Sleeper Sofa Makeover

Most of us have had a sofa sleeper at one point in our lives and maybe still do. They are handy for the extra sleeping option for overnight guests, especially for kids who don’t mind that bar in the middle. We had a forest green sofa sleeper for years. It was comfortable as a sofa in our bonus room and provided that extra sleeping area for our out of town guests. I always joked, that the only way the sleeper was leaving in the house was with a chain saw as it was extremely heavy. I grew tired of that dark heavy green color and it could have greatly benefited from a slipcover.

Last week I had the opportunity to do something a little different. I did an on-site partial construction of a slipcover. I typically require the furniture I am working on to be in my home so I can work on it at my leisure without imposing on my client. I have my industrial machines, tools and workroom conveniences at my fingertips. Not only was this my first experience doing a slipcover like this, it was my first sleeper sofa. And for this client, the pink and blue floral print had to go.

The big difference between doing a sleeper sofa and a regular sofa is how the slipcover stays in place. On a normal slipcover, you allow for extra fabric to be tucked into the space between the arms and inner back, the arms and the seat and the inner back and the seat. All this tuck-in along with a cushion on top helps to keep the slipcover in place and from “slipping”.

On a sleeper sofa, though, you want the ability to be be able to pull out the bed without removing the slipcover. Enter…. “Hook & Loop”, better known as Velcro. The HOOK part of the Velcro is stapled onto the wood of the back, sides and front deck in areas that make sense and you have hand access to. It required me to turn over the sofa to access the bottom and get a better angle for my stapler to reach. It was quite the workout! I did this first so that when I was finishing the slipcover, I knew exactly where to sew on the LOOP part of the Velcro.

Stapled hook part of Velcro to strategic places under couch frame

Tuck in panel in arm corner and Velcro tabs to secure to couch frame

Not only was the Velcro used to secure the inner arms, inner back and front in place, I used it to secure the corded bottom to under the couch. All in all, I used about ten yards of Velcro, so this slipcover isn’t moving.

Velcro tabs on bottom of slipcover to secure to under couch

Other than that the slipcover process is the same. Not nearly as bad as I was lead to believe it would be. Definitely a different process, but I love to learn something new.

For this project, my client chose the Revolution performance fabric Grande Glacier. It’s a beautiful linen-look neutral that not only covers the floral well but works well with the other couch in the same room.