Markdowns on discontinued IKEA covers

It's the end of the year and we are doing a little winter cleaning in the warehouse. As a result, we have just put our discontinued slipcovers on sale so that they can move on and find a new, loving home. These covers are fabulous but since the fabrics are no longer available, they are in limited quantities. Check out the "One of a Kind" section of our store for current availability.

Holiday decorating collection

So the holidays are creeping upon us once again. If you will be having an abundance of friends and family visiting over the coming weeks, now is a great time to spruce up your home for the festivities. Slipcovers are a simple and inexpensive way to transform a room quickly with a limited budget. Right now we have many popular fabric options available in stock and ready to ship. Our in stock slipcovers ship within 2 business days...just in time for your next party or family gathering.

I've pulled together a collection of great Knesting.com slipcovers as well as some other accessories that are sure to warm up your home for the holidays.

Collection Items

1. Slipcover for IKEA Ektorp Sofa Bed in Oatmeal Linen   $251 - This is our most popular selling fabric and it works wonderfully with just about everything. The Oatmeal Linen is a 55% cotton and 45% linen blend with a beautiful texture to it. It's truly a great neutral fabric to build a room around.

2. Slipcover for IKEA Ektorp Chair in Crimson Twill    $136 - This crimson red or brick red color is perfect for the holidays

3. Thomas Paul Perch Pillow Cover    $34 - Thomas Paul is an incredible designer with a great line of fabrics. Pillow covers are a fun way to change things up with the seasons.

4. Durham Cocktail Table from Ballard Design    $349

5. Oriental Weavers rug from RugsUSA.com    $249 

6. Ljusas Ysby table lamp from IKEA    $79.99

7. Raja round pedestal table from World Market    $119.99

8. Springing Sprigs Candelabra from Anthropologie    $19.95

Shop and enjoy!

Here a LACK, there a LACK, everywhere a LACK LACK

IKEA is known for it's functional, stylish and inexpensive furniture and I think the LACK Series is a quintessential example. Sorrry EXPEDIT I will get to you on another day. For a whopping $7.99 you can buy a simple LACK side table that with just a spark of creativity...or good inspiration photos from the internet...you can transform into your very own masterpiece.

I recently wrote about a great company called O'verlays who makes fun decorative panels that fit popular IKEA models including the Lack. So with their greek key kit you can turn a white lack into this unique piece of furniture.

Apartment Therapy has also done a post recently on hacking the Lack that included these interesting ideas. The easiest way to change up with lack is with paint, stencils or other decorative elements.

I love this creative idea of using two of them in combination.

Who doesn't love Legos? This idea is great if you are trying to corral your kids' Legos into one area.

This is probably my favorite since I copied this one and stacked two Lacks to create a standing laptop station in our shipping area complete with printer on the bottom shelf. This version has a butcher block top that helps it fit right in this kitchen.

Now that IKEA has introduced the high gloss series of Lacks in red, white and gray, there are even more fun options out there!

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/design/hacking-the-ikea-lack-one-table-ten-different-ways-159270

The IKEA China catalog - can you spot the differences?

Back in August, my dear friend Taowen was visiting from Shanghai when she noticed my shiny new 2012 IKEA catalog. I asked if it looked like her version, but she wasn't sure since it hadn't been released yet. I commented that it would be interesting to compare the two and asked if she would mind sending me a copy when they became available.

Fast forward a couple of months and on Saturday I got a note from my mail carrier that I had registered mail I needed to sign for at the post office. Maybe I'm a bit of a pessimist, but I got worried...I mean who gets a registered letter these days unless it's something bad??? So I was pleasantly surprised today to discover the notice was actually for an oddly marked package from China containing their new IKEA catalog. Yeahhhhh!

I know my brain functions differently than most, but I've always wondered if the 175 million catalogs IKEA prints each year (more than 3 times the printings of the Bible according to Wikipedia) are all the same, other than the obvious language differences. Well now I have a definitive answer to my pondering....no they are not! Check out the two covers and see how many differences you can find.

It's so odd because they used the exact same room right down to the same plants but styled it differently. The biggest difference is the color palettes. China's room is done with a black and white theme and pale gray walls. The U.S. room has a mint green paint color, light brown colored sofa and black table with chairs. I really would love to see how they stage the rooms and decide which looks work best for which regions.

Honestly, 90% of the rest of the catalog is almost identical as you can OBVIOUSLY read from the index pages.

The most notable areas of difference are the kitchen and living room sections. Our kitchen appliances vary dramatically from the rest of the world so I expected to see some differences there. The China kitchen brings back memories of when I was living in Spain and had a difficult time finding anyone who owned an oven large enough for a Thanksgiving turkey.

