Save a Couch, Buy a Slipcover
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If you own a couch with threadbareupholsterythat is otherwise structurally sound, don’t curb it yet — consider a slipcover. It’s a broad category, encompassing everything from inexpensive covers that are effectively largesheetsyou tuck into yourcouchseams to custom-made sets that require dozens and dozens of measurements. (If that’s your route, make sure to measure carefully.) A good slipcover can breathe new life into a tired sofa, and even the fanciest ones on the market will still run you less than the cost of a brand-new couch. I caucused with design experts andNew Yorkstaffers to find some of their favorites.
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Strategist senior writer Liza Corsillo has a vintage “princess-y” MCM couch with mustard-yellow wool upholstery that she inherited from my grandmother. “I have owned it for almost ten years, and for its age, it is incredibly comfortable, but it’s starting to look a little threadbare,” she says. So she tested out this linen couch cover from Magic Linen — essentially a fancier version of the blanket she had been using to cover the couch. The linen is hefty and soft, and you can get it in 23 different colors (she chose a terra-cotta shade called “cinnamon”). “Because it’s flat and my couch is on the small side, putting it on took all of seven minutes,” she says.
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Havenly’s lead designer Kelsey Fischer recommends this chenille sofa cover; similarly to Liza’s Magic Linen, it’s essentially a large blanket you tuck into your sofa’s seams. “It’s an easy fix when you have a torn-up sofa that needs to look elegant and still maintain its function,” she says, adding that it’s “much easier to wash and care for since it’s a single piece.”
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Curbed senior editor Katie McDonough ordered this linen slipcover from Easy Linen, a store in Ukraine she originally found via Etsy. “It has improved my life so dramatically,” she says. The covers turned her 15-year-old Room & Board sofa into “a convincing dupe of Maiden Home or RH sofas that go for four times what I paid for the slipcover.” She also reports that it’s impressively kidproof: “I like being genuinely unbothered when my toddler gets goopy stuff all over the couch,” she says. “When my kid dives face-first into the cushions while covered in blueberries, the stains lift out really easily.”
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Comfort Works Ikea Kivik Sofa Cover
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Custom-made covers are expensive; Comfort Works eliminates some of that cost by designing covers specifically for sofas made by large furniture companies. If you’ve got an old Ikea, Crate & Barrel, Article, or West Elm couch, there’s a good chance Comfort Works will have covers for it. (You can find a full list of brandshere.) I’ve heard good things about its quality and durability, and the covers are available in a wide range ofcolors and fabrics.
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I love the pattern of this chenille couch cushion from Etsy store Nabis Fabric. The edges of the fabric are reinforced with wire, which help the silhouette stay crisp and even.
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TheHunza G bikiniof slipcovers from Italian company Mamma Mia.
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New Yorkcity editor Christopher Bonanos ordered slipcovers from Needle and Shears for a solidly made but frayed sofa. “You send them about 50 measurements and some photos,” he says. “You have to be confident that you can measure well, because it’s a sort of leap — but it came out perfect. I bet we get another ten years out of this thing.” (The slipcovers below ran Chris about $800, including fabric.)
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When Strategist writer Brenley Goertzen talked to nearly a dozen pet owners about how theyprotect their couch,Tennille Teague, founder ofJust Fred, recommended a herringbone cover from Natta. It’s soft, stays in place as pets jump on and off the couch, and washes easily, thanks to a water-repellent backing. It comes in five sizes and a wide range of colors.
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Bemz Soderhamn Slipcover - Megamalist Fit
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Strategist beauty writer Tembe Denton-Hurst has been eyeing slipcovers from Bemz, a company that makes custom covers for Ikea furniture, for years. (The company was also included in aSecret Strategist newsletterlast year.) “Even though they can get pricey, it’s still cheaper than the fancy couches they end up mimicking,” she says. They come in a ton of beautiful fabrics, including linen and aScalamandre-esquetapestry print.
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