Cover our Couches
April 10, 2021 11:41 AM
I'm looking for information about buying covers for our Ikea sofas from third party sites. Do you have a set of covers from Bemz or Comfort Works or Soferia or Etsy or any of the other sites that create custom covers? Do you love it? Do you hate it? Was it worth the price? What was the process like? Bonus: Any Canadian companies doing this?
Our Ikea Stocksund sofa + loveseat are looking a bit shabby, we've had them for a while, and we have two hard-on-furniture kids, which means that despite the fact that they're washable, some stains won't come out. The covers we want to switch to (the blue velvet-y ones) seem permanently out of stock on Ikea, and maybe we can do better? The third party sites seem to range from Ikea prices (around $250 CAD per cover) to around $500 CAD per cover, which seems like a lot.
Choosing seems overwhelming - I'd like something soft, maybe velvet, but fairly sturdy and stain resistant. Our family voted on colours and have chosen a teal or robin's egg blue. On the texture the parents voted velvet, and the kids voted woven (or "what we have already"), so that's up in the air. Choosing from the 18 different types of fabric on each site is also overwhelming, so I'd love specific recommendations.
Our Ikea Stocksund sofa + loveseat are looking a bit shabby, we've had them for a while, and we have two hard-on-furniture kids, which means that despite the fact that they're washable, some stains won't come out. The covers we want to switch to (the blue velvet-y ones) seem permanently out of stock on Ikea, and maybe we can do better? The third party sites seem to range from Ikea prices (around $250 CAD per cover) to around $500 CAD per cover, which seems like a lot.
Choosing seems overwhelming - I'd like something soft, maybe velvet, but fairly sturdy and stain resistant. Our family voted on colours and have chosen a teal or robin's egg blue. On the texture the parents voted velvet, and the kids voted woven (or "what we have already"), so that's up in the air. Choosing from the 18 different types of fabric on each site is also overwhelming, so I'd love specific recommendations.
The Sorry Girls (Canadian diy Youtube channel)just recommended a linen Comfort Works cover that one of them bought.
posted by brilliantine at 12:33 PM on April 10, 2021
posted by brilliantine at 12:33 PM on April 10, 2021
We’ve used Bemz to recover two different IKEA sofas, and have been generally happy with the products. They fit well, are easy to put on and change, and have endless options for fabric. They’re also (depending on fabric) really sturdy, in my experience. We are a multi-pet household (where pets are allowed on the furniture) with two adult humans who are themselves not particularly precious about being gentle on furniture. I remove and wash the covers at least bi-weekly, often more frequently, and they’ve held up extremely well to abuse both by the members of our household (furry and otherwise) and to my general disregard of even moderately finicky washing instructions (I.e. I think they’re supposed to be dried on gentle, but who’s got time for that nonsense?). We’ve had the older set for about 3-4 years, and the newer set just over a year. Both still look good, though there is definitely some wear/minor fading on the older set (likely due to sitting under a big window for most of those years, and being a dark purple colour more prone to fading).
Bemz has about a million fabric choices at a variety of price points, which is super overwhelming. They’ll send you free samples of various fabrics, and I would definitely recommend doing that (even though it adds a good chunk of time to your timeline for getting new covers). We definitely found that the colours/textures we though we would like best based on photos did not prove to work best in our space, so I’m glad we spent the extra time.
Given our situation, we ended up getting a woven, pet-friendly fabric from their cheapest collection, and it is fine. Doesn’t look luxe or particularly fancy, but looks neat and cleans well and holds up well to abuse. If you don’t have pets to worry about, some of their pricier/nicer fabrics might be better for your aesthetic.
The only cons I can think of with these covers are the cost (definitely not the cheapest option on the market), and the lead time (these take several weeks to be produced and shipped, plus more if you add in the step of having fabric swatches delivered).
posted by Dorinda at 1:15 PM on April 10, 2021
Bemz has about a million fabric choices at a variety of price points, which is super overwhelming. They’ll send you free samples of various fabrics, and I would definitely recommend doing that (even though it adds a good chunk of time to your timeline for getting new covers). We definitely found that the colours/textures we though we would like best based on photos did not prove to work best in our space, so I’m glad we spent the extra time.
