Living Room Rehab, Again

Couch rehab in progress

A few important points, before we begin:

1. I have always wanted a caramel-leather couch.
2. I cannot afford a caramel-leather couch.
3. I enjoy having a white couch, in theory.
4. I do not enjoy having a white couch in practice.

Now. Recall the Ikea couch I bought shortly after I moved to LA? The one I was so excited about for a minute, before I realized that the words “white” and “couch” should never, ever go together when a house is inhabited by a) children, b) animals, and c) me?

I knew I wanted to recover it at some point, but I’d always thought of furniture-recovering as a super-intense, insanely expensive undertaking. As evidence, I once tried to have my grandmother’s old wingback armchair recovered, and to say it was an expensive pain would be an understatement, to the point where I abandoned the project entirely.

But I posted about this conundrum on IG a few months back, and a reader wrote in to say that she had the exact same couch, and that she’d had it recovered in faux leather from a company called Comfort Works. I did a little digging, and discovered that they make covers for popular couches from all the major brands (and custom versions, if your couch is more obscurely-sourced), and have bajagillions of different fabric options. In short: they’re disrupting the furniture-recovering industry! Woooo. (I get to say things like “disrupting the furniture-recovering industry” because I lived in Silicon Valley for three years.)

Couch Cover | Frazada Pillows | Round Rug

YES.

I. Love it. (And disclosure, the product you see here was c/o Comfort Works – but I was crystal-clear that I’d be covering both the pros and the cons so that you guys would be able to draw your own conclusions about whether this is the right move for you.)

How the site works:

• You find your couch;
• You pick out a bunch of colors and fabrics you like;
• You get sent swatches so you can see those colors and fabrics in person before making your selection;
• You order your covers, and bask in the glory of having a new couch without having to actually buy a new couch.

Now, those pros and cons.

Pros: 

• The covers range in price pretty dramatically, and the faux leather is on the more expensive end of the spectrum…but it’s still way cheaper than buying a new couch, and wayyyyy cheaper than buying a new leather couch, even if you take into account the original price of the sofa itself.
• The ordering process legit could not be easier, and there is zero measuring required (thank Jesus, because I specialize in tape measurer fails).
• The faux leather is super easy to clean, and doesn’t seem especially prone to scratching – I’ve had the covers on for a couple of months now, and they’re virtually pristine despite the Cat Situation.
• You can also order replacement legs for your couch, which is a cool little extra – I hated the flimsy-looking metal legs on my OG couch, and decided to swap them out for a wood midcentury style.
• Oh! And there’s an option to have USB ports installed in your new covers. Coooool.

Cons: 

• The faux leather is not super-ideal for the warmer months, but that’s just how it goes. And it’s nothing that can’t be solved by the addition of a couple of throw blankets.
• The major con, for me: I hadn’t realized that in order to get the new covers on, I would have to partially disassemble the sofa. Because this is not a thing I felt like spending 70+ hours of my life on (ugh, Ikea, ugh), I hired a Taskrabbit, and it was done in two hours, for about forty bucks. #worthit

Also pictured here: the vintage Peruvian Frazada pillows that you’ve heard me rhapsodize about before. They’re from the 1950s, so are all one-of-a-kind heirloom pieces that will appreciate in value over time, and I am obsessed.

More pics below! Would love to hear your thoughts <3