The Story of My Craigslist Sofa (and Chair, too!)

So, yeah, this happened this summer and I forgot to tell you. My oldest son, Luke, moved out and in to his own apartment!

We're so happy for him!

He's in Ann Arbor with all the cool kids. We found a place together, after much hunting and searching. It's an adorable one bed that was fully remodeled, with tons of space and closets and natural light, and a balcony that looks over a treed courtyard. Perfect!

He needed a couch. And considering that we'd sold the matching love seat to ours in the moving sale, it seemed like a good time to pass this comfy one on to the son who really loved it. He got my refabbed coffee table, too.

Of course, that left us couchless. So the same weekend that Luke moved out, I began scouring the internet for our replacement. We talked about the IKEA Ektorp for a long time. I loved it because you can buy replacement slipcovers for it. And for new furniture, it was on the cheap end. My husband, however, wasn't sold.

And then I found a listing on Craigslist for the Ektorp sofa and chair, one year old, with a nice neutral cover. And the best part? It was less than half what we would have paid to buy both new. So we figured, hey, someone else broke it in for us! Let's do it!

And here it is, looking like it always belonged in this room.

I swapped out some decor this weekend, adding a few autumnal touches.

I purchased this awesome velvet and linen pillow cover from Pottery Barn on clearance last spring. Yay!

And it looks perfect with this Pottery Barn blanket that I got on sale.

I washed all of the slipcovers this week, and they washed great! All spots came out fine. The key to washing the Ektorp is two-fold.

First, wash in multiple loads. For me, this meant five loads to finish the chair and sofa.

Second, only dry on low setting for a few minutes and then put it back on damp. This will make it easier to stretch the fabric to get it back on, and it will also prevent wrinkles.

Sure, we could have purchased some pricey furniture at a high end place. Pottery Barn sells something very similar for three times the price. But did we really need to? For now, I am happy to have something that I can easily wash and change out for the seasons.

And good news: it passes the Jemma comfy test!

Blessings on your weekend, cafe friends!