Time To Hit REFRESH

You know that feeling, as summer is dwindling, that it's time to do a little more 'nesting?'

It's not quite fall...but the nights are getting cooler, and the leaves are starting to give us a hint of what's to come. 

Slip Covered Sofa Review

When I was buying my house I spent ages researching sofas - I had an idea of what I wanted but kept rethinking it and driving myself crazy. 

No surprise there. 

The problem is that the living room is such a weird shape - it's narrow and kind of long with access to the hallway as well as the front door and dining room. Walkways need to be left clear. 

Initially I thought I would get a sectional. But the more I thought about it, the more it bugged me that I felt it wouldn't be flexible enough for the space. I needed to be able to move things around until they felt right. 

The only thing I was very sure about was that I wanted a sofa with a machine washable slip-cover. In a light, neutral color. 

I read every review I could find online. I obsessed over it. I had three sofas to buy for my house (one upstairs and two downstairs) and I knew I was only going to do this once. 

These sofas better last me a long, LONG time. I'm not doing this again. 

Therefore, they needed to be very classic - simple, clean lines. Timeless. Nothing trendy. Neutral color - again, timeless and classic.  

I ended up choosing a sofa from Ethan Allen for the living room - I didn't need a sofa bed in there and I knew that sofa would get the most use - that was always going to be the one I spent the most money on. 

For the lower level I chose two of the same exact slip-covered sofa bed from Klaussner  - they were sold locally and I fell in love with how comfortable they were when I sat in them in the store. 

They look very similar to the Ethan Allen sofa but the price was far less, which was perfect for the lower level. 

It took quite a while for the sofas to arrive and I was so happy when they finally got delivered. I felt like a college kid prior to that - such a mish-mash of furniture stuck here and there!

Fast forward 6 months and I wanted to let you know what I think of having a slip-covered sofa. 

This weekend when I was puttering I decided it was time to wash the cushion covers on the living room sofa. 

I woke up with this thought and straight away I stripped the sofa until my living room looked like this. 

The first cushion was a little tough to strip but once I got the hang of it the rest of them went rather quickly. 

I put them right in the machine - all the covers fit along with the throw pillow covers, with room to spare. I washed them with Tide Ultra on a regular wash, and dried them on the delicate cycle until they were just slightly damp. 

Back onto the cushions they went - all the reviews I read said to put them back on when they are still slightly damp to  make it a little easier. 

I have to admit I was a little worried they would shrink and wouldn't be easy to put back on. 

But it was so simple - no problem at all, took me less then 10 minutes to do them all!!

They came out lovely and soft, and of course my whole living room smells like fresh laundry now so that's a big plus!

Prior to this washing, I was spot cleaning the cushions as needed. Which worked really well but it was time for a full cleaning. 

Because of this. 

Yup - you got it - these little punks are pretty convinced that they own this house and can hang out anywhere they want to. 

Another reason I chose sofas with slipcovers! I wish the chairs had slipcovers also, believe me!

All of my throw pillows are from Pottery Barn - I buy the inserts and different pillow covers that I can swap out when I get tired of looking at them....or the seasons change....or they need to be washed. Let's face it, pillow covers are a heck of a lot easier to store than a bunch of random throw pillows!

I love that I can change up the look any time I feel like it. I can bring in a ton of color or back it down to neutral again. 

Whatever floats my boat. 

Now that I know how easy it is to wash the covers it's time to tackle the lower level sofas. 

I think I'll have the girls take care of that project. After all, it's their space. 

Mommy has other things to do. 

Like hang curtains in the garden cottage. 

Priorities, right?