Furniture Slipcovers Blog: GetSlipcovers.com

Earlier this week, the results of Sure Fit’s Ugly Couch Contest were announced on the “Live with Regis and Kelly” TV show.  As a way of promoting their range of furniture slipcovers, Sure Fit run an annual competition to find the nation’s most unattractive sofas.  This year entrants sent in over 250 photos of their ugly couches.  Of these, judges selected the 10 they deemed to be the most hideous, based on the design, fabric, pattern and color.

These 10 pictures were displayed on the Sure Fit website, where online slipcover customers were asked to vote for what they though was the ugliest couch.  Then on Tuesday, the 3 semi-finalists appeared on the “Live” show, where the studio audience voted for the winner.  The winning couch belongs to Sylvia Stern from Richboro, Pennsylvania and is an amazing sectional sofa that Sylvia bought back in 1975, over 30 years ago! 

To coincide with the final of this contest, Sure Fit are offering a 20% discount on all slipcover orders placed online before Sunday 30th September.  Whether you’re looking for a wing chair slipcover for your favorite seat, or a set of pretty dining chair slipcovers for the holiday season, now’s your chance to pick up some real bargains.  You’ll need to enter promo code UCC1 when you place your order online.  Click here to start shopping!

My friend Deborah called me up the other day for my advice.  Well, actually she’d already taken my advice and it hadn’t helped.  Basically, she’s got this wonderful old couch that’s been sitting in her lounge for as long as I can remember.  I think she inherited it from her grandmother, and it really is quite ancient.  Although it’s old, it’s generally a good solid piece of furniture.  But years of use have taken their toll, and this comfortable old sofa is showing signs of old age. 

The original upholstery has been faded by the sunlight, and is beginning to wear away in places.  It generally makes the couch look battered and neglected.  But there’s no way Deborah could bear to part with it, it’s been part of her life for so long now.  She’d hate to have to throw it away (no one would ever want to buy it), and a modern new sofa just wouldn’t look right in it’s place.  Plus, this sofa has a unique design that makes it marvellously comfortable to sit on.

That’s the problem though.  Its old-fashioned design, with a high back and short legs, means that the ready made slipcover I advised Deborah to buy doesn’t fit at all.  It hadn’t occurred to me at the time that it wasn’t really a standard-sized sofa.  I’m so used to using pre-made slipcovers on my furniture that I didn’t stop to think that maybe we should measure the couch to check its dimensions.  I mean, it’s so old that there probably weren’t industry standard sizes when it was made.

Deborah has tried her best with the slipcover, but no amount of tucking and straightening could make it fit.  It was simply the wrong size and shape.  It needed to be taller and wider, but with a shorter skirt.  What should she do now?  It became obvious to me then that what she needed was a custom made slipcover to fit the unusual dimensions of her sofa.  So I pointed her in the direction of the SlipcoverShop website, where she was able to print off a worksheet detailing how to measure her sofa for a custom slipcover.

She was worried that having a sofa cover made to measure would be expensive, but was pleasantly surprised to find that the custom slipcovers from SlipcoverShop are very reasonably priced.  Because they ask you to measure your furniture yourself, they don’t have to charge for a representative to visit your home.  And it’s a quick process too.  Once you’ve entered all the measurements and placed your order online, your fitted slipcover should be shipped within 5 business days.

Deborah chose for her slipcover to be made with a one-piece construction, which means it fits over the top of the sofa and the seat cushions.  When I went round to visit last week, I got to see her couch’s makeover for the first time and I was amazed at how good it looked.  The slipcover fitted like a glove and really did make that tatty old sofa look like new.

Today is 25th September, which means that at long last the winner of Sure Fit’s Ugly Couch Contest will be announced live on TV on the “Live With Regis and Kelly” show.  This annual competition to find the nation’s ugliest couch has resulted in some truly hideous pictures of horrible sofas – you can see the three finalists on the Sure Fit website.  I can’t believe people actually put up with furniture like this in their homes when it’s so simple to use ready made slipcovers to disguise all manner of unattractive fabrics. 

The grand price winner will be voted for on the show, with the owner of the offending sofa winning $5000 cash and their choice of 10 Sure Fit slipcover products to give their home and furniture a much-needed makeover.  If this is what their couches look like, then I dread to think what state their chairs and recliners are in!  But I’m sure with the help of some elegant new sofa, chair and loveseat slipcovers their rooms can be significantly improved.

To celebrate, Sure Fit have announced a special offer that runs until the end of the month.  They are offering customers 20% off all orders placed before 9/30/07.  To qualify for this discount and to save 20% on your new slipcovers, enter promo code UCC1 at checkout when you order online.  But remember, this promotion is only running until Sunday, so you only have a few days left to order your slipcovers.

If you’re looking for a bargain slipcover, then it’s worth checking out the Sure Fit clearance sale.  All the ready made furniture covers from Sure Fit are normally very reasonably priced anyway, but the ones in this sale are even cheaper!  Some of these chair, loveseat and sofa slipcovers are reduced by up to 85%!

