As I mentioned in an earlier post I have begun working on the man cave. We recently did a couch swap with the Fashionista. It resulted in A Free Couch For The Man Cave Updated for $12.00.
A Free Couch For The Man Cave Updated for $12.00
You may remember the couch that was in this room. Not exactly “gamer” friendly. But the Fashionista has loved it since the day I dragged it home from the thrift store.
Believe it or not, I WILLINGLY swapped it for this tired, worn out Ikea Ektorp sleeper sofa.
Now a new white Ektorp slipcover will run you $49. Not bad. Except that, on any given day there are 3-4 boys in this room. White + boys = a mess. The red slipcover Ikea offers is $149.00. A bit more than I wanted to spend. So I decided to try a little experiment to rid myself of the rust.
I bleached the covers. Twice. They turned out a shade that I haven’t seen since my kids were in diapers. Ewwww. Exactly.
With nothing to lose, I decided to try and dye the slipcovers using the same technique I shared in a previous post about dyeing Ikea slipcovers. I used two bottles of liquid “cheery red” RIT dye for the seat cushions, two more for the back cushions and the last load required a final two bottles for the couch base. Luckily I was able to use some 50% off coupons Michaels was offering so the total cost for the dye was $12.00
Red, she said.
Red, White, and Blue
I then topped it with a navy and cream stripped blanket I purchased at HomeGoods. The navy and red pillows are Ralph Lauren gems I scored on major clearance last year. (Like $5 each!) My good friend Jill of Sew A Fine Seam made the Union Flag pillow in front.
Ok, let’s look at where we were…
…and now. Let’s revel in the red goodness.
Next week~ spending two full days looking for a man approved end table and how the paper plane gallery wall almost sent me sky high.
Laura
It looks great. Way to go!
looks great.. you never know till you try and you did and WON.. yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Wow! You are the DIY DYE QUEEN!!! What a stunning transformation! Love it!
Wowwwwwwwwww! It looks amazing!!!!
Wow, it turned out great, Laura! Looking forward to seeing that gallery wall.
It turned out great! Can't wait to see more of the room!
-Shelley
I love it! It looks brand new!
This is terrific, Laura — so much better than the dismal rust color! I love the cheerful red for a man cave, and the blanket and throw pillows are the perfect finishing touches. Great job Laura!!
Have a wonderful day!
Denise at Forest Manor
I love it! It came out perfectly!
Wow! What a lot of bang for the buck! It looks great! My most recent post is on a sofa update for $20. I had no idea it could be done for $12!!
That is some serious red goodness! Love it!
The first time I saw the gold couch with wood trim I thought “what in the world is that doing in a man cave!?” I am glad to hear it found a good home. (If your fashionista lived in Wisconsin I'd be tempted to offer to reupholster it for her.) I'm sure your men must be thrilled with the replacement! Wonderful job of “making new” the old tired couch. I reupholstered a couch in red last year and it is one of my favorite pieces.
Fantastic!!!!! Who knew some bleach could turn something so dingy into something so fab! Great job Laura!
Oh my word, I love the new red sofa. How fun is that and so perfect with all of your blue accessories. I love, love, love the pillows. Hugs, Marty
Incredible transformation! It looks fabulous!
Thanks, Patty at Home and Lifestyle Design
Wow! That's all I can say! Wow!
Love, love, love the bright red couch! You are so brave with the dye. I tried once and it was such a fail that I never tried again. ~sigh~
And I have a feeling the Fashionista will do something interesting to her 'new' couch too. Please post some pics of whatever she does as well!
Thank you for stopping by my blog. You should check to see if your phone has Bluetooth…most do now. (it's a little blue square with a pointy B) and then take it into a local Wmart or some other such place. If you ask the nice young technically advanced young person behind the counter, he/she should be able to show you how to download them. With the Kodak machines they had at our local store, I could even have made a CD disk so I could print them off on my computer at home if I wanted. Good luck with the new adventure! 😀 But I am sure you can do it.
I love it, probably because I also have a red couch. I'm really impressed that the bleach job and the dye turned out so bright. I think it looks just like the red cover you could have bought from Ikea. Stopping by from 36th Ave.
Angela
seeing red is sometimes a blessing!
d
That is a knockout!!!! Put that in your portfolio for sure. Ralph L. should hire you for making his pillows look so good.
Another awesome makeover!! ps I swear my grandparents had the same couch you gave the fashionista!
Wow, Laura. That was an incredible transformation. GOOD FOR YOU! Love the red! Susan
That dye job turned out great! Do you do hair too, by chance?? But seriously, everytime I have tried to dye fabric it has been a horrible thing. But I've never done it in the washing machine.
This turned out so well and I love how it looks. Ann
Awesome! Love the beautiful red 🙂 And I love that pillow – I need to get some more Union Jack pillows made!
I'm loving it! WE have an Ektorp sofa with denim slipcovers and it's perfect for the kids in the game room. I've always been afraid to try dye, not sure why. You've given me hope.
You are amazing Laura!! I love your thought process! Red it is and at$12.00!! Looks great!
xoxo
Karena
Feature: Entrepreneur Sigal Sasson
Oh yeah, well how many $'s did it cost ya in bleach????? hee hee
Great job, I wish I could have seen the after while I was there last week.
Love ya'
Meri
What an amazing transformation…great job! This would be great to link-up to Create It Thursday for this week…it's live now! Hope you'll join us!
Amazing transformation!
Awesome! We have this same little sofa. I bought an extra cover when we got the sofa…. one for company if you will…. 🙂
Love the Red!
~Liz
Wow! Love the red. I had no idea that you could get such a bright color when working with dye over another color. Makes me want to dye something.
Traci
WOW! I can not believe that is the same couch! The dye worked so well!
What a great job, it turned out beautiful, and red is my favorite color. Thanks for sharing.
Sandy
You had me at bright red. I have used RIT for years, especially when I was a poor single mother and had to recycle nearly everything from year to year. It was the main tool in my decorating and fashion arsenal!
I didn't know Michael's carried RIT — good to know because the grocery store (where I used to find it) doesn't seem to keep it any more. Even WalMart doesn't have it, at least not in my neighborhood.
What a transformation. Very clever to dye them. I would love for you to share this at my Fall into Fall party that opens at 8pm EST tonight. Hope to see you there. http://diybydesign.blogspot.com
Don't know if you will ever see this, but OH MY how I love what you did here!!
I love this idea. Thanks for the instructions. I posted them to my blog @ frugal living boomeer. Barbara