July 2016 - Comfort Works Blog & Sofa Resources

Hacking the Ghost Sofa with the Ikea Soderhamn sofa Part 1 of 2: The Idea

Posted on July 30, 2016April 28, 2025 by Felicia

Ever since the Ghost sofa collection was showcased at the Salone del Mobile, Milan in 2004, it’s been a cult success and an international bestseller. Designed by Paola Navone for the family-owned Italian furniture makers Gervasoni, it was meant to be an unconventional textile project that challenged the traditional sofa styles of wide armrests and practical cushions.

Even more than 10 years since it was first introduced, the concept behind the design is more relevant than ever. There have been a couple of similar designs remade by a few major furniture companies but the idea remains the same, hence the sofa’s elevation into the cult classic status. And like all cult items, they don’t come cheap. According to our research, the Ghost 12 sofa retails online starting from €2448 on AmbienteDirect.com (about US$2715 according to today’s exchange rate) for a 3-seater sofa although there seem to be quite a few different distributors out there.

What is it about the Ghost Sofa?

Ghost sofa by Paola Navone for Gervasoni

“Ghost”, depending on your interpretation, may refer to how the sofa is visually light. There are no bulky armrests, no obvious seat or back cushions. It’s just the upholstered sofa frame covered with a light, wrinkly slipcover with a pile of throw pillows that serve as back cushions. The arms are skinny and there are fairly evident seams along the armrests and backrest, almost like it’s sewn inside out.

Additionally the slipcover seems to be wrinkled on purpose, and seeing some of the images makes me want to plug in the iron and steam out all the wrinkles. The signature images are also an extremely impractical white linen – clearly this isn’t meant to be for homes with pets, toddlers or even clumsy adults!

Clean, classic white slipcovers on the Ghost sofa

To summarise the sofa’s features:

White, wrinkly slipcover for the sofa frame, floor-length
Thin, straight armrests and backrest
Throw pillows instead of back and seat cushions
Inverted seams where possible

The Idea is Spawned

You know how you dine out sometimes and when you taste the dish you ordered, then you think to yourself, “I can make this myself at home for half the price.”?

We (the team at Comfort Works) thought the exact same thing. As people in the slipcover business, we like slipcovered things. Slipcovered chairs, slipcovered sofas, slipcovered benches. But let’s face it, the real Ghost sofa is probably out of reach for my Ikea, Target and Kmart-loving bank account, so like every DIY-er out there, I set out to make do with what we have.

Considering our successes with creating custom slipcovers from scratch, I knew the jackpot had been struck during a leisurely afternoon stroll at our local Ikea showroom. Every once in a while we hit up Ikea to explore their showrooms, check out the new products and of course, eat a plateful of Swedish meatballs followed by their fabulous soft serve ice cream.

The Ikea Soderhamn sofa is one of my favourites. With its snugly fitting slipcovers and modular design, its rise to popularity is mainly because of its contemporary design and flexibility to fit most spaces. Of course, its price point is pretty great as well, starting from AU$179 for the one-seat section to AU$549 for a three-seat section.

Let’s look at the Ikea Soderhamn 3-seat sofa:

Ikea Soderhamn 3-seat sofa

If I could just swap out the rectangular back cushions for square throw pillows, it’s one step closer to the Ghost sofa style and look, it’s got skinny armrests! All I’d need is the frame slipcover and… wait a second.

Upon closer inspection, the armrests for the 3-seat sofa are actually shorter than the front base. It’s probably a design feature but it’s such a wet towel on our grand plans because the sharp, clean lines of the Ghost sofa can’t be achieved if the base juts out from the sides.

Fortunately, all is not lost, because we found the Soderhamn Corner Section:

Ikea Soderhamn Corner Section

Do you see it? The skinny backrests are nicely aligned with the base!

So logically if we put two corner sections next to each other, and rotate one 90 degrees clockwise, secure them together, we’ll have a basic sofa frame featuring a flat base for the seat and thin armrests and backrest. Add a custom slipcover and a few throw pillows and maybe we’ll get close to that Euro-chic Ghost sofa look.

So here’s the Plan:

Step One: Assemble 2 Soderhamn corner sections (check!)

Step Two: Measure and make a custom slipcover for the 2 corner sections

Step Three: ?????

Step Four: Success!

Ready for Part 2?

Check out how we created a custom slipcover for the 2 Soderhamn corner sections in ‘our’ signature Ghost sofa style.

Image credits: Gervasoni and Ikea

Long skirted Kramfors? In my living room?!

Posted on July 22, 2016April 28, 2025 by Chris

It’s more common than you think.

Or it could be, if you wanted it to be ;)

We’ve been putting in some time at the Skunkworks and we’ve come up with an improvement on our covers for IKEA’s discontinued Kramfors. If you’ve forgotten what our Kramfors sofa covers look like, here’s a ‘fresher:

But what if you could change the snug fit style? Would it look like a whole new sofa? Could it grow wings and sing?