An example of the savings available includes the Cape Cod Separate Seat – I love this beautiful New England-patterned fabric and the soft, neutral “kiwi” green color.  In fact, a neat feature of this slipcover is that both the main slipcover and the separate cushion cover are reversible.  Amazingly, these slipcovers are being sold for as little as $19.99 for a chair cover, $29.99 for a loveseat slipcover, and only $39.99 for a sofa cover.  Prices have been reduced from $99-$139.99 – that’s a saving of $100 on the sofa slipcover!

Click here to view the entire range of cheap clearance slipcovers and get a 20-85% discount off the original prices.  But don’t delay – the sale is only on for as long as stocks last.

Just to let you know that I’ve decided to put together a regular newsletter to keep visitors to this site up to date with the latest slipcover sales and special offers that I find.  I plan to send out the newsletter by email, approximately once a month, although this could vary depending on what deals are on at the time.

I hope to include news about any current sales, discount offers, and promotional coupon codes.  I will also try to feature articles on relevant topics, such as seasonal decorating trends or new product lines. 

If you’d like to receive this free newsletter, please sign up for it here.  You’ll need to provide your name and email address, and you will then be sent a confirmation email.  You’ll need to click on the link in this email to confirm your subscription.  I know how annoying spam can be, so please don’t worry – we won’t disclose your details to any third parties, and if you change your mind about the newsletter you can unsubscribe at any time.

Until I send out the first newsletter, here are some special offers and coupon codes that may be of interest to you:

Sure Fit – Use coupon code M824 to get 20% off all orders  Expires 9/24/07.

Sure Fit – Use coupon code AS15 to get 15% off all orders  Expires 9/30/07.

Slipcover Shop – Use coupon code SLSH to save up to $50 (spend $125, save $15; spend $175, save $25; spend $250, save $50).

Here’s news of another Sure Fit sale – until 1st October there’s 30% off all their Cotton Duck slipcovers. There are some real bargains to be had, so this is a great chance to treat your furniture to a makeover and have some cash left over to spend elsewhere. Cotton Duck is one of Sure Fit’s most popular slipcover fabrics. It’s made from 100% cotton, which means it’s easy to care for and very hardwearing. Chair and sofa slipcovers made from this material are machine washable and feature the “pet-friendly” logo, which makes them the perfect choice for pet owners. Cats and dogs are notorious for shedding hairs and leaving muddy marks on furniture, so having washable slipcovers makes it so much simpler to keep your seats clean.

Here are some of my favorites in this slipcover sale:

One-Piece Sofa Slipcover – Now only $41.99, reduced from $59.99. Available in 9 different colors, so there’s something to match any color scheme and style of décor. This sofa cover features elegant-looking tailored arms and a straight skirt.

Wing Chair Slipcovers – Reduced to only $34.99. Soft and comfortable to sit on, as well as looking great.

Dining Chair Covers – Easy to fit and featuring ties, which can be looped or tied in bows, depending on the occasion. Only $10.49 each!

Remember, this 30% discount sale only runs until 10/1/07, so you haven’t got long to make your mind up and place your order!

I don’t see my old friend Sally as much as I’d like to.  Every time we meet we have the best intentions of not leaving it too long until we next see each other, but something always delays us.  Usually it’s down to Sally being too much in demand – she’s one of those people who are always busy and on the go.  She works hard at her job as a school teacher, and even in the evenings and at weekends she has a mountain of paperwork and lesson planning to get through.  Not to mention her busy social life in the local canoe club.

Anyway, after a long while it was finally the school holidays and I got a chance to visit Sally the other week.  She was in even more of a mad rush than usual, as she’s met the man of her dreams and is planning on selling her apartment and moving into his house.  Well, she’s trying to sell her apartment.  Turns out it’s actually been on the market several months and she’s had lots of interest, but for some reason no one’s made her an offer.  Sally was quite puzzled by this and was getting disheartened by the whole moving process.  It’s a decent sized place in a nice location, so she couldn’t understand why it hadn’t been snapped up.

Now I was there in person I thought I had a good idea what was putting buyers off.  All Sally’s clutter and her eclectic mix of furniture.  OK, I know that will all go with her when she moves, but when you’re looking at houses it can be hard to see past these things.  Buyers need to be able to visualize themselves living there, and too much mess and personal belongings in the way can cloud their judgement.  It was time for action!

We spent most of the weekend packing Sally’s stuff into boxes to be taken over to her boyfriend’s house in anticipation of the move, and generally had a good old clear out.  Once all the junk was gone, the living room certainly looked bigger.  But something still wasn’t quite right.  It was the effect that the large dark purple sofa was having, combined with the striped green arm chairs and floral ottoman.  You get the picture.  Sally’s mish-mash of secondhand furniture wasn’t doing the room any favors.  What she needed was some carefully selected slipcovers to do the place justice.

