IKEA Ektorp Sectional Sofa Review (3 years later!)

Ektorp from Ikea Corner Sofa

I’m sure you’ve seen the white denim slipcover sofas, that are still as popular as ever on social media.

Maybe you’ve wondered about the Ikea Ektorp with the sofa cover?

Well keep reading if you want to hear my experience with the Ektorp sectional.

I have the dark beige slipcover now. But have also had the white denim slipcover as well.

I’ll cover my experience of the pros and cons.

I also have a tip to keep your back cushions looking full and like new!

Why the Ektorp?

Before we decided to purchase a new couch, I had a different white denim slipcover sofa. It was a Craigslist find and originally was a blue jean couch.

I bleached the cover from blue denim to white. You can read all about it on my post that was from my old blog Cottage Glamour.

Since it was already a used couch, after awhile, the cushions began to break down and the cover had several rips. It was time for something new.

As I shopped around for a white denim slipcover sofa, I found the prices to be a little crazy.

I realize that good, quality furniture is sometimes worth investing in.

But three years ago, we were in “get our finances in order” mode and not “invest in furniture” mode!

So of course I wanted the best quality for the best price I could get. No small task if you’ve done some furniture shopping of your own.

The mark up on furniture is really high and the quality isn’t always what it’s claimed to be.

The Search

So the search began. Of course I looked online to see what other thrifty type bloggers were doing about this need for a gorgeous, farmhousey slipcovered sofa on a budget.

Liz Marie has several posts with the Ektorp sofa in her beautiful farmhouse.

Kris at Driven By Decor explains how they customized their Ektorp to fit their living room. Pure genius!

Heather shows just how to clean the slipcovers when living with kids and pets. Yes please.

The Pros

So I was convinced that these Ektorp sofas really hold up and can take some traffic. We use our living room sofa every day. Real life with pets, grandkids, and spilled coffee!

I really loved the look of the white slipcover.

As a matter of fact, I have two Ektorp arm chairs in my bedroom with the white slipcovers.

However, after a while, the maintenance of the bright white in the living room just felt like a bit much.

I know, this is supposed to be about the pros. Keep reading!

I have all of my walls painted Benjamin Moore Simply White. So I thought that a beige sofa would still give the coastal, light and airy style.

We have the Nordvalla dark beige cover and I love it!

*The cover is thick and has some texture which reminds me of linen

*I think of it as a dark sand color and it goes great with all of the gray, black, and white that I use. Doesn’t look yellowy, or khaki in my living room.

*Dog hair can be vacuumed right off. It doesn’t stick to it like other covers that I’ve had with more cotton in them.

*The covers don’t shrink when you wash them. The slipcovers with more cotton in them tend to shrink so you have to be careful about drying them. I just put these Nordvalla covers on extra-low in the dryer and they come out good as new.

*It’s easy to take apart (and put back together) if you need to move it. Not that it’s been downstairs, then upstairs, then back downstairs again or anything!

*The sofa seats a lot of people comfortably. We were hosting a Bible study at our house for months. Six adults could sit comfortably for several hours.

*The price for the value is very good.

*Slipcovers can be purchased for a reasonable price and are easy to find. Even on Amazon!

*It’s low profile and a little more petite. This is a pro for me because I don’t want a taller couch to cover up the view from my large window. I also have to float my couch away from the walls and it doesn’t overwhelm the room.

The Cons

There are a few things I would change about the Ektorp.

*It could be a little deeper. The measurements from the Ikea website are:

Product dimensions

Min. width: 95 5/8 ”
Max. width: 95 5/8 ”
Depth: 34 5/8 ”
Height: 34 5/8 ”
Seat depth: 19 1/4 ”
Seat height: 17 3/4 “

The seat depth can be a little shallow. Especially if you’re a throw pillow junky like I am!

*It’s a smaller sofa, as I said in the pros. This might be a con for you depending on the size of the room you’re putting it in.

*The white covers get dirty pretty quickly if you have pets and/or kids. Washing them is no problem as long as you don’t shrink them in the process!

I found that I needed to wash them once a month to keep them as clean as I wanted them. For me, it was too much maintenance with a full-time job and all of my other regular chores.

*After some time, the back cushions can really look saggy. Check out my tip below to keep them looking like new.

*In a perfect world, the cushions would be wrapped in down. But obviously this changes the price point of the sofa.

*My nearest Ikea is three and a half hours away. So, I just wanted to complain about that. It is a CON, right? We had to go pick this up because the shipping is outrageous on larger items.

Back Cushion Tip

After about a year, the back cushions were looking like they had been through the war. I bought a large box of fiberfill and added stuffing to each and every one of them.

I just opened up a seam, stuffed it, and hand sewed it closed. They’ve held up and looked like new for over two years now.

So it did cost me around $20. (with a coupon at JoAnne Fabrics). But it’s been well worth a couple of nights of cushion stuffing while watching tv!

Conclusion

We love our Ikea Ektorp sectional with the Nordvalla dark beige slipcover!

It delivers on the casual farmhouse style that I love, with plenty of comfort.

There are a lot more choices of slipcovered sofas than when we bought ours over three years ago. But we’ve been so happy with the durability, style, and comfort of our couch, that we would buy it all over again.

There are also custom slipcover options for the Ektorp, which I plan on exploring.

At the end of the day, for the value that you get at this price point, I give it a thumbs up! 

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Hazel in her natural habitat. On my living room couch!

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5 Comments

  1. Hi need to know how this was designed is it a one piece sofa or does it arrive in part then you assemble It yourself for I have a small door way 27 inches × 77 inches. So does the sofa come in small pieces to fit up when inside a room thanks kev

    1. Yes. It comes in several boxes and then you assemble it yourself. Most of IKEA furniture needs to be put together, once you get it home. Thanks for visiting and hope this helps!

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