Our Living Room: Slipcovered Chairs

 

You may remember that one of our first purchases for our new home was a pair of slipcovered chairs for our family room.  I wanted white chairs, so slipcovers were the only feasible option.  I had never owned anything slipcovered in my life and to be honest, it was a look that had to grow on me.  Since I’ve had them for a few months now, I thought I would give you my two cents on the ones we chose. 

I knew I wanted a basic style and quickly narrowed it down to the IKEA Ektorp armchair and the Pottery Barn Basic Armchair, which is basically a twin to the Ektorp (except for the price tag).

 

My husband and I set out on a chair shopping trip, and of course, he was very enthusiastic about the price of the IKEA version:

 

 

 

He might be all smiles here, but when I reminded him that this would be the chair that his bottom would be sitting in for the entirety of the Kentucky basketball season, he suddenly realized it wasn’t all that comfortable.  

 

 

 

In the end, we opted for the Pottery Barn chairs.  I upgraded to the down-filled cushion (so we could “sink in” a little).

 

 

 

They didn’t stay super-white for long.  You see, around here, we like to draw with marker all over our fingers and then rub them on the whitest pieces of furniture in the house.  Oh, and we also like to put our dirty tennis shoes in the chairs.  And, sometimes—just for kicks—we also eat Cheetos, lick our fingers and then rub them on the chairs.  (None of this makes me crazy in the least bit.  Can you tell?!)

 

 

I waited as long as possible, but after three good months of abuse, it was time to take the slipcovers off for the first time and put them in the washing machine.  Pottery Barn’s instructions say to use a commercial washer, but I asked others on Twitter and they all said their own washers work just fine.

 

So, I put my two-year-old to work:

 

(And, a little peek of the wallpaper I have to tackle one day. . .far, far in the future.)

 

 

The good news is that the chair cushions are tons of fun to play on while the slipcovers are washing. . .

 

 

 

 

 

I put them back on while they were slightly damp and the wrinkles fell right out on their own.  So easy, I may wash them again before three more months pass.

 

 

 

Overall, I’m a happy camper and based on comfort, I’m glad we splurged for the Pottery Barn ones.  (Although, if I were putting these in a spot where we didn’t sit on a regular basis, I would most definitely choose the IKEA style for the price.)

 

 

 

On another subject, some of you have asked about the jute rug I purchased back in August.  I’m happy to report that it is holding up extremely well and has soaked up several spills with no problems.  More details here.