope this helps!
Melissa
victoriajane
Original Author
12 years ago
Yes that helps - thanks! I am going to look at those sofas at Ikea today. I've never had a real slipcovered sofa; we once had an upholstered sofa that we put a slipcover on because the upholstered fabric was faded and didn't match our decor...I found I was constantly straightening and smoothing the slipcover, tucking it back in, etc, it always looked sloppy and it drove me crazy. But I guess with a sofa that comes with a slipcover that is designed for it, you wouldn't have the same fit issues, right?
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Pretty sofa! And that is a small room. I'm sorry I can't offer any advice on layout. I struggle with that myself. I'm definitely challenged in the decorating department. I'm sure others will help you out. As far as cleaning your leather, there are many online resources that can help you. First of all you need to know what grade of leather you have. Full grain would be the top of the line, with varying grades down to bicast leather. Have you tried calling this company you linked to see what grade this is? Is there a tag on the furniture? I have had a full grain leather sofa, love seat. chair, and ottoman for about 20 years and it looks better now than when I bought it. (yeah, I know...matchey-matchey is a no-no) They say you shouldn't have full grain with children, but we have pets and grandchildren, and we have not been especially careful with it. Our leather furniture is not shiney, and is super soft. LOVE IT! The most comfortable seating ever! I clean with mild soap and water if something gets spilled, and occasionally rub it down with saddle soap. Don't know if that's an approved cleaning method, but it looks great after all these years. Here is a link that might be useful: How to clean leather furniture
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Unfortunately, the answer is in training the cats, preferably from when they are very young, but they aren't too old yet. Cats respond to loud noises, but they don't learn the way dogs do, with negative reinforcement or being told not to do something or being yelled at. They learn from positive reinforcement. You might want try a book called "how to get your cat do what you want". Its available from Amazon. Its going to be difficult with that many cats to train them all well at the same time, as all will have different personalities. Cats need to scratch. You would have to be comitted and determined to do it. What worked for me was cardboard scratchers in each main room, a cat scratcher I made myself out of similar fabric to the sofa so she had an acceptable place to get the same sensation, and positive reinforcement. If she went for the sofa I would nicely pick her up and place her at the scratcher, and tell her what a good girl she was every time she used the right one. Occasionally if I was ignoring her, she would go for the couch to get my attention. I made sure she didn't get whatever she was looking for so as not to reinforce the act, but place her nicely on her scratcher again, and only get her what she wanted (food, toy, attention, whatever) if she used the scratchers. She is now 11 years old, I still tell her she is a good girl sometimes when she uses them, and she never touches the furniture. She is a playful, active short hair with some real attitude, not a sleepy lap cat at all, but I could have chintz furniture if I wanted. By the way, the marbles in a can might work, but you would have to leave them on the arms of the chair when you go to work so they fall off and scare them if they start scratching, even when you are gone. Otherwise, they don't learn not to scratch the sofa, they learn not to do it when you are around. :) Declawing is major surgery and very painful, the equivalent of having your nails surgically removed and alters the way they walk, and causes changes to the bones in the legs over time. It is preferable to euthanasia if that is the only other option, but is not a small thing. How did you end up with 5 cats not trained not to claw the furniture, without resigning yourself to many years of shredded furniture? A very sturdy microfiber is what I have found to most resistant, but 5 cats with sharp claws can shred ANYTHING if they want to and are given the chance. But you would have to pay more than 500.00 for even a nice sturdy microfiber, so at that price go for it, and do what you can to keep them from using it as a scratching post. Sue
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runninginplace
12 years ago
I looked at the IKEA slipcovered sofas, but thought they seemed skimpy and not quite what I wanted for my LR. I ended up getting a leather sofa and have to say it's one of the best things I've done as far as easy to maintain decorating!

We've got two cats, and they haven't done any damage other than a couple of very minor scratches. I guess this is a highly variable factor though. I love that they are easy to keep clean and that they seem pretty indestructible.

Good luck, either options seems like it will be nice.

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emagineer
12 years ago
Look at JC Penny Linden collection. I don't have their couch, but have bought two slipcovers and they fit great. Heavy duty fabric, made well. All are on sale right now with a 10% off.

Also Ballard Designs. I have a tailored chaise slipcover. Their offerings are wide ranged for styles. A link to their slipcovers is below.

Here is a link that might be useful: slipcover selections
victoriajane
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks, emagineer! I am leaning very strongly toward slipcovered right now for cleanliness. Sadly, my family is just too messy for upholstery. And while I'd love a leather sofa, it's probably too risky with the pets, especially as we are likely adding a puppy to the menagerie soon. Unfortunately, I checked out Ikea and the sofas were all way too shallow for me; I want nice deep cushions. PB and RH are a bit out of the budget so I will be checking out the sofas on your links. Does Ballard have any kind of showroom or is it all purchased sight unseen? I am a little hesitant to buy seating that hasn't been test driven.
emagineer
12 years ago
MSince I don't have either Ballard or JCP furniture, it is difficult to tell you how they stand up. I measured my furniture and took a chance with their slipcovers.

Is your furniture still decent regarding cushions? If not, there are still some inexpensive couches you could try out at stores and consider adding the slipcovers. I've been known to buy bed pillows close to the right size for refurbishing, adding on top of existing foam. Enjoy the softness of feather cushions on seating.
I love my slipcovers and have washed them repeatably. They are more of a heavy denim. Spot cleaning is easy too.

Watch for sales. Both companies seem to go up and down on prices. I've lost on waiting though, a couple of covers were discontinued. You can also find them on ebay. The only thing with ebay is sometimes the cost of shipping adds up more than buying directly.

Remembering back when kids were small, slipcovers would have saved my investments. Now it is animals.

Sofas - Slipcover and leather questions

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canadianmiss

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Sofas - Slipcover and leather questions

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