October 22, 2007
Separated at Birth?
filed under: Stuff you never, ever needed to knowLisa suffered a rare (for her) bout of WANT-IT lately, in her frantic desire to deal with the eyesore that our upstairs sofa has become. It's a great sofa - a Pottery Barn "Basic" slipcovered three-seater that I bought on eBay for maybe $300, six years ago. It retails at Pottery Barn for an extortionary $1299-1699 (depending on the fabric).
The problem is, our cats destroy furniture. All furniture. Thoroughly, and in short order. So the original slipcover was completely shredded, not to mention liberally daubed in a remarkable collection of cat- and baby-stains.
So we got a slipcover at Target. It was not cheap (~$80). It was, however, exceedingly ugly. It looked like we had draped the sofa in an ill-fitting beige sheet.
Why, you ask, didn't we get a slipcover custom-made for our couch by the fine folks at Pottery Barn? That would be because they charge $669-$1169 for the honor.
Oh, hell no.
But lo, my wife became sore tired of having an ugly couch that nobody ever wanted to sit on. On a recent Ikea trip, she fell in love with the Lillberg sofa. It being relatively cheap, we decided to buy it.
Except: in their obscure Swedish wisdom, Ikea doesn't have cushions for it in stock at any store on the Eastern seaboard. We know, because we've been to them.
But on one Ikea trip (Paramus?), while waiting to deposit Max in the Smaland play area (to which he has become addicted - he can't wait until Ikea Brooklyn opens and he can go EVERY DAY!), I noticed the Ektorp sofa. And it looked... familiar. I took its vital measurements, and compared them to ours. They were very, very close.
So we bought an Ektorp slipcover and crossed our fingers. Sure enough, it fits absolutely perfectly in every dimension. They are literally, despite the almost ONE THOUSAND DOLLAR price difference, identical sofas (though it must be noted that the PB sofa's cushions are way more comfy).
Check it:
Pottery Barn
Ikea
One can understand them having the same basic style. But the same exact measurements in every dimension, cushions and all? Somebody been cribbin' somebody's design...
Anyway, now my wife has been restored to sanity, and our couch looks like this:
Whee! And you have the better and more comfy cushions! Hurray.
At least 3 of your cats' shedding fur won't even look too awful on it during the few hours before they begin shredding the cover, or at least the few hours before they succeed in demolishing it!
NO. NO. Bad story. My story for this is that the cats will be so boggled by the different color and presence that they will stay away from "evil dark couch" and do it no harm at all.
Posted by: Procrastimom at October 23, 2007 12:13 PMi want to come over and stain your couch.
Posted by: perj at October 23, 2007 12:53 PMMom: So far, they are having a massive (and claw-free) love affair with the new couch - Shanghai so much so that she has claimed Bjorn's traditional spot on the right and is defending it against him succesfully; Willy lying peacefully on the corner below her, despite Bjorn being nearby; and Bjorn spent the first hour clutching the new feather-filled throw pillows like a long-lost lover. Though, sadly, Shanghai's gray hair shows up silver on this couch.
Perj: dude, gross.
Posted by: rjt at October 23, 2007 01:10 PMI did the same thing to a set of Basic I got off of Craigslist for $150. I picked up a set of the white ikea..(sooo cheep, $25 for the chair) Though they seem a bit loose on the cushions. Cuz there old maybe? Not a big deal. I don't know if I will get up the nerve to try some Rit dye on them...or just keep them white and bleach the &%@! out of them every few weeks.
Posted by: Kristina at November 6, 2007 11:45 AMJust saw an ad for the Ektorp and recognized it as the twin of my own stained PB sofa (best ever garage sale find). I found your post when I googled the two, hoping for this result. So thanks so much for the info... a great way to revitalize my living room for cheap!
Posted by: Sarah at November 16, 2007 07:06 AMSarah: Glad to be of service! The Ektorp covers run from $50 (basic white) to $200 (red corduroy). And, as Kristina points out, they fit a *little* loose in the cushions, but you only really notice as you put them on. They look great.
Posted by: rjt at November 16, 2007 05:13 PM