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Slipcovers - Furniture Makeover Ideas
By Simon Phillips
www.getslipcovers.com
If the holidays have left you short of cash,
but you want to give your home a fresh new look in time for summer, slipcovers
could be the solution. Ready made slipcovers are available in a range of
sizes to fit most standard sized furniture. So, if your sofa is looking
like it's seen better days or the fabric on your recliner chair is beginning
to look worn or faded, fitting a slipcover is an easy way to give it a new
lease of life.
If you're fed up with your unfashionable
furniture but your budget won't stretch to the cost of a new suite and you're
put off by upholstery prices, semi fitted slipcovers are an affordable
alternative. They are designed to fit neatly in place over the top of
your existing upholstery and are held in place with zippers, elastic or ties.
Slipcovers are not just easy to fit, they are simple to remove too, which
makes caring for them a doddle. Most modern furniture covers are fully
machine washable, so those accidental drink spills or dirty pet marks can
easily be cleaned out.
By fitting slipcovers over your sofa and
chairs, it's possible to change the look and feel of your whole living room.
Slipcovers come in a huge array of colors, patterns and fabrics. They
are great for coordinating your different pieces of furniture, enabling you to
cover them all in the same material. Using slipcovers is also a good way
to change the mood of the room. For instance, warm earthy tones such as
deep burgundy or forest green can be used to create an inviting atmosphere
during the dark winter months. Now, with summer just around the corner
you may want to introduce some light, bright slipcover fabrics into your décor.
Similarly, if you want to paint or wallpaper your walls, you don't need to
worry about your furniture not fitting in with the new color scheme, as you
can simply choose some new slipcovers that will work well with your room's new
look.
Sofa slipcovers can also be used to alter the
style of certain items of furniture, giving old-fashioned seats a modern new
image. For instance, by using a slipcover with either a straight or a
pleated skirt, you can hide wooden sofa legs. For sofas or chairs with
wooden arms, try fixing foam batting around the arms and holding it in place
with string or Velcro. Foam batting can be bought cheaply from most
craft stores and is excellent for adding padding. You can then fit a
slipcover over the top in the usual way and instantly transform your seat's
appearance.
Although ready made slipcovers are designed to
fit standard sized seats, if the original upholstery is particularly dark and
you're covering it with a lighter slipcover, you may need to pin a white sheet
over the furniture first, to prevent the pattern or color of the upholstery
from showing through. If you plan to cover a leather sofa, a handy tip
is to fit foam batting over it first to stop the slipcover sliding about on
the smooth surface. To use slipcovers on sectional furniture, an
effective method is to use two slipcovers, treating each section as a separate
seat. You can hide the excess fabric that would cover the arms where the
two sections join, by tucking it into the gap where they meet.
These are just a few ideas for using slipcovers
to improve your home's appearance without blowing your budget.
About The Author:
Simon Phillips is an interior design enthusiast and a contributor to
GetSlipcovers.com, which offers a great choice of furniture
slipcovers for sofas, chairs and loveseats.
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