Everyone knows the Ektorp sofa. Pleated long-skirt, round arms, a classic look. Is it too dated and unfashionable? I say ‘Yes’, but it doesn’t have to be! But first…
But how?
With minimal work, that’s how. Simply obtain a set of customised slipcovers, or sofa covers for the non-US, for your Ektorp sofa. We are unashamedly the best (read: only) option for these custom slipcovers ;)
The covers will arrive at your door in a nice waterproof bag. Inside said bag will be both your covers and the other half of a velcro reel. Replace the loose covers with our tailored slipcovers and flip your sofa on its back. Grab a staple gun and staple the velcro to the underside of your Ektorp, you can adjust the placement of the velcro for a better fit if you wish.
We’ll have a nice video up for you soon on this – but in the mean time, here’s some additional shots of our snug fit Ektorp sofa covers in woollen Shire Rust!
“Help, help! How do I put my Ektorp sofa covers on my sofa?”
We get this question sometimes, and it’s always been an interesting question to ponder because it’s actually really easy. It’s normally a simple process to pull off your old slipcovers and put new ones on, but we’ve put together a step-by-step video on how slipcovers can be easily installed on your sofa.
Here’s our step by step guide on how to put on your Ektorp sofa covers:
Reasons it may be difficult to fit your slipcovers on your sofa:
The Ektorp sofa (and many round armed sofas) are technically narrower at the base than at the armrests, which means that the bottom of the slipcover is also narrower than the top, around the armrests. To make things easier, put the slipcover on all 4 corners of the armrests first before pulling it downwards. Is that hard to imagine? Think about putting on a T-shirt – you put it over your head and both arms first before pulling it down your torso, not pulling it over your head and one arm.
The smaller your sofa is, the less room you have to maneuver, as there’s just less fabric overall. It’s often slightly more complicated to put an armchair slipcover on compared to a loveseat slipcover, for example.
Where can I get a custom slipcover for my Ektorp sofa?
With a classic design that’s unchanging and comfort that’s unbeatable for its price, we can’t miss the opportunity to make slipcovers for the IKEA Ektorp sofa. Choose your ideal slipcover from our wide selection of fabrics, or get free fabric samples to try out first before you decide.
With St Patrick’s day coming up and 2017’s Pantone colour of the year, we’ve decided to bring in a hack for all lovers of the colour – Green.
And what better way to do it then to showcase it alongside our Rouge Emerald velvet slipcover, upgraded with new legs and Chesterfield-inspired sofa tufting.
But first, here’s what inspired us to do so:
The Inspiration
Chesterfield Tufted Sofa c/o AnnaSuiShop
A few of us here really like the Chesterfield sofa and were thinking, “Wouldn’t it be really cool if we could hack a sofa into a Chesterfield, like the Klippan?”
And that was the lightbulb – the Klippan is pretty much like the Chesterfield minus the round arms and tufting.
Brayden Studio Verdi Tufted Sofa c/o Wayfair
Then we thought maybe we should be a bit more realistic and consider other options since the Chesterfield’s trademark look is precisely because of the round arms (something that we can’t really create) and tufting (something we can definitely do).
We continued searching and eventually we found something we liked.
Simple Tufted Sofa c/o Dylan Gallery
A square-arm sofa with a very modern and minimal look, something we thought we could recreate very easily.
Thus began our journey, here are the before photos:
The IKEA Klippan – Without Slipcovers
IKEA Klippan with Rouge Emerald Covers
The Prepwork
First and foremost, here are some tools that you’ll need:
– 1 Comfort Works Klippan Slipcover (Assuming you already have an IKEA Klippan)
– 1 Tufting Kit (Twine, Needle, Scissors, Buttons)
– 1 Pencil for marking
– 1 Ruler
– 1 Willing Friend/Partner who can help you
Next, you’ll need to decide on how much tufting you want to do. Initially we wanted to do the entire sofa, back and armrests – the whole shebangs.
