A Second Look at Slipcovers

My first apartment after college was decorated exclusively with hand-me-downs and things my roommate and I had found on the street. Among our second-hand pieces was a beast of a sofa bed that had been sitting under a tarp in someone's front yard before it came to live in our apartment, and let me tell you, it wasn't pretty. (Thank you anyway Sara, we would have been in lawn chairs without it!)

At the time, we invested in a ready-made slipcover. The slipcover transformed our hideous couch into something semi-acceptable, but it wasn't particularly well designed. If anyone so much as breathed on it, it looked like a mess.

Slipcovers (and my tax bracket) have both moved up in the world in the intervening eight years. Today ready-made slipcovers use more thoughtful designs to mask an unsightly sofa in a way that will actual look good ten minutes after you put it on. (The decision to create separate pieces for the seat cushions was a wise choice.) Both Surefit (the great-grand daddy of ready-made slipcovers) and Pottery Barn offer simple, neutral colored covers (see above) that would look great in any home.

While I have graduated from the leftover sofa, I still only have a budget for a three-seater from Ikea. Luckily, Bemz, another Scandinavian company, decided to create fresh, fabric covers for classic IKEA models. When the company first debuted its wares a few years back Klippan and Ektorp owners across the globe rejoiced. Last month they had even more reason to celebrate: Bemz launched a saucy line of IKEA couch covers sewn from Marimekko fabrics. The bright, poppy hues are so much fun you might even forget your couch came from that beloved blue and yellow big box store.