Well, the answer to the latter is no, unfortunately. But we’re happy to report a resounding yes to the first two questions!

It isn’t a complete make-over, but if you threw in some piping (in a contrasting or matching fabric) or possibly even some pleats, this would look nothing like the Kramfors.

Interested? Get in touch with us now: sales@comfortworks.com.au

Pottery Barn PB Basic vs PB Comfort – Small differences!

Posted on July 16, 2016April 28, 2025 by Chuck

Two of the most popular Pottery Barn sofas to date are also the most similar looking, so what’s the difference?

First and foremost, the PB Comfort sofa in question here is more specifically known as the PB Comfort Roll arm sofa – the PB Comfort Square arm easily distinguishes itself from the Roll arm as you can see in the two images that follow:

PB Comfort Square Arm Sofa

Both are of course, slipcovered versions so you’ll notice that they have the long skirt that flares out slightly – creating a more relaxed look overall.

Check out how the Pottery Barn PB Basic Slipcovered Sofa looks like:
PB Basic Slipcovered Sofa

PB Basic vs PB Comfort Sofa

From the above images, it’s easy to see that the sofas can be differentiated by the number of seat and back cushions firstly: Basic has 3 while Comfort has 2.

Secondly, the next most obvious difference would be the pleats. The PB Comfort are only pleated at the corners while the PB Basic has pleats which leave a vertical gap which falls beautifully between each seat cushion – giving it the illusion of continuity.

With the sofas, it’s actually quite straightforward – so let’s move on.

PB Basic vs PB Comfort Loveseat

It’s slightly trickier with the PB Basic and Comfort Loveseats, because they’re on equal footing now with the same number of seat and back cushions.

Having said that though, the pleating differences still apply: the PB Basic Loveseat would have a vertical gap right smack in the middle where the PB Comfort Loveseat is still clean with pleats only at the corners.

Check them out:
PB Basic Loveseat

PB Comfort Loveseat

PB Basic vs PB Comfort Armchair

With the best saved for last, the most difficult to tell apart would be the PB Basic and Comfort Armchair.

For starters, the pleats are at exactly the same places – the corners.

What next?

Take note of the piping around the armrests – do you see it?

It’s incredibly subtle, but here’s a closer look:
Basic vs Comfort Armrest

The armrests of the Basic is a lot more tapered compared to the Comfort, and you can see that PB Comfort Armrests are slightly more skewed outwards.

Final Summation

The PB Basic and Comfort Sofas are actually quite different, while the PB Basic Loveseat and Armchair are fairly similar to its PB Comfort counterparts.

However, it’s actually easy to tell the difference between the Pottery Barn Basic and Comfort simply by looking at the shape of the armrests. If the shape pretty much resembles a magnifying glass – then you know it’s the Pottery Barn PB Basic :)

Hopefully this was another mystery solved once again – what sofa model(s) should we do next?

Don’t forget to check out the differences between the Pottery Barn PB Basic Sofa vs IKEA Ektorp 3 seater sofa!

Images courtesy of Potterybarn.com

Differences between IKEA Angby and IKEA Ektorp sofas: A review

Posted on July 2, 2016April 28, 2025 by Chris

What’s the difference between the IKEA Angby and IKEA Ektorp? They look similar, so how do you tell which model you have? It’s easy :)

Behold before you, the Angby 3 seater, vs the Ektorp 3 seater. Both are slipcoverable, round arm sofas with a long skirt style sofa cover. Quite similar looking, no?

The Angby is the younger brother of the Ektorp sofa line. It’s one of IKEA’s discontinued slipcover-able sofas, having hit the grave in 2003, unlike the Ektorp which is still in stores worldwide. The Angby comes in 4 models, the 3 seater, 2 seater, armchair, and 2 seat sofa bed. The Ektorp however, has about 14 different models, including sectionals, footstools and chaise. Just like the Angby, the IKEA Ektorp slipcover is classy and simple to keep clean.

But let’s talk about the easy differences.

Spotted them? That’s right, the discontinued Angby sofa cover’s skirt is long, but cheekily shows off the gorgeous wooden legs. Unlike the Ektorp’s pleated skirt, Angby has chosen a simple unpleated style. The arms are also plain on the Angby, with none of Ektorp’s matching piping to be found. A subtler difference would be how thick and round the Ektorp’s arms are compared to the Angby.

Here’s a close up of both arms so you can see the differences in curvature, piping, and size. By the way, this photo is of our armrest protectors for sofas in a very fetching Shire (wool) Teal.

Now something easier:

To get the easiest way to identify your sofa, simply measure the width of the sofa, under the seat cushions, on the frame and between the armrests. The following measurements are in cm.

	Angby	Ektorp
3 Seater Sofa	175	168
2 Seater Sofa	119	132
Armchair	76	58

And that concludes our simple guide to determining the difference between an Angby and an Ektorp. Hope this helped you out, and I leave you now with a little bit of eye candy.

Think of what YOUR sofa could be like ;)