August 2016 - Comfort Works Blog & Sofa Resources

IKEA Vallentuna sofa review: Something fishy this way comes

Posted on August 26, 2016April 28, 2025 by Chris

We review IKEA’s latest offering in the sofa world, the Vallentuna sofa. Is it the best IKEA sofa ever? Or is there something fishy in the state of Sweden?

Actually, I’m not going to waffle on: it’s kind of a mixed bag of hits and misses.

There are quite a few reasons, but first, let’s talk about the fine details. Launched in March 2016, the Vallentuna is the latest completely modular sofa series from Sweden, intended to be contemporary and modern. It’s made up of freestanding modules which can be either seating, sleeping or storage modules. Designers – Lisa Hilland, Eva Lilja Löwenhielm, and Andreas Fredriksson.

Now, let’s take a look at one of the Vallentunae.

This is the IKEA Vallentuna 3 Seat Sofa with Bed. I’m not even going to touch the low hanging fruit of the fabric; just look at that gap in the backrest and protruding centre seat. Personally, that is going to spell a lot of accidents in my future. The sleeper module is also just a single bed, so it’s not really the best for sleeping on after a night out.

You might think that the 3 seat Vallentuna is acceptable. And I’ll agree with you, it’s decent. Except for the shorter backrest / armrests and protruding seats on either corner. That’s the only downside of this piece.

But then you have this suggested configuration. At which point I just have to ask, why?

The good points

Okay okay the Vallentuna really isn’t ALL that bad.

Here are some benefits:
– It’s modular, so it could be combined and moved around to a configuration of your preference
– Cushions are firm: you don’t sink in nor are they as hard as rock.
– Setting up the sleeper was fairly easy, just pull and transform the cushion
– Fabrics come in 8 different basic colours

Apart from this though, we can’t say that it made a very good first impression between us:

Chuck: “Great concept, questionable execution”
Feli: “I couldn’t bring myself to sit on it. It looked horrible.” (editor’s note: she really did refuse to sit on it)
Chris: “It’s too small for me. Also, no real support. Those walls make you feel like you’re in a cubicle.” (co-editor note: yes he’s a bit of a tree)

So there you have it.

The overall verdict would be as follows for us:
– Design/Aesthetics: 5/10
– Practicality and Comfort: 7/10
– Price: 5/10 (Would prefer a Kivik any day)

But to each their own of course, so if you have a different opinion altogether – feel free to drop it in our comments section below.

P.S. We now have custom Vallentuna sofa covers, if you have need of them.

The stigma of products being made in China

Posted on August 20, 2016April 29, 2025 by Chuck

The preponderance of products coming in from China is becoming a globally accepted norm, yet why are consumers still sometimes irked by the “Made in China” label?

Let’s start from the beginning, the reason(s) behind China becoming the one-stop-shop for manufacturing.

Why Manufacturers move to China

The most obvious reason would be how much it costs to set up and run a company – if we were to compare between Australia or the United States against China, China is hands down the more economic option.

This includes wages, equipment, raw materials – anything that is required to run a business would cost a lot less. Not to mention:

Greater accessibility to complementary goods for production
Grants from the government for setting up a business in China

And this was why many manufacturers went to China to start their own business. But why the Stigma?

How did “Made in China” become synonymous to bad quality?

In a nutshell, it was unfortunately due to the very nature of manufacturers with bad business acumen. “High profits, low cost” was the mantra and manufacturers that came to China decided that they were willing to accept low quality products in order to keep cost to a minimum.

Needless to say, with the lack of quality control – issues would arise and one notorious example was the 2008 Chinese milk scandal.

Coupled with global media coverage, it almost felt like an overnight pandemic which everyone had to stay away from.

Understanding Quality – Made in China isn’t Bad

For the past decade, China-made products have become synonymous with bad quality and unfair work ethos – and it really shouldn’t be the case.

Aren’t the vast majority of Apple products made from China? Yet so many people around the world are still buying it. In the US alone, it’s raking in tens of millions ever year (albeit dropping) making almost every 1 in 4 American an iPhone user.

So does everything or anything made in China have to of bad quality?

Not necessarily.

Does made in China mean every manufacturing facility is a sweatshop?

Certainly not – the above shows two cases; one where a good portion of the world’s mindset is fixated on (Expectations), whereas the other shows the conditions that many factories in China actually have (Reality).

The fact of the matter is – it’s how these products are being made that make the difference, not where it is from.

The Comfort Works Production House

Our production house is nothing like the two cases earlier mentioned, and we believe there’s an increasing number of companies that are providing the best they can for their workforce.

We’re talking about unique human individuals after all with different personalities and shoe preferences:

The times have changed in which we don’t build businesses – we build people, who then build the business.

