Especially when we have an 18 month old grandson and a new, little one on the way. And grown up men in the house who like to watch football with their feet up surrounded by snacks galore. And especially when we still have an old cat with sharp claws & a spunky, little dapple dachshund who looks so lovely perched against the white backdrop (yes, that is my fault) ...
Well, at least I chose RED covers for the new chair, right? So, I can't be totally bonkers! :)
The furniture is from IKEA -- from their EKTORP line. A few months ago Jim and I started discussing replacing our family room couch and chair for a variety of reasons - mainly because of wear and tear (literally thanks to our cat). We made up our minds that for Christmas this year we were buying new furniture.
Right around the Veteran's Day holiday, we received a circular in the mail from IKEA. They were advertising a special deal - purchase a select sofa and receive 15% back in a gift card to use on your next visit. I liked the look of the Ektorp sofas and chairs and the price seemed reasonable. "How would they hold up?" I wondered.
I Googled "Ektorp Reviews" and discovered two bloggers who had purchased the Ektorp sofa and love seat. The first blog post I read was in response to readers inquiring how the author liked her sofa after having it for a little over one year. She still loves it. She chose the white slipcovers and purchased an extra set for $49.00. When the covers get soiled she throws them in the wash with a little stain remover or bleach as needed and voila! - they come out like new. She has a couple of kids, a small dog and a cat. She recently purchased a beautiful new velvet slipcover for her IKEA sofa from a company in Australia. You can read all about it here. The other blogger I stumbled upon - a mom with two kids and a dog - has also written a follow-up post after having her slipcovers for two years. She, too, has been very satisfied.
Hmm, could I live with a white sofa, too?
Last weekend, Jim and I made the trek down to the nearest IKEA store - about 45 minutes away. Upon arrival, we made our way to the showroom finding the display of their Ektorp line. We sat in the sofas, the love seats, the sectionals, the chairs. All were quite comfortable. After some deliberation, we decided to buy the sofa, love seat and a chair. But in what colors? Red, brown, beige, blue?? Or should we really just go with the white? It just seemed so impractical. I was nervous. I thought about the reviews I had read. I still couldn't decide. I called my daughter. She thought white would be okay (she had read the blogger reviews). Jim reassured me that we can always buy extra slipcovers later in whatever color we wanted and he reminded me that the white covers can be bleached. So, that was that ... we bought the white slipcovers for the sofa and love seat and decided on red for the chair. This week, with the gift card we received, we purchased the matching Ektorp footstool in red, in addition to a crib with a mattress to keep at our house for the grandchildren.
So far, after one week, I am very happy and becoming less nervous. {I did buy a large lint roller and a "Tide to go" pen just to keep things tidy. ;-)} I have plans to spruce up the family room in other ways, too. I have brown iron lamps that I am going to spray paint black and will buy new shades for them soon. I have my eye on a new area rug - or may go with none at all. And perhaps something different to hang on the walls. A work in progress!
In a year, I'll let you know how the furniture is holding up. I have high hopes!
Oh, and I haven't missed the fact that this furniture looks very similar, but costs a whole lot more.
CRAZYYYYYY! - meg
ReplyDeleteThat is very brave to have white...stunning, the white and the red, but brave. I have most people trained to take their shoes off when they enter the house to help cut down on dirt.
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