Who likes store furniture hacks? Who likes Ikea hacks? What about one that takes almost no work at all? This IKEA Ektorp sofa hack is all kinds of awesome and really easy to do.
Guy’s, this is big. Today I am sharing a crazy Ikea hack. It seems like everyone has this
Ikea Ektorp sofa, I mean
everyone. All of the cool kids are owning it and it was crazy low priced. Every inch of it with fabric can be taken off to be bleached and washed, also you get to assemble it! Okay, that part was not the greatest. We got through it, with only one threat of divorce…. Kidding… there was two threats 😉
If you all remember, we
rearranged the furniture in our house. Moving a bunch of things around, making it function a little more while also improving the style a little. One of the reasons I never rearranged things until this point is because of our really difficult living room. It has a awkward layout. After the life size version of Tetris we figured it out. The couch however did not work with this new layout. The sofa had a chaise portion. It is wonderful and movable. You can move it from one side to the other which makes it so easy to use long term. But, with my living room there was no place for the chaise to fit without being awkward. I either needed to move things all around, go shopping, deal with it or buy a new house.
I thought it was a little extreme to buy a new house just because of a couch. Maybe? I feel like I have seen a episode of House Hunters where the couple was moving for that exact reason, and the fact that their house had laminate counter tops. The horror! I did not give up though, this was a problem with a solution. The solution hit me like a ton of Ikea fake bricks you can buy from there. Really you can buy anything from there. Here is my random idea that actually works.
I took the chaise off. Took two cushions off and laid the chaise cushion sideways on the couch. It was a perfect fit! It looks a little odd with the longer cushion and the one shorter cushion. It makes the couch appear a lot longer.
This is how the whole chaise works. The chaise has legs on one side.
The other side has these little claw’s (not the technical term) that you put under the sofa. This allows the chaise to attach to the sofa.
Here is how it turned out. It is not the perfect solution, and the long term plan is to get a new sofa. However, my kid’s as of right now use this couch as a launching pad to fly off with a cape. My dog uses it as a towel for his dirty feet, and so much more. This low cost, already broken in one works just fine. It is looking a little worn down in this picture and needs to be washed. Once I wash it, this thing perks up just as good as when it was new. In case you were wondering, yes that blue pillow is upside down. This is a home decorating blogger fail. I never noticed this, until just now. I had to take down the pillow fort my kids had made to make this picture happen. I say that is a win.
With removing the chaise, we were able to add a bench in the living space. Doubling our seating area. It is awesome. I do miss my lounger, it was sort of my “spot”. I will take the extra seating area over a foot rest though. Of course this post would not be a Our house now a home one without the presence of the house model, Teddy. He legit thinks this is all for him. Seriously, play a game of find Teddy. In almost every post there is a picture of Teddy. He runs into the frame all on his own and sits poses.
We had people over shortly after this sofa swit-cheroo and the only thing people noticed was that the couch looked different. Some thought we purchased a new one, or got a new slip cover. No one noticed the longer cushion. All commented on how it looks longer and leaner. I need to figure out a way to get rid of some of my cushion if you know what I mean…… I would like to look longer and leaner too. Do you think Ikea has something for that?
What do you do when a large piece of furniture does not work in the home? Get a new house? Maybe something a little less drastic….
We were just talking about IKEA hacks and I had never seen one. This is so cool!
There is some amazing Ikea hacks online. This little sofa one is only the tip of the ice berg when it comes to redo's. I feel like phony even calling it a hack. Some people work wonders on the furniture!
I just love the way you have decorated!! Great job figuring out a way to not have to buy a new house 🙂
Thank you! I think it would have been a little drastic to move house for the sake of a couch. For now we are staying put 🙂
You should be happy this idea hit you with a ton of Ikea fake bricks. Moving would have been a big hassle. I laughed through this whole post, thank you for making my day a littler cheerier.
I am so happy you enjoyed and laugh at my post's. Sometimes making things funny makes it more enjoyable. All the time really, I m happy to entertain you!
lol, your post made me chuckle…..I do like the look of this piece and I also noticed tons of bloggers have it…. ohhh and by the way Emily, I have a dead line this week for a post I am writing for Balsam Hill but after that I will start making a plan and get busy for you know what…..HUGSSSSS
So happy people get my humor! Christine, the first rule of fight club is you don't talk about fight club! 😉 I am getting things ready on my end too for you know what… 🙂
I love it! It looks so open now!
Thank you!
How awesome is that?! It definitely makes the couch look longer. I love the Chevron pillows!
Thank you!
That's awesome! I had no idea it came apart/went together like that. Nice hack!
It is a great couch and option to have the chaise move and come off.
What a great idea! The long cushion really isn't noticeable. We had a similar couch with chaise in our old house, and it was too awkward to fit into our new living room – I never thought about this as a solution!
Thank you! I don't think it is intended to work this way, but it works for now!
I couldn't even tell the difference until you pointed it out! It's the perfect solution until you find the perfect new sofa! I love how Teddy poses for your pictures… my little yorkie does that to!
I am glad to hear it is not noticeable! Teddy is a budding star, in his head. He thinks anytime the camera comes out it is his time to shine. Your Yorkie sounds just like him.
LOL, love the house model! I love the new sofa and I, too, would take seating space over all else. We have a tiny house.
Thank you! Trying to find a way to add storage and seating is always a challenge for most homes.
Great job at finding a solution that works and costs you nothing! Our couches aren't great either, but there's no use spending a lot of money while the kids are young!
I want to go the other way
I have the ektorp 3 seater and want to add the chaise. However it is not an available item to buy. Even though it us clearly not a highly bought item or a complete item for IKEA. It is a box and a cushion. Has anyone seen these parts for sale separate or ideas how to get them.
I was able to get two more legs for my chaise and created a separate foot stool, perfect for an extra seat or improvised coffee table! And if I want to reattach it I still have the parts to do that too!
How wide is the sofa this way?
Do the back cushions fill the back of the couch properly. How can that be if you made the couch wider?
I just got this sofa yesterday. i wanted the regular 3 seater for the same reason as you. It’s more versatile and you can move it around and I think it just looks nicer than the chaise sofa. But DH had to have the chaise because that’s the setup we had before. While we were building it we came to the same conclusion, except that we plan on getting a replacement sofa cushion from Ikea (I believe they do make those available if you go to customer service).