And that’s why we make sure our production team gets the best working (and living) conditions available:

Expert Pattern Making in the background Production Managers checking fabrics Fabric sample station Everybody working hard for the camera

Conclusion

Simply put, just because products are made in China doesn’t mean they’ll be of bad quality. Just because something is made in China doesn’t mean it’s cheap, either.

The product should speak for itself.

Rather than sticking to old-fashioned stigmas against items made in china, let’s be mindful about choosing ethically-sourced products instead. At the end of the day, what matters most if how its made and if its fairly priced – not which country it comes from.

With each well-made slipcover, you may rest assured (on your sofa!) that it came from the hands of our skilled employees and was made with much love and care by us, to you.

Sources:

Why is Everything in America Made in China

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/aug/16/chinese-economic-boom
http://www.statista.com/statistics/232790/forecast-of-apple-users-in-the-us/
http://www.cmswire.com/cms/enterprise-20/why-everything-is-made-in-china-what-it-means-for-us-jobs-014306.php
http://www.cnbc.com/2014/08/19/why-the-made-in-china-model-is-weakening.html

Hacking the Ghost Sofa with the Ikea Soderhamn Sofa – Part 2: The slipcover reveal

Posted on August 13, 2016April 28, 2025 by Felicia

Read part one of our Ghost Sofa Hack. To recap, we’re trying to recreate the look of the ultra-premium Ghost Sofa on an Ikea Soderhamn corner sofa, because of reasons.

In case you forgot how the original from Ghost Sofa from Gervasoni looks like, here it is again:

Ghost sofa by Paola Navone for Gervasoni

This is the sofa frame we cobbled together consisting of 2 Soderhamn corner sofas, sans the original covers and back cushions.

Since we’re pretty experienced in creating custom slipcovers (even if I have to say so myself), I just whipped out my trusty dressmaker’s measuring tape and got to work. What we need here is a sofa frame cover and a zillion throw pillows.

Referring back to the Ghost sofa image again, there is one major difference – the seat cushion. The original Ghost 12 doesn’t have a separate seat cushion (similar to the Ikea Klippan) while the Ikea Soderhamn has 2 square, flat cushions. While I’m tempted to just discard the thin seat cushions to achieve the look, the Soderhamn’s frame does not have any foam or padding in there and would be horrible to sit on, which leaves us with either creating a slipcover that would go over the seat or sacrifice the smooth look for a little comfort and make cushion covers for the seat too.

I eventually opted for the latter because we want a beautiful sofa, but it has to be practical too! Also it turns out that there is the Ghost 13, a sofabed version which has a single flat seat cushion, so we’re forgiven ;) Our fabric of choice is the famously wine-resistant Liege fabric in Eggshell, which is a lovely relaxed white linen-viscose blend.

Once the measurements had been submitted to our tailors, I waited for a couple of weeks of them to be finished off and delivered. Oh the suspense!

White on white and white may be a bit of an overkill, but it’s an absolute dream! The Soderhamn’s wide and deep seating is emphasised now that we aren’t using the original giant cushions, but it still looks fantastic and the linen makes it a perfect place for a nap on a warm afternoon.

In terms of comfort, it’s still pretty much like the original Soderhamn, with hard armrests that you won’t want to put your head on (and physically won’t be able to anyway due to the armrest height), but the deep seat depth gives you so much room to stretch out and lounge around. Currently the cushions are 42x42cm (or 16×16 inches) so if you wanted to try this yourself, you might want to get some that are larger for some height variation.

In terms of style though, I believe we did pretty well in keeping the original Ghost sofa style with the floor-length skirt and inverted or pinched seams emphasizing the clean outline of the sofa frame. I also opted to put two square seat cushions into one giant seat cushion cover hoping for a nice streamlined shape, and it worked! I also chose white linen because of the slight depth of tone that comes from the woven fibers, instead of a flat white fabric.

Price comparison:

2 Soderhamn corner sofas from Ikea: AU$700 or about US$540

Custom slipcover from Comfort Works in Liege Eggshell: US$807 (custom slipcover prices vary depending on the fabric selection and size)

Total cost: US$1347

That works out to about half the price of the Ghost 12, plus there’s the added bonus of the fun in the whole process, right? If you’re not up for it, we also offer slipcovers for the whole Ikea Soderhamn range, or else you can get a completely personalized sofa cover in the same style, just ask us!

Customised Soderhamn slipcovers

For those interested in some off-the-shelf alternatives, here are some from around the interwebs:

1) Basketweave Linen Carlier Slipcover Sofa from Anthropologie

2) Joe Deep Sofa with Arms from MCM House

3) Oasis Sofa from Crate and Barrel (possibly discontinued?)

4) Belgian Track Arm Slipcovered Sofa from Restoration Hardware

So that’s how we did it! We transformed the ever versatile Ikea Soderhamn into a fancy designer sofa, or is it not close enough? Let us know what you think in the comments.