Given our situation, we ended up getting a woven, pet-friendly fabric from their cheapest collection, and it is fine. Doesn’t look luxe or particularly fancy, but looks neat and cleans well and holds up well to abuse. If you don’t have pets to worry about, some of their pricier/nicer fabrics might be better for your aesthetic.
The only cons I can think of with these covers are the cost (definitely not the cheapest option on the market), and the lead time (these take several weeks to be produced and shipped, plus more if you add in the step of having fabric swatches delivered).
posted by Dorinda at 1:15 PM on April 10, 2021
I've bought a series of different colors of Bemz covers for my IKEA Melby chair, most recently their "Lunda Melange" fabric (one of their "conscious"/recycled fabrics) in the color "mineral blue". I think they're great. They fit perfectly. They look really nice. You can order up to 5 fabric swatches for free, which I strongly recommend, especially if you're choosing between shades of blue (it's hard to see how green-y they are otherwise).
posted by unknowncommand at 1:23 PM on April 10, 2021
posted by unknowncommand at 1:23 PM on April 10, 2021
Potato Skins on Yonge Street in Toronto might be useful.
posted by dobbs at 2:57 PM on April 10, 2021
posted by dobbs at 2:57 PM on April 10, 2021
I am a big fan of Comfort Works. Way better quality than the covers that IKEA sells and will make your sofa look like a million bucks! They are expensive and take a while to arrive but I've been very happy with the cover I have.
posted by joan_holloway at 8:40 PM on April 10, 2021
posted by joan_holloway at 8:40 PM on April 10, 2021
We have a cover from LindaKale. Our total was 240 USD delivered to Canada. It's absolutely fine, all the zippers work, it fits really nicely, the back pillows do shift in it a little bit (ie the piping migrates down a little), but this happened with the ikea cover too. We got the teal velvet (send me a message if you'd like to see a few photos or have questions!), it was pretty much exactly what I expected from the thumbnail. It took about five weeks to arrive.
We have the synthetic velvet and got it when our baby was about 2 months old so it has SEEN SOME THINGS in the 8 or so months since we got it and it still looks good as new. I spilled a full latte on it and was able to wipe it off with a damp cloth and you literally cannot tell that liquid ever touched it. We also have two very couch-happy pets and the velvet is so great for getting fur off. I don't think I'd ever go back to woven. I also think I read this on the instagram @joyspotting, but velvet ages into soft old velvet, a lot of wovens age into worn out looking furniture (ie pulled strings, stains, tears).
posted by Sweetchrysanthemum at 4:06 PM on April 11, 2021
We have the synthetic velvet and got it when our baby was about 2 months old so it has SEEN SOME THINGS in the 8 or so months since we got it and it still looks good as new. I spilled a full latte on it and was able to wipe it off with a damp cloth and you literally cannot tell that liquid ever touched it. We also have two very couch-happy pets and the velvet is so great for getting fur off. I don't think I'd ever go back to woven. I also think I read this on the instagram @joyspotting, but velvet ages into soft old velvet, a lot of wovens age into worn out looking furniture (ie pulled strings, stains, tears).
posted by Sweetchrysanthemum at 4:06 PM on April 11, 2021
Hi! I'm marking all as Best Answer, because these answers are great! I've gone ahead and ordered swatches from all the places mentioned, and in 4 to 6 weeks when they arrive we will figure out if we can stick with the lower budget materials, or if the expensive ones are worth it for us. Thank you! I will try to update in a few months, once we have teal velvet sofas.
posted by Valancy Rachel at 10:00 AM on April 17, 2021
posted by Valancy Rachel at 10:00 AM on April 17, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
I've washed them in the machine and they came out great. They fit perfectly. The color and fabric is really nice. (Kino Denim) At least as of 6 years ago you could order fabric swatches. I found those really helpful.
The way they wore out is by pilling/getting fuzzy around the corners.
So it just depends on if you think lasting 6 years is worth the cost. Good luck!
posted by thatone at 12:13 PM on April 10, 2021