The Ektorp sofa is probably the most bought sofa at IKEA. I only think that way, because it is “the” sofa that hasn’t been discontinued in all of my 10 years as an IKEA’s customer and probably because it is “the” best sofa that will resemble the famous white pottery barn sofa series. In lieu, of New Year resolutions, I decided to tackle a little project I had in mind, for 2018. I own the Ektorp sofa with the chase. We have this sofa for almost 7 years and it has survived my kids toddler years and infinite number of naps and entertaining – the structure is in perfect condition but the slip cover had to be replaced a couple of times. I did stored the parts of the slip cover in good condition, as a “just in case”.
The sofa sits in our family room where our kids play guitar and do their homework and crafts. The space is not big, so the chase seemed to interfere with the flow and make the room feel smaller than it is. My initial thought was to sell it and buy the same Ektorp but without the chase. A three sitter or a love sit. But, I had a better idea. How could I convert the chase into a three sit sofa? After all, we are talking about ONE cushion here people! I did a little digging on the internet, and nothing! The best idea was to grab the chase cushion and use it in place of 2 cushions. It looked weird. Another suggestion was to keep inspecting the “as-is” section of an IKEA store for maybe a cushion that was left there… Really? Who has time for that? So I decided to be bold and take a risk
Step 3. Use the hand saw to cut the foam. I chose to leave the foam cover for protection. Tip: cut like you are sharpening a knife in one direction. Out towards you. This way the foam stays in place, otherwise it will start to break in pieces. In the picture below you see me with scissors, it was an attempt to see if it worked. It doesn’t at all.
Step 4. Hand sew the foam cover, to the foam. This is important, because the cushion has a cushion filling on the top of the foam, that won’t stay in place. Sewing the cover will save you time when you add/remove the cushion slip cover and it will keep things in place.
Step 5. Put the new cut cushion inside the slip cover and enjoy!
Xoxo,
Amazing! That took a lot of courage and faith in your ability to overcome any obstacles that might crop up. It looks fantastic! Great post! Just one comment about cutting the foam, when I need to cut foam when doing reupholstering, I use an electric knife with the bread cutting blades. I am thinking that might have helped in this case. Not sure. But I am sure that you did a fabulous job! Very creative!
Thanks Beth! Yes! I thought about it but I don’t own an eletric bread knife – just a regular one and I was worry it would damage the knife. I am glad you liked the post!