3 Designer-Approved Ways to Make Your IKEA Sofa Look Luxurious

Raise your hand if you’ve ever been lucky enough to have a piece of second-hand furniture that you never really loved but absolutely needed… 🤚 !!! Sure, we’ve all had that “vintage in all the wrong ways” kind of furniture, but today I’m going to show you a little hack that made mine SO MUCH better. While I’ve had many pieces of second-hand furniture, I’m specifically going to talk about some hacks for the IKEA SODERHAMN sofa that my friend gave away as my “for now” piece in my apartment. It’s a sofa that we’ve all seen, known, and loved (nice depth, sexy chrome legs, cute little cushions) but it definitely has some room for improvement because it screams “Hey, I’m from IKEA!” If you don’t have this exact sofa, don’t worry honey, because some of these hacks will probably work on many different sofas. Listen, sometimes you just gotta put lipstick on a pig and be done with it. Here’s said pig:

Now, I think we can all agree that this era has seen better days. A couch should scream “Come sit on me and get comfy,” but this one is more like “weird Barbie.” It’s definitely that toy you’ve played with too much but don’t want to get rid of because it’s sentimental. But just because it’s been through the wringer doesn’t mean we can’t bring its spark back! Now let’s talk about ways to bring a piece like this back to life.

But wait. Let’s rewind a bit, because this whole “I’m going to restyle this IKEA couch” thing started when I saw this video on Instagram and felt so inspired. That was until I clicked that link in the bio and my dreams were shattered. My heart sank when I saw that these couch covers cost between $500 and $800 after tax and shipping (which is the same price as the couch itself). Devastation struck, but I also understand that creating custom cushions and shipping them all the way from Europe costs a pretty penny. Still, the sadness still set in as I cried over the idea that my couch could never be as luxurious as the ones online…and then it hit me like a speeding semi-truck with a hungry driver. I remembered: Hey! I’m a brave girl and if I could figure out how to make this headboard myself, I could definitely figure out how to make that IKEA sectional sofa sexy and skirted for less. So here’s what I did:

The sofa cover + box spring cover trick

TADA! Isn’t it pretty?! I ordered a SODERHAMN couch cover. From my research, these covers typically range from $175-$350, the one I ordered above was on the more expensive end of that spectrum, but the velvet tone is very pretty and not too saturated like some of the other covers on the market. But listen, ordering a slipcover isn’t revolutionary, but have you ever ordered a BED SKIRT and then WRAP IT AROUND A COUCH?! That’s where I got creative and couldn’t believe how pretty it turned out! I found this tonal blue bed skirt for $16 and the queen size fits this two seater couch PERFECTLY. The best part is that since this couch is so easy to take apart, you can take the back of the couch off, wrap the bed skirt around it (this is where the headboard straps of the bed skirt were, so no need to cut the bed skirt or do anything weird with it) then put the back of the couch back on and it snaps perfectly into place. The other reason it works with this couch is that the cushions are zipped into the base and there are no arms, so the elastic on the bed skirt just snapped on and was super secure without having to glue it or anything.

Here is a small step-by-step visual of a bed skirt:

This is a very light piece for a very dark couch, but imagine how cool this would be in a small office, library, blue-toned movie theater… the possibilities are endless. If you had a couch with arms, for example, you could definitely do something similar to the above, but you may have to cut the bed skirt to size and then sew, glue, staple, or tape it. It may not be as easy or seamless as an armless couch, but I truly believe this could be the ultimate hack to modernize any boring old couch!

The Neutral Sofa Cover Trick

The above tip is a lot of fun, but it definitely leans towards a more traditional/eclectic style. If you’re more of the type who prefers organic, modern, contemporary, and/or neutral sofas, here’s another option for you:

After doing some research, I discovered that IKEA sells many sofa covers, including this one which I am a huge fan of. While I love the chrome legs on the SODERHAMN sectional sofa, they are very recognizable and can definitely scream “IKEA!” That’s why I think covering up the legs of this sofa is what really gives it a new lease of life and it’s PIECE B…

I love how clean and simple this product is, especially if you don’t want your used couch to necessarily be the center of attention. I will say that I had this cover on my sectional when a friend came up to me and said, “Oh my gosh, this is my dream couch, where did it come from?” and she was SHOCKED to find out it was from IKEA. I’m telling you, covering those legs makes a world of difference! Speaking of legs…

A simple exchange of legs

If you don’t want to cover the legs of your sofa with a skirt, another way to elevate this sofa is to simply change the legs. There are so many different options available, it’s amazing. Here are a few that I really liked:

This is obviously a reworked version, but these legs are actually real and they come in a bunch of different heights and sizes, which is awesome. If you’re on the taller side, it might be a good idea to go for a taller leg, since the IKEA SODERHAMN sits relatively low to the ground. I love the look of these wooden legs with the blue velvet cover—it reminds me a bit of Em’s blue couch in her living room in LA. Very lofty, classic, understated, and thoughtful (sorry, had to add at least one TikTok reference here).

And there you have it! Don’t forget to check out our IG for a reel of this couch hack if you want to see it in real action! Thanks everyone for reading all this and I can’t wait to show you more of my apartment transformation journey! Hope this helps, love you, bye xx