Our living room is back to looking like this:
After its brief audition for “Honey, I shrunk the sofa!” last week:
What are we doing with the mid-century sofa?
To answer the question(s) many of you asked in the comments: The too-small mid-century teak sofa that we showed you last week is not staying. We *could* put it opposite the original white sofa or find another way to make it fit into the house.
Ryan and I do like the sofa, but we don’t need it. One sofa plus two teak armchairs is enough in our living room, since we like having the space rather open. When we have extra guests we can grab some more chairs from around the house. So we’ll sell the sofa and put that money towards upgrading our current white sofa.
Why not keep the C&B Sofa as-is?
The loose weave of the fabric has not worn well, and attracts stains like you wouldn’t believe. Before you say “that’s what you get for having a white sofa” let me tell you – years ago I had a white Ektorp sofa from Ikea, and that fabric slipcover washed clean up like a charm! It all depends on the quality and type of fabric used. From reading other reviews of the C&B sofa it appears that their fabric choice (at that time) was a major FAIL. Everyone complains about the fabric staining and snagging easily.
Where do we go from here?
Determined not to let this project lag on and on (a fate that befalls many projects at the Borrowed Abode) I started researching (aka pinning) new sofas right away. I didn’t really set a budget, but kept a ballpark of $1600 or so – figuring we’re a married couple now and we wouldn’t mind investing in a really good living room sofa.
I pinned a few, but none of them really screamed “awesome sofa” at me. Here’s what we discovered in the process:
- Ryan doesn’t like the style of the Pottery Barn slipcovered sofas, and I’m not in love with any of them.
- We really love the style of our current sofa more than any others we looked at.
- It turns out we both prefer a white or off-white sofa.
Then I thought – what about finding a basic, inexpensive sofa from Ikea, and pimping it out with custom removable cushion covers and a slipcover? The Karlstad sofa gets great reviews, and the $400 – $600 price can’t be beat:
It’s a good template to start with to create a mid-century sofa effect. There are some sweet hacks.
IkeaHackers showed how one woman boxed her Karlstad sofa in to create the great 1950’s look, while most likely discouraging her cats from scratching the armrests:
And these smart people at Our Mid Century simply switched out their Karlstad sofa feet and tufted the cushions – resulting in a sofa surprisingly similar to our current C&B Petrie one:
Photo credit: Our Mid Century
Ryan liked both ideas, and was practically chomping at the bit to “box-in” a Karlstad.
But then I started thinking again.
(That always gets me in trouble!)
1. Slipcovered sofas still require effort to keep clean. Especially white ones, and we want white. Pet hair still has to be vacuumed off them.
2. A good, hardwood frame leather sofa would cost upwards of $3000.
3. Our C&B sofa was hand built, in Virginia, from kiln-dried hardwood. In other words, it’s got better bones than any Ikea sofa will ever have. Why buy a new one just to make it look like the real thing, why not work with what we have?
We’ve decided to keep our dingy-but-solid C&B sofa and have it professionally reupholstered in an off-white pleather (aka faux leather). I’ve ordered some fabric swatches, and we’re budgeting $1,000 – $1,500 for the total cost of the job, including fabric. It’s still a hefty investment, but knowing that we’ll be able to brush the pet hair off easily has us pretty excited that we’re making the right choice.
I’m excited, because it means our living room will continue to look like this, minus the oh-crap-guests-are-coming sofa vacuuming sessions!
Now’s the time when I’d love to hear your experiences with leather or “pleather” furniture! Any advice? Horror stories? I can’t guarantee I’ll take your advice, but I would like to hear it so I can weigh it before we plunk down the cash.
20 Comments
You should check out Comfort Works (http://comfort-works.com/) they make slipcovers for Ikea sofas, but take custom orders as well. I’m pretty sure they have white pleather in their fabric choices.
I just peeked and I may actually order a sofa cover for Ryan’s favorite sofa which is in our basement TV room. Thanks so much for sharing!
A former teaching colleague always complained that her dog left oily, permanent spots on her leather sofa. It was as if the leather just soaked it up. Just something to keep in mind.
Huh. That’s odd. One of my best friends has two white pleather sofas and has a house full of dogs and cats and they have worn really well. She scrubs them down with a little soapy (dish detergent) water every few months, but even when they sppopsedly need to be cleaned they look pretty good.
I wonder if it’s an issue with real leather only?
I have leather, and I love it! I had a dog with really sharp claws, and 2 kids, and never had a problem with spots or hair. That being said, it was dark brown. I don’t know that I’ll ever have white furniture. I like to eat on the couch. Mine would have spaghetti stains all over it!
Ha! I hear you on eating on the couch. We do have one chocolate smudge (whoops) and a red wine drip – but they soaked into the fabric right away. I’m hoping that with the pleather we’ll have enough time to swipe them if it happens.
We really only eat appetizers with guests on the living room couch. On nights when we eat in front of the TV it’s downstairs on Ryan’s dark gray couch 🙂 I’m sure there would be spaghetti stains if it were white!