We got online and I showed Sally the Sure Fit website.  She was immediately impressed by the cheap prices and wide variety of slipcover fabrics.  We decided that what the room desperately needed was some neutral colors.  Although not to Sally’s usual flamboyant taste, if she was serious about staging her home to sell, she need to go neutral in order to open up the room and show it to its full advantage.  She decided on some plain oatmeal color stretch slipcovers made from faux suede for the sofa and chairs, along with a taupe stretch pique ottoman cover.

A few days later I got an email from Sally, enclosing a photo of her living room and thanking me for my help.  I couldn’t believe the difference.  The slipcovers really had succeeded in transforming the room and making it appear light and spacious.  I’m sure it will help sell the house and expect Sally to have secured that sale before too long.

From my experience, it’s surprisingly difficult to find ready made sectional slipcovers.  Until fairly recently, Sure Fit used to sell them, but they have decided to discontinue this range.

I’ve contacted several stores in my search for sectional covers, but no one seems to make slipcovers specifically for sectional furniture.  However, SlipcoverShop.com have some useful advice.  They suggest it is possible to use slipcovers on a sectional, providing you treat it as two or three entirely separate pieces of furniture.  Of course, it depends on the style and seating arrangement of your particular seat, but many standard size sectionals can be covered by using both a sofa and a loveseat slipcover together.  There will inevitably be a lot of extra fabric to hide, where the arms would be.  But this can be dealt with by tucking it into the gaps where the seats meet.

Another option to consider is to get some custom slipcovers made to fit the exact dimensions of your furniture.  For instance, you might need a combination of fitted sofa or loveseat covers and armless slipcovers.  This is an affordable solution if you order them from SlipcoverShop.com.  You will need to take careful and accurate measurements to ensure your new covers will fit correctly, but a real bonus is that your custom covers should be delivered within only 5 business days.

Here are a couple of discount codes for you, if you want to get money off from SlipcoverShop – To save up to $50 on your order, use SLSH.  And to claim a free pillow with each pre-made sofa or loveseat slipcover you buy, use PFSL.  Just enter these codes at checkout when you order online.

Summer is definitely on its way out.  The tell-tale signs of fall are there.  The nights are drawing in, there’s a slight chill in the air in the early mornings, dew on the ground, and the trees are just starting to turn.  To reflect this change in season, why not give your furniture a new look too?

There are some gorgeous new slipcovers in Sure Fit’s Fall range, which has just been launched.  What’s more, if you get in early and place your slipcover order online before 24th September, you can get 20% off your order if you use coupon code M824.  That’s what I like to see – savings on the brand new season’s styles, and not just last season’s slipcovers in the sales.

Here’s an idea of some of the superb new slipcovers available:

Stretch Pique dining chair covers – Sure Fit have introduced these dining chair slipcovers made from their bestselling memory stretch fabric, and they are perfect for parties or impromptu entertaining.  The waffle-textured fabric has a smooth, wrinkle-free form fit and is machine washable.  These elegant-looking slipcovers can be fitted over your dining chairs in minutes and come in a choice of 4 neutral colors, to match any décor.  I think they’re real value for money at only $19.99 each, and remember you can get a 20% discount if you order before 24th September.

Stretch Woven Corduroy slipcovers  – Available for both loveseats and sofas.  These furniture covers have the soft feel and elegant look of corduroy combined with the stretchiness and tight fit of this popular fabric.  This slipcover has a one-piece construction with a tailored skirt – it’s incredibly easy to slip on and stays in place.  For loveseats, this slipcover costs only $119.99, for sofas only $129.99.

Stretch Suede recliner chair slipcovers – Some recliner slipcovers can become worn or creased with a lot of use.  However, this stretchy faux suede fabric fits like a glove.  The high spandex content means this recliner slipcover doesn’t become loose or get crumpled with movement.  It’s available in 3 colors – oatmeal, chocolate and burgundy.

Click here to view the entire “new for fall” range of slipcovers.  Don’t forget you can save 20% on all orders if you order online before 9/24/07.

A few days ago I wrote about how I was planning on using washable slipcovers on all my seats when the boys came round to our house to watch the game on TV.  Well, as always my trusty slipcovers did the trick and my furniture survived the ordeal unscathed.

Of course, as is the custom during big sporting events, each of the boys turned up carrying a crate of beer under their arms.  I’d also laid on some dips and nibbles, like hummus, salsa, tortilla chips, that kind of snack food.  I know how they like to eat almost as much as they drink while the game is on.  Another tradition is for them all to order in pizza.

Anyway, as usually happens on the day of a big game, I spent a pleasant afternoon out shopping with some friends.  By the time I arrived home, later that evening, the game was over, and the place was deserted.  I guessed they’d all gone out to the pub to carry on the party – their behaviour is fairly predictable!

I went into the living room to survey the damage and found the inevitable signs of beer spillages and pizza droppages on the couch.  Was I glad I’d had the foresight to put those slipcovers on beforehand!  I gingerly removed the sofa slipcover, which was the dirtiest of them all, and shook all the debris, crumbs and such like, outside.  I then stuffed it into the machine.  The fabric underneath was perfectly clean, as I knew it would be.  My chair slipcovers had worked just as well.  I dread to think what state my furniture would be in without my slipcovers!