Furniture Slipcovers Blog: GetSlipcovers.com

If you’re anything like me, you take great pride in keeping your home looking its best – and if there’s the slightest thing that’s not quite perfect you’re sure to spot it.  Well, this is exactly what happened to me the other day.  I was enjoying a rare break from the chores and was idly lounging around in my recliner, admiring my living room and thinking what a good choice of décor I’d made.  It was then that my eye fell upon my sofa and I noticed something wasn’t quite right.  The green and white striped pattern on my slipcover didn’t look completely straight.  Occasionally furniture slipcovers can become a bit loose and need to be tucked in again, but generally with a plain slipcover I wouldn’t notice.  But with the stripes it was glaringly apparent.

As I was pondering this problem, there was a knock at the door and who should call in but my friend Liz, who also shares my passion for interior decorating.  If anyone would know what to do about the wonky stripes she would!  And she did.  She told me about these wonderful things called “tuck-once grips”, which she explained are basically v-shaped lengths of clear plastic that you can insert into the gaps around the back and sides of your seat cushions to hold your slipcover in place.

I liked the sound of these, so I wasted no time in placing my order with Sure Fit.  To try them out, I ordered one pack of sofa grips, which consisted of 2 x 18in grips to use along the arm ends and 3 x 24in grips to go behind each cushion.  Well – what a discovery!  I can’t believe I’d never used these before.  They’re just brilliant for holding my sofa slipcover securely and tightly in place, and what’s more is that you can’t even see them once they’re installed, so the stripes look lovely and lined up.  These slipcover grips are really cheap to buy too, at only $22-$35 a pack, depending on what type of furniture you’ve got.  Now I’ve tried them out, I’m going to order some more for my arm chair slipcovers.  What a find – thanks Liz!

This weekend we are having some guests to stay at our country home. We have known Kathy and John for years. We love seeing them and catching up over a bottle of wine or two. In fact we love entertaining generally. Particularly as we have spent considerable time and money making our new home just perfect.

As I say, we really do love catching up with old friends. It’s just with these particular friends there is just one little problem … Eddy The Terrier.

We have known Eddy for years and go back a long way. In fact Eddy is quite a celebrity. For Eddy holds the unofficial world record for single-handedly destroying more sofas than any other dog in history. His notoriety is well known amongst our circle of friends. And it’s a record that he’s quite proud of!

You see, Eddy has a thing about sofas. In fact it’s almost an obsession. There’s  a certain sense of achievement for him in destroying a sofa and I’ve no doubt that he takes pride in his work, smearing it with muddy paw prints and dribble.

And the hairs. Thousands of hairs!

Why is it that you never see a bald dog? Yet the minute they even look at your beloved sofa, they start shredding hair faster than Britney Spears at a barbers shop.

And to cap it all off there’s the rolling. I mean, what’s that all about?

However, things are not always as they seem. Sun Tze’s “Art of War” describes how every battle is won before it is fought. The key is preparation. And this time we are prepared …

Because what Eddy won’t realize is that the sofa he is attacking is in fact a fake. A dud. A copy. Call it what you will. The fact is our beloved couch is safely covered by the sofa slipcover that we use whenever guests bring their children or pets.  And we’ve got matching wing chair slipcovers too – just is case Eddy takes a fancy to our favorite chairs!

We can literally cover our luxurious upholstery with the slipcovers in about 5 minutes flat and because they are elasticated it gives them a really snug finish. We decided to go for a fabric that was described as “Pet Friendly” so it’s very hard wearing and machine washable. Just as well with all things considered!

Once Eddy & Co are safely on their way back home, we will finish off the last of the wine, decide that it’s probably best to leave the washing up till the morning, and then rip the fitted slipcovers off the furniture ready for the laundry, safe in the knowledge that our expensive upholsterery remains unscathed!

And Eddy? Eddy will be curled up in the back of Kathy and John’s car, dreaming of the latest sofa he has claimed the life of and looking forward to his next weekend away …

I’ve recently spent an enjoyable few days visiting my old friend Kate.  I’ve known Kate since school, and although she lives over 300 miles away, we still manage to see each other once or twice a year.  Kate and her husband John have lived in their house for years, and I always love going there because it has such a homely, lived-in feel to it. 

This time, however, I was surprised to find that Kate and John have been busy decorating (and if I’m honest, it had been some time since the walls had seen a fresh coat of paint!).  I was taken aback by how different the living room looked.  They’d obviously done some much-needed de-cluttering as well, as the surfaces were clear and the whole place seemed lighter and more spacious.  They’d done their best to give their home a modern and fashionable new look.

But what made me laugh was that despite all their efforts, they STILL had those worn old blankets covering their ancient sofa and chairs.  I don’t know if they were aiming for some kind of “shabby chic” style, but that furniture certainly did look shabby!  The fancy new décor seemed to somehow draw attention to the mess of crumpled blankets thrown loosely over the seats.

I didn’t want to offend Kate by telling her the blankets were all wrong, so I very subtly began talking about how great my furniture slipcovers are, in the hope that Kate would show an interest.  I was right. Not being much of an interior designer herself, she’d never given much thought to using slipcovers.  But once I told her all about the benefits of using a slipcover, she was hooked.  I left her with instructions to visit the Sure Fit site and order herself some inexpensive chair slipcovers ASAP – those awful blankets had to go!

A few days after I returned home, I got an email from Kate thanking me for my slipcover tip – and she attached some spectacular before and after photos of her furniture.  I have to say, the difference the slipcovers made was quite remarkable.  They seem to be the finishing touches the room needed to complete its long overdue makeover!

It’s hard to believe it’s that time of year again already – amongst the fun of balmy summer nights and relaxing vacations, autumn looms just around the corner and it’s time for many students to start thinking about going back to college.  If you’re a student moving into a shared apartment, no doubt you’ll be keeping an eye on the local thrift stores and flea markets for cheap furniture.  Or maybe you’re lucky enough to have been given a hand-me-down old sofa from your family.

Anyway, just because you’re trying to make ends meet on a student budget, doesn’t mean your secondhand furniture has to look shabby.  Yes, I know any couch or arm chair in a student house is going to be subjected to all sorts of booze and late-night takeout spillages.  But by using cheap ready made slipcovers on your seats you can kill two birds with one stone, as they say.  You can give your random mis-matched or just plain ugly sofa and chairs a smart new look and at the same time make cleaning up those spills a whole lot easier.  Sofa slipcovers are machine-washable, so it’s simply a case of chucking your dirty slipcover in the machine the day after that big house party, or if your parents unexpectedly announce they’re visiting at the weekend!

The good news for college students is that Sure Fit are currently running a back-to-college promotion and are offering a whooping 25% discount if you spend $125 or more on new slipcovers.  However, you haven’t got long to decide on what style you prefer as this deal only runs until 14th August.  To save 25% on your order, enter promo code B25S at checkout when you order online.  Click here to view Sure Fit’s Back To School collection.

If you’re thinking of treating your sofa and arm chairs to a makeover, then August is a good time to do it – for this month only, Sure Fit have got a special deal for their customers.  They are offering FREE standard shipping if you spend $100 or more on your slipcover order.  Normally they charge $15 for orders between $100 and $150, which increases to 8% of the order value if you spend over $400, so this is a pretty big saving.

Sure Fit use United Parcel Service (UPS) for their standard shipping service and you can generally expect your furniture slipcovers to be delivered in 7 business days, so you shouldn’t have long to wait for your order to arrive.

Apparently this promotion is running for August only, and you will need to use the promo code ASA1 to qualify for this offer.  Click here to go direct to Sure Fit’s site and see their extensive range of ready made slipcovers.