I have a “pleather” sofa and loveseat with a cat and wide-open dog. The only issues I have had are a few picks from kitty claws when running and leaping to get away from the aforementioned dog, and a chewed corner. Also from the heathen dog. I don’t hold either of these issues against the upholstery because I’m fairly certain that they would have happened regardless. I do think my cat claws the pleather less than the fabric sofa I used to have.
Yes! I am so glad we aren’t the only pet owners who have white furniture! In fact all of our furniture is white: TWO white sofas (one cheap Ikea sofa from college and one expensive white leather sectional from Bo Concept) and white leather dining chairs. I love white p/leather and everyone always looks at us our furniture choice is crazy – it’s a white leather sofa not a white leather wedding dress, people!
Anyway, I believe that dirt will show up on whatever color furniture you get. Yes, white furniture may show black dirt, but black furniture shows white dirt (and white pet hair – anyone who owns a cat/dog and wears black clothes knows this!). That being said, we don’t let our pets on the furniture, so I can’t tell you how the white leather wears with pet use (can it be punctured by cat claws?). I will say that our 2 1/2 year old white leather sectional is looking a bit dingy right now, but I’m sure it will wipe clean…I just haven’t been sure what type of cleaner to use.
There is also some great new fabric out there that is practically indestructible. Or use an ‘outdoor’ fabric? We used some great stain resistant easily wipe-able fabric at the restaurant and it has held up really well!
We LOVE our leather furniture! It cleans up really well. In fact, our sofa is where we put sick children, because it’s so easy to clean. Trust me, the difference between trying to keep vomit off an upholstered sofa and just wiping down a leather sofa is HUGE.
My boyfriend and I had the most amazing vintage pleather couch that was in mint condition… until our two cats discovered that pleather makes the most amazing cat scratching surface EVER (in their opinion) and completely destroyed the couch (it only took a couple of really good scratching sessions when we weren’t home for the couch to go from mint condition to having armrests that resembled a fringed vest). So if you have cats you might want to keep that in mind.
Make sure you get a leather conditioner for it (works on pleather too), especially if it is going to be subject to direct sunlight. Conditioning it after cleaning it every 2- 3 months keeps the moisture in it and helps prevent cracking and aging from the sun and dust.
Admittedly, I’m still a huge fan of the tailored slipcover on a sofa. No one even realizes our entire U shaped sectional is slipcovered, a fact I’m grateful for with the spill-prone Minions and their posse. If you’re going pleather though, I wrapped our bar top with it years ago, and it still looks brand spankin’ new.
@Lifeinrehab , I’d love to know where you purchased slipcovers for a sectional sofa. Thanks, frenchie
I’m sure you’ve already made your decision on the sofa redo – but I just have to say that growing up my parents had a naugahide (I have no idea how to spell that!) or pleather covered sofa, and it wore like iron. I loved it, cuz it was cool in the summer, but mostly because if I spilled, it was no big deal.
Actually, I’m thinking of recovering a sofa in the same stuff – just cuz it was so great.
Good luck and love your blog.
Hi there! We’ve been considering the leather Karlstad in my household, and while I suspect this comment is way too late, ya never know. 🙂 I wrote this extensive blog post rounding up all the advice and feedback I could find about the leather Karlstad. I hope you find it helpful!
Did you end up having the petrie sofa reupholstered? We bought a virtually brand new petrie sofa, arm chair, and ottoman for about $700. The style is great, but similarly, our dogs have beaten the fabric to death. C & B sells the sofa alone in leather for at least $4k, so I’m thinking that getting them all reupholstered in leather could be a steal.
It would be great if you could share any pictures or insights from your experience.
Hey Andrew – We ended up deciding to have the sofa reupholstered. However, we were going to use white faux leather. I’m glad I procrastinated because we have since decided to have it redone in real brown leather instead, so that as it gets worn and scratched it will just “break it in” more and feel like a well-loved leather couch. Great deal you guys got! Too bad the C&B upholstery is so crappy when it gets used.
We were thinking the same thing. We definitely like that look. If you don’t mind me asking, how much did you end up paying? Did you buy the leather yourself?
Thanks!
Hey Andrew – Sorry,I just realized my comment may have been misleading. We got a quote for approximately $800-$1000 from the upholsterer that was recommended to us. However, that was if we provided the fabric ourselves. So I estimated a couple more hundred for yardage. We haven’t gone forward with the real leather reupholstery yet – that’s been put on the back burner because our dog’s surgery and chemo bills have been insane. So. . . the sad white sofa will stay for a few more months. Long story short – we haven’t done it yet, don’t know what it will cost for leather.
I’ve been looking casually at leather sofas in stores, but they cost so much hat I think even if it costs $2k to reupholster the Petrie in brown leather, it’s still a better deal. It’s got a hardwood, kiln dried frame so it’s really a solid piece.