That was when we thought the Klippan could become a Chesterfield, but we realised that it’s best to have it minimalist with its square arms, so we settled for 8 buttons the end.
As such, using my expert mathematical skills, we figured a 15.6cm gap between each button would work the best.
The Fail
Before we move on to the full instructions, here are some things you SHOULD NOT do because we did – and realised we made a mistake.
We flipped the couch – DON’T do this
Basically start measuring and calculating to see what would be the best way to get 8 buttons placed equidistant from each other.
The problem unfortunately, was that we marked and measured from the back instead of the front – where we’re supposed to be putting the buttons on.
Here are some photos documenting our silliness nonetheless:
The Hack
Lesson learned: Instead of marking where you want the buttons to be at the back, mark it at the front on the slipcover – a white chalk from the tufting kit would work.
And yes, we didn’t take pictures here because we wanted to jump straight into tufting.
Surprisingly the board used in the Klippan wasn’t as thick as we imagined, so the needle poked right through fairly easily with some elbow grease.
First sign of the needle going through
Once the needle’s through, tufting it with a button is the easy part.
If you have forgotten how this works – check it out in this tutorial:
The tricky part would be tying it to the back of the sofa, so it’s important to make sure you use about an arm’s length of twine to get it to the other side and onto the springs of the Klippan sofa.
The best part is that if you don’t like how deep the buttons are tufted into the cushion, you can adjust them by moving the string accordingly – you will need a friend on the other side to push the button in more for a more obvious tuft.
And yes we’ve tested – the springs are thankfully safe, and will not break upon sitting.
You can also see how uneven my “arm’s length” was throughout the process but hey it worked out fine at the end!
Here’s how the front looks:
It gets easier once you get the first and second tufts done; You’d have completed it before you know it.
Okay, it did take us about 2-3 hours in total at the end as we did have to figure out measurements firstly, make a mistake and then get the job done.
The Reveal
And there you have it, an IKEA Klippan sofa hacked with a Rouge Emerald slipcover and tufting buttons.
Looks pretty damn premium and “not IKEA” yea?
It’s no surprise that this would be one of IKEA’s most popular sofa – check out our IKEA Klippan review here.
Want a Klippan sofa now? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Not only that, but we’ve also been accepting online requests to make custom slipcovers from lesser known brands and sofa models as well.
With just a couple of measurements and only a few pictures of the sofa sent to us through our online page, we are able to produce these highly customized slipcovers for our customers.
Find your fabric.
This is a custom slipcover we made with one of our best-selling fabrics, Liege Biscuit. (Though our Leige fabric has been discontinued, we have replaced it with our improved and longer-lasting fabric — the Luna Flax)
The customer wasn’t in the market to get an entirely new sofa, because there was nothing actually wrong with her current one.
We wanted to help them achieve the precise look they wanted for their living room — so we sent them some fabric samples, got the measurements, and three weeks later, 2 sets of beautiful linen sofa covers appeared at their doorstep.
“A miracle has happened in our living room, guys. A beautiful, wonderful, life-changing miracle in the form of custom linen slipcovers on our sofas!” – Liz @Lovegrowswild
Budget-friendly.
This sofa in Herringbone Cement (Grey) was another custom sofa cover that we were happy to make for a customer who was looking for some budget-friendly ways to give her sofa a new look.
“I was NERVOUS about simply sending some measurements and getting back a slipcover that actually fit my couch. To say I was pleased with the end result would be the understatement of the year. The true test: my husband LOVES them”. — Jenn @Myfabulesslife
Some custom sofa magic.
Custom Pottery Barn Basic Loveseat and 3 seater with Contrast Cording and Corner Pleats
“Can you do the same magic on these sofas?” — asked one of our customers. They owned a loveseat (two-seater), and a couch (three-seater) from Pottery Barn, and was trying to find someone to sew a new slipcover for their sofa.
