We recently tackled a project that has been many years coming. Four years ago, Kinsey purchased a loveseat from Ikea (Klobo is the name of the style and is how we also refer to it.) for a mere $99. He was living in a small apartment and only had room for a loveseat, not a full sofa. The shape was nice and modern, but the downside was of course, it was white. We're not really white furniture people. Case being, about a month ago Kinsey spilled a bottle of black india ink on the arm of the Klobo. This wasn't by any means the first stain. Imagine a well used piece of furniture in a white color...that hasn't been washed for four years.
So the other week we purchased a dark brown fabric in hopes of finally making a cover for it. We had just come home from Target with our new curtains, and suddenly the urge came to cover the Klobo. I think the task of making a slipcover was a little overwhelming. Neither of us had done this before and we weren't entirely sure about how to make everything fit.
We decided that we didn't really need to make a slipcover that could be taken on and off. We just needed to cover it, pronto. So we moved the Klobo to the center of the room and began to deconstruct it. The good thing about Ikea furniture is how easy it can be disassembled. We were left with 4 pieces.
We did a combination of of stapling and sewing. We sewed the sides and back to give it a nice, firm fit. The bottom edges we just stapled to the bottom, which is exactly how Ikea did it originally. 
Kinsey was the stapler guy and I was the sewing girl. 
Project breakdown:
The whole project took about 2-2 1/2 hours roughly. This includes a quick trip to Jo-Anns when we realized we were about 2 yards too short. Luckily, the Klobo broke down into individual pieces which made not having enough fabric not turn into a disaster. When we ran in the store we discovered they had exactly the amount we needed, no more and no less. We used a total of about 6 1/2 yards of fabric which was $9.99 a yard. We of course had a 40% off coupon the first time and a 50% off coupon the second time, so total cost was roughly $40 for the cost of all fabric.
Paired with our new curtains, we love it. A whole new loveseat for $40! Our next step for the living room: Bamboo flooring.
14 comments:
Hi! I'm about to embark on the same mission in about the same colour... Is it hard? I don't have a sewing machine, so I was hoping to do everything with a stapler...
It's such a waste to throw out the sofa just because of a few stains... :)
Looks really nice!
Hi guys, thanks for posting this. Following your lead, I just recovered a Klobo myself and it looks great.
We've had our Klobo for about 4 and a half years now. Since recovering it in a darker fabric, it looks so much cleaner. We love the modern shape of the Klobo.
A sewing machine really isn't needed. You can always just use a staple gun and staple the fabric along the bottom of the Klobo. I'm not sure if the edges around the arms would look as tight and sharp, but it can be done. Good luck!
is it difficult to take apart and re-assemble the klobo? I'm about to get one and would like to know what to expect when I go to cover mine! Thanks!
The Klobo is really simple to take apart and reassemble. If you can turn a few screws, you can put this together and take it apart. The hardest part would be after you cover the arms, you'll need to cut through the fabric slightly in the location of the screw to allow it to pass through to be twisted to the main seat. May sound confusing, but definitely isn't. You'll be surprised how very easy the Klobo is to cover. Good luck!
I've been exploring getting this for months and THIS post has given me hope =D
You inspired me to do the same thing! I just recently finished 'recovering' my Klobo in a light gray material. My mom actually did the sewing and stapling the rest was easy peasy! The hardest part of this little adventure was actually finding the suitable fabric that I would like and was kitty hair friendly! If it wasn't for this post, I would have had a dirty white Klobo for a long time!
Glad to hear the klobo covering went well!! It's surprising easy and I wonder why I didn't do it sooner! It's a nice and solid sofa, but white is such an unfortunate color for such a major piece of furniture.
Thanks for sharing!
Planning to do the same thing to my couch. I'm not very handy and I don't want to mess this up. When you say you sew the back and side pieces, do you mean you sew them together or you sew it onto the couch? Hope you answer the question! Thanks
When you take the Klobo apart, you will have 4 pieces: the seat part, the back part, and the 2 arms. I draped the fabric over each piece one at a time and got a rough estimate of the shape of that piece. Then I just sewed together the fabric I had draped over the piece and this became a cover that I pulled over the piece. The bottom of each piece that faces the floor I just stapled into the base. You will be making a total of 4 "fabric covers" for the four pieces. This may seem a little much at first, but once you start, you'll fly through it. There really is no way to mess this up. If the sewing doesn't work for you well, just tightly pull and staple the fabric all along the bottom. I hope this helps and good luck!
I am looking to recover a klobo I got from craigslist with microsuede fabric. Is that a bad idea because the fabric doesn't stretch? This is my first time covering a piece of furniture.
A lot of upholstery fabrics are often made with micro-suede because it's easy to clean and can withstand daily wear and tear. If you're making a "slipcover" like the one I made, it's a permanent cover on the Klobo because I stapled it on the frame. I used a non stretch canvas for this, so it worked well. As long as you're planning to do something similar, that fabric should work great.
Good luck!
How did you do the sides? Do you think I could make four large "pillow covers"? Sorry for the late questions, I'm a college sewing novice.
how much fabric did you need?
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