IKEA Karlanda sofa models – Karlanda Sizes & Dimensions

Posted on August 11, 2016April 28, 2025 by Rachel Yeng

Karlanda Sectional with sofa covers in Nomad Green fabric

For those who’re wondering whether it’s the Karlanda or the Karlstad sofa they have at home, here’s a post with all the detailed measurements and dimensions of various IKEA Karlanda sofa models and sizes.

All sizes are written as Width x Depth x Height. So that’s the front widest point, the depth of the sofa armrest as well as the height from floor up to armrests. Note that these are the measurements of the Sofa and not the actual slipcovers it self. Depending on the fabric choice, the slipcovers will be sewn accordingly to accommodate fabric stretch & fitting.

IKEA Karlanda 2 seater / Loveseat

150 x 87 x 66 cm

58.5 x 33.9 x 25.75 inches

IKEA Karlanda 3 seater

208 x 87 x 66 cm

81.1 x 33.9 x 25.75 inches

IKEA Karlanda Sofa Bed

180 x 87 x 66 cm

70 1/5 x 33 4/5 x 25 3/4 inches

IKEA Karlanda Add-On Chaise

Karlanda Chaise Lounge Add-on

133 x 61 cm (Seat Cushion size)

51.8 x 23.8 inches (Seat Cushion size)

IKEA Karlanda Corner sofa 2+3 or 3 + 2

2+3 Corner Karlanda

275 x 217 x 66 cm

107 1/4 x 84 2/3 x 25 3/4 inches

3 + 2 Corner Karlanda

217 x 275 x 66 cm

84 2/3 x 107 1/4 x 25 3/4 inches

IKEA Karlanda Armchair

90 x 87 x 66 cm

35.1 x 33.93 x 25.74 inches

IKEA Karlanda Round Footstool

No image – Comfort Works does not make custom slipcovers for the Discontinued Karlanda Round Footstool.

85 x 74 x 43 cm

33.15 x 28.8 x 16.7 inches

More options on Comfort Works’ custom slipcovers can be found via the store front.

The super flexible Soderhamn corner sofa

Posted on August 5, 2016April 28, 2025 by Chris

Imagine, what can you do with a Soderhamn Corner? More than you’d think; this is how we ‘hacked’ the Soderhamn Corner piece! Turns out, it’s a transformer in disguise :)

Take a minute here, the Soderhamn corner piece looks pretty much like this:

Square and sturdy, it comes with 2 lumbar cushions, 1 throw pillow, a side rest and a back rest. Unfortunately, the side rest and back rest are not quite symmetrical as IKEA believes the corner piece will only be used in the corner of a sectional. Little do they know.

1. One-seat section

Versatile? Not really, this piece isn’t so much a hack as a simple step of logic – a corner piece and 1 seat section share the same dimensions. The corner piece is $200, and the 1 seat is $229. The covers for the 1 seat section are $29. Simply purchase a single corner piece and the cover for the 1 seat section. Replace the frame cover of the corner piece with the frame cover from the 1 seat section, and do not attach side rest. You now have a 1-seat section. With spare side rest, and bonus back pillow!

2. Soderhamn Chair

Easy! Remember the previous one-seat section? Let’s say you want a chair to go with this. Purchase another corner piece for $200, and attach the spare side rest to this new corner piece. You will have to poke holes through the frame slipcover to do this, though, but it’s pretty easy as the frame comes with pre-drilled holes. Now you have an easy armchair as well as a one-seat section! And another bonus back pillow for you too :)

*the normal Soderhamn armrests will not cover the full length of the armchair like the side rests do, so if you’re after the same look, it would cost another US$100 for 1 pair of armrests.

3. Three-seat section

Right, just take 2 Soderhamn corner pieces. Press them together. Rotate the one on the right clockwise 90 degrees. Attach side and backrests appropriately. Clamp in the centre. Alternatively, you could simply swap the side rest from the middle to the right side. You may have to pierce through the fabric in this case. The only difference in approaches is how you would like the side rests to work, and where you’d like the gap between side rest and backrest to be.

Yes, this is what we did for the Herringbone Pebble slipcovered IKEA Soderhamn sofa pictured here:

4. A Soderhamn Sectional!

Don’t panic! Yes, you could make a whole sectional out of the corner piece if you wanted to. I ran the numbers on the 4 seat corner sectional, and the hacked together corner pieces would total $1000, compared to $1198 from IKEA. And you’d get all the extra back pillows as well :)

Anyway, this is but a small hint of the possibilities you could explore. Plus, if you like the modular sectional, you could finish your hack with a custom slipcover by Comfort Works! Long skirt Soderhamn, anyone?

Imagine that! Who on earth would do such a thing, that’s rubbish. Only some madman would play God like that, a madman by the name of Felicia perhaps ;)