They also requested some custom piping/ cording in a latte color after learning that we also offer different customization options in the seams and skirt styles.
We exchanged a few more details about the sofas, received the measurements, and went to work.
Age is just a number.
One of our customers over in Adelaide has been using the same leather sofa in their house for more than 15 years.
The sofa would have already been in the dumpster if they didn’t stumble upon one of our slipcovers that was featured on IKEAFans.
They gave us a call, and 3 weeks later, their new slipcover showed up.
We didn’t just stop at sofas.
For this request, we made 2 different kinds of custom slipcovers. One for their sofa, and the other for their dining chairs.
Once again, we went through the usual process of exchanging a couple of emails, pictures, and measurements. 3 weeks later, they now have a beautiful custom made sofa cover with matching dining chair slipcovers to match.
Making a custom slipcover for both the sofa and the dining chairs in the same fabric and style really helped create a consistent overall look between the living room and dining area.
Not an IKEA sofa? Don’t be shy.
Though we started off as IKEA slipcover specialists, our years on the job have made us so much more than just that.
We didn’t just stop at IKEA slipcovers, we didn’t want to restrict our slipcovers to solely IKEA brands alone— which is why we started expanding out into other sofa brands like West Elm, Restoration Hardware, and Crate and Barrel, just to name a few.
We looked at the other sofa brands out there and realized that not many of them were offering helpful — and more importantly, cheap — solutions for people with damaged or dirtied sofas that didn’t involve reupholstery.
A nice West Elm sofa like the Monroe or the Drake can set you back about $1,000 – $1,500 or so, and finding someone to reupholster it if it’s damaged could cost almost just as much.
We believe that investments like your sofa should have convenient and affordable solutions to keep it looking clean and fresh for as long as it possibly can — which is precisely how this company started in the first place.
Price of Our Custom Slipcovers.
Sizes
Max Width
Starting Prices in USD
Footstool
up to 100 cm / 39″
$179.00
Dining chair
up to 100 cm / 39″
$79.00
Armchair
up to 160 cm / 63″
$329.00
2 Seater
up to 215 cm / 85″
$449.00
3 Seater
up to 260 cm / 102″
$549.00
4 Seater
up to 295 cm / 116″
$627.00
The steps to getting yourself a handcrafted made-to-measure cover start with sending us a photo and a rough overall width. This is to see if we can make covers for you, and provide a quote.
Different furniture brands like West Elm and Pottery Barn have distinctly different styles of sofas, which is why we always have to make sure that we can actually produce a slipcover that fits your sofa.
Alternatively as a ballpark, check out the table below of the charges involved (in the Army Duck or Canvas Cotton GAIA). Note that prices will already include fabrics, workmanship, and any customisations (pleats, pipes, looseness etc).
Shipping worldwide is generally free, but would incur for certain countries along with import duties so do contact us just to be sure :)
Custom Slipcovers definitely aren’t the easiest things to sew especially when communications are done electronically, which is why we’re so fussy with what we can or cannot do, but our promise regardless is that we will always do our best to deliver quality and satisfaction at the end of the day ;)
Getting Custom Slipcovers Made.
Although we are able to produce custom slipcovers for most sofa brands and models, some sofa designs are simply more challenging to complete than others.
Especially if you own an old Crate and Barrel, West Elm, Restoration Hardware, Rowe, or Pottery Barn sofa where slipcovers aren’t that common, getting a custom slipcover made can definitely help bring new life and a fresh look into your living room.
Check out our post and infographic that will help you find out whether or not your sofa is indeed slip-coverable
If your sofa turns out to be slipcover-able, and you’re interested in getting a custom slipcover made for your sofa — get started simply by clicking the button below!
Also,
If you just so happen to own a Crate and Barrel, West Elm, Rowe, or Restoration Hardware sofa. You’re in luck!
We’re currently offering our custom made-to-measure sofa cover service at an introductory flat rate for the brands mentioned above!
