I'm very tempted by this slipcover tutorial I ran across this morning, titled, "The Laziest Slipcover Tutorial EVER!" We have a great chair, ottoman, and couch that I love- they are really comfortable and roomy and the pillow covers come off for washing, and they were free. I mean, can you beat free? I submit that you cannot.
So I really like them, and want to keep them around for a while, but unfortunately whoever designed these amazing pieces lost their mind around the fabric selection part of the process (or had a showroom in mind instead of my living room, populated with real people), and chose a lovely cream with lavender stripes. MmmmHmmm.
So I've been thinking of slipcovering, but every time I look at the couch, especially, it just seems too big and overwhelming. Also, I get distracted by the piping and the way the stripes line up and wonder whether the slipcover should go under or over the cushions, etc. Also, I'm intimidated by fabric selection. It is one thing to buy fabric for a skirt, or a window treatment, or a mai tai- if you change your mind, it is a small amount of fabric. But a couch is pretty big, and I would want to get duck cloth or something similar, heavyweight, and that adds up quickly. So I don't want to make a mistake, but I'm not sure what is most practical.
I was thinking maybe white- then I could bleach it if it got stained, and line dry it to help brighten it up before it needed the heavy hand of bleach. On the other hand, everything will show up on white.
What do you think? Would white be best? If not, what would be better? A dark pattern? I kind of like the bright, airy look of the cream and lavender, so I think I'd like the white, but I don't want to bring down extra furniture maintenance or extra laundry on my head. Thoughts?
3 comments:
Oh dear! That's a hard choice. I LOVE white, and the fact that it can be bleached is certainly a plus...but visions of chocolaty fingerprints just as company arrives keep popping up in my mind. :)
Anyway, I agree-- you can't beat comfy free furniture, even if it isn't the most fashionable around.
I have two white slipcovers and it's not the spots that are trouble (you tend to see those and clean them up right away) it's the overall dinginess. I wash mine once every month or two and they always really need it. Usually I ScotchGard them after washing and that helps, too, especially if you vacuum them off occasionally, which I do for the first week or two and then get lazy.
:-p
I do love the look of white, though, and since Mosey is in charge of laundry nowadays, and Elai tends to notice spots and clean them up faster than I do, it's maybe easier for me to maintain than it would be for you.
I guess it depends on your style of housekeeping. If you tend to see spots and spills and clean them up right away, and if you can vacuum the dust off once or twice a week then they'll probably be fine.
The alternative could be to try to find something in an off-white or cream tone-on-tone print that won't tend to show dinginess so readily. I've found some really good bargains on upholstery fabric on the discount table at Hancocks. They usually mark things down when they have a remnant left (and some remnants are several yards) and then sometimes they go on sale -- I got a piece that was 30% off the already discounted price last month. $20/yd fabric marked down to $7 and then 30% off on top of that!
Another thing you could consider, especially if you're trying to buy remnants, is to mix and match. You could get a lighter color for most of the couch and do the seat cushion covers in a beige or tan, since that's the place that tends to get dingy the fastest. If you do it that way, you don't need to use a fashion fabric for the seat deck (under the cushions) but just a plain fabric of similar weight and care requirements.
Be sure to check out Fashion Fabrics Warehouse Club. They have better prices and selection and sometimes they have really good sales.
Oh, one more thing -- my living room is brown and white so I got a light brown (read "dirt color") slipcover for Mike's chair. That way he can come in from the barn and sit in his chair and I don't freak out.
:-p
HTH
Thanks for the input! I've got a dark red fabric with lovely big cream/gold/blue flowers on it, and green leaves as well, draped all over my furniture at the moment. My grandmother passed some fabric on to me, and I think I have just enough to squeak by if I use a plain fabric for all the throw pillows/seat deck, etc. I definitely have enough for the couch, anyway, and I could always do the chair in a complimentary fabric.
Now I'm stuck deciding whether I want to have individual cushion covers or just one big slipcover... hmmm...
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