My dog likes to move around. We had a crate when we first got him, but he rarely used it. We now have a bed for him in our family room and our bedroom, but again, he sometimes uses them but more often than not, he sleeps on the floor. Right now he is laying on the wood floor in the kitchen. When no one is home, he lays on the landing of our stairs, which are carpeted, with his back against the stair. When people are home, he is usually in the room where people are - in the middle of the family room floor or under the coffee table. Lately, when I'm on my computer in the living room, he lays in between two side chairs on the wood floor. At night, he always slept on dh's side of the bed, *next to* his own bed instead of on top of it (occasionally he'd sleep on it, but more often than not, right next to dh instead). When dh travels, he often hops up on the bed and sleeps at the foot of the bed on dh's side - I try to dissuade this since he is a 100 lb lab, but sometimes it's comforting! However, about three weeks ago, he started sleeping UNDER the bed on my side. Our bed is quite high, and I store rubbermaid bins of my kids' clothes underneath, but I'd removed one recently and he discovered a little spot there. It's hilarious to see his huge body snuggled under there with a foot poking out and even funnier to seem him positioning himself under there at night. I don't know what made him decide to start sleeping there, but it's so cute to me. And makes me feel that he's sort of bonding with me now that he sleeps on my side instead of dh's! Not that any of this answers your question, but I understand where you are coming from! The chairs in my living room have similar off white cotton duck slipcovers so when he lays between them, his black fur gets all over them. Thankfully, he doesn't lay there that often. Hope you find a good solution.

Hi juddgirl: You can search under "french" or "shabby chic" or "victorian" or "provincial". I always search under "chair" LOL - though that would bring up 1000 listings :-) I found this listing which looks similar to the one you are looking for. I actually think the legs/base on this one is better looking, the scallop is very cute :-) Plus it has a super cute ottoman! You can get linen in down town LA for so much less than CC. My upholsterer quote me a/b 200-250$/slipcover so you can get a slipcover made for less than 500. HTH. Here is a link that might be useful: link

I will have to come back and read all of the tips. I, too, own white Ektorps (everything-- 2 chairs, sofa, and loveseat). I have 5 kids and 2 cats (but cats don't really count, do they?). It does get dirty and, even with bleach or Oxyclean, I can't get all of the stains out. My kids eat only in the DR or kitchen (not because of the sofas, but because eating all over the house means way too much work for me) and we do not wear shoes in the house, but dirt happens. It IS a lot of work to change them. The washing isn't bad . . .just the putting on and off (esp. the on, even though I leave it a little damp). What I do is have 2 sets, so I wash one set slowly (at my leisure) but the sofa is always covered. No way would I wash every week! But, DH and I still think this is the best option. He hates leather (the feeling) and I feel a little iffy about it (I've been a vegetarians for decades), plus the cats' claws would scratch it. We see how disgustingly dirty the white gets from just BODY DIRT (I'm not even talking food!). Yuck. So, I like the fact that they are actually clean, even though they may not be spotless. DH wants to replace them when the kids get older, but frankly, guests have put more spots on the sofas then the kids . . . Oh, and the nice thing about the white covers is that they are truly cheap. I still cannot figure out how a sofa cover is only $49. So, if the stains get bad enough, I'll get another set. I used to use matelasse coverlets on them, too, but it ended up getting messed up too often, so I stopped.

Prewash & dry the fabric a couple times, it can continue to shrink after just one time. When you iron the fabric try not to stretch it, i.e. don't iron across the bias. When I wash many yards of fabric I place the ironing board next to the bed so the excess can rest on the bed and not on the floor. Go with lighter weight fabric not heavy upholstery. If you have the time make a trial one first out of cheap muslin fabric before you proceed to more expensive fabric. For your first attempt at slipcovers maybe you shouldn't even attempt welting, that can make the layers so thick at the corners your machine may go out of alignment trying to sew it all together. I haven't made slipcovers but I've made quilted handbags with welting and it ruined my machine, even after service it's still not back to normal and I'll have to bring it back for more extensive and expensive repairs. You don't need to use a serger but you should at least overlock the seams with your sewing machine. I just had a pair of chair slipcovers made and the seamstress didn't use a serger or bother to overlock and the first time I washed it the seams unraveled something awful. I spent 2 hours angrily trimming them with scissors. Now I have to overlock it myself if I want to wash these again. The fabric (100% hemp) was heavy and prone to unravel. The other mistake she made was to make the slipcover too tight. I ripped seams trying to get it back on the chair. I hope you're comfortable sewing zippers too, a good slipcover will have a zipper. Nicole, your slipcovers look amazing! You must be an experience sewer. I'd like to try my hand at slipcovers one day but I think I'll start with an ottoman cover. ;-)