Your Questions Answered about our White Sofa

I got such a great response from everyone about our new sofa in the living room. So many of you shared your questions and concerns with me, I was so glad that my review on our new sofa was helpful. It can certainly be a daunting task buying a new couch, never mind trying to buy one online that you haven’t even sat in. And when everywhere you turn people are reviewing their IKEA slipcovered couches, it may makes you wonder why anyone would buy something else. I am certainly not knocking the IKEA couch, I was a proud owner of one for 10 years. It’s a great buy when you want to spruce up a space and don’t want to spend a lot, or if you were like us and just starting out, you can fill a whole lotta house on an Ikea budget. But like I mentioned before, a couch is only as good as it serves your families needs, and our family was needing a bit more. We needed a couch that still looked pretty for mom, and was comfy enough for our family to truly relax on, and take those longed for Sunday afternoon naps. I was so happy to answer any questions I got about our new sofa, because if the roles were reversed, you better believe I would have just as many questions.

I hope I answered you all, but just in case I missed someone, or someone wanted to ask a question and didn’t, I figured I would answer the questions on here, for everyone to see.

1. What type of material is the fabric? The fabric in the original description is cotton. While it is very soft like cotton, it feels more like a very soft canvas, in the best way possible. Think soft like cotton, extremely durable like canvas, if that helps.
2. What color did you get? Was it the Optic White? Yes.
3. Online it says “dry clean only”, is it machine washable? Yes, online it says dry-clean only, however if this was going to be a practical sofa for our family, I had to be able to wash it. So one of the very first things I did after having it for a week or so was removed all the slip covers and washed them in our washing machine. I washed mine with bleach in hot water, because well that’s what I would do if something spilled and stained. And they came out beautifully. Now, does that mean the store or manufacturer are going to back me up? Nope! It’s just my experience, but I won’t hesitate to wash them again when I need to, they held up beautifully. 
4. Did you get the polyester or the down blend? Both. The seat cushions are polyester. The back cushions are a blend, and the two throw pillows are down. And honestly you can’t tell a difference. I’ll never forget when we were younger and would go to Pottery Barn and walk around admiring all their pretty things, my husband and I were sitting on one of the couches on the show room floor, commenting on how comfy it was. When a sales rep over heard us, she came closer and told us all the sofas on the show room floor were polyester, not the more expensive down blend. From that point on I knew it doesn’t always have to be down blend to be extremely comfortable, and our new sofa certainly proves that point!
5. Is it much deeper than the IKEA sofa? YES YES YES! I can’t believe how much more room our new sofa has. When I’m sitting with my bum all the back on the couch, my feet don’t touch the floor, and I’m 5’7. This is definitely a sofa you can sink into. The cushions are firm enough to hold their shape, but soft enough to sleep on. You could stay curled on it for a long time, perfectly content.

One last thing. I get a lot of comments about how people can’t do white couches with kids, or with pets, but my kids are 6 and just turned 5, and I’ve had white slip covers for just about ever. It is certainly not impractical, the most important thing to remember is to know yourself. If you are not someone who wants to take your covers off every 4-6 weeks to wash them, then yes go for a color or upholstered. But we are normal everyday people. My kids eat and drink on our furniture, and so do we. Furniture isn’t made to just make a room pretty, it’s there to serve you, so let it 🙂 And if I missed anything else about our new couch, please don’t hesitate to ask.

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