And the US catalog living room complete with multiple pieces of the same Tidafors sofa plus an adorable Golden Retriever...

For the most part there aren't too many people shown in IKEA catalogs, so I did find the difference below interesting, but honestly it's because I kept staring at the two Pax wardrobes to the left of the bed wondering if the US version is wider.

But my favorite difference between the two catalogs...

the metric versus imperial rulers on the spines of the catalogs! Thanks Taowen for remembering my odd request and for the nice note tucked inside.

Simple IKEA bedroom makeover

The IKEA Share Space site is a great starting place for makeover ideas. They've recently added images from a neat IKEA tool that illustrates how easy and inexpensive a bedroom makeover can be. With a few pieces of simple white furniture and a neutral wall color, it really is a piece of cake to change up your room. All it takes is a few textiles and accessories and you have an entirely new space.

Like a white peaceful vibe...sheepskin rugs add a nice soft touch.

Soft greens and blues also create a relaxing palette.

Love red and your tastes tend to be more traditional than the typical IKEA room?

Or are do you prefer much bolder splashes of color?

Of course these rooms are pretty minimal and I'd definitely use the wall space more creatively, but I get their intent. Take a look at the main IKEA US site for even more bedroom transformation ideas.

The Chevrons are here!

Four fabulous chevron fabric options are now available on Knesting.com! Because of the width of the fabric, we are only offering these fun fabrics on our chair and footstool slipcovers. The fabric is just too narrow to work for wider pieces like sofas. Coordinating pillows will be added to the site in a few weeks.



The first IKEA Ektorp Armchair slipcovers have turned out amazing!




IKEA Ektorp Armchair Slipcover
in Ash Chevron

IKEA Ektorp Armchair Slipcover

in Pinky Chevron

IKEA Ektorp Armchair Slipcover

in Chocolate Chevron

And here are the IKEA Henriksdal bar stool slipcover and Ektorp Jennylund cover in the Sunshine Chevron pattern.

      

Check out the site for pricing and in stock availability. In stock orders typically ship within two business days. If the cover you would like is not in stock, our current production time (as of 10/13/2011) to get an order cut, sewn, and ready to ship is running 3-4 weeks.  We hope you love them as much as we do!

1965 IKEA catalog

While scanning Twitter I stumbled upon some really interesting images from a 1965 IKEA catalog. A blogger named Sara whose parents have kept a treasure trove of old catalogs was kind enough to share the walk down memory lane with us all.
























I don't think ANY of these chairs would fit in a modern flat pack.

And these colors are great...

   

even the shag rug is back again.

...I'm missing Mad Men right about now and just can't wait until next year...

Check out the last image of the "London" black leather sofas....and compare them to the leather Karlstad sofa that made an appearance in the 2011 catalog. 

Black tufted leather sofas are timeless! Sadly I don't see a slipcover in sight though. Thanks to Sara for sharing. You can check out her blog here.

IKEA Manland - great idea or stupid mistake?

Would you rather have a kidney stone than take your man to shop in the local IKEA store? Based on comments I constantly hear from customers you are not alone. An IKEA store in Australia may...or may not have come up with a solution. In celebration of Father's Day in early September there, they created Manland which is very similar in concept to the popular Smaland. Manland is IKEA's version of the man cave complete with foosball, video games, and free hot dogs.

It only took a few minutes of reading about Manland before all of the controversy began to unfurl. The reactions were definitely mixed. Some women were just happy to enjoy the shopping time without their whining husbands. Others questioned the message that was being sent. Why were men being allowed to abandon responsibility and was IKEA's promotion reinforcing stereotypical gender roles? Here is a light hearted look at the Aussie Manland. Take a look a the video and decide for yourself - great idea or a pathetic step back in time?

A bright, artful IKEA home

The folks at IKEA Family Live have done a beautiful job of rounding up homes from around the world with eclectic looks that all have one thing in common...IKEA items. This country home in Portugal uses lovely bold colors and natural elements like salvaged wood pieces to really warm up the concrete space.

Even the kitchen utensils look like an art display

I love how the artist homeowner painted only half the walls to add color while creating continuity from room to room. She also applied these butterfly wall decals for just that extra splash of interest that can easily be removed when she's no longer in a butterfly mood.

 from IKEAFamilyLive

IKEA Henriksdal bar stool covers added

Slipcovers for the discontinued IKEA Henriksdal bar stool are now available! Thanks to our larger than average derriers here in the USA, IKEA had to supersize the Henriksdal line of chairs for the North American market...sorry Canada. In the summer of 2009, IKEA widened the Henriksdal dining chair by about an inch, which doesn't seem like much unless you are making well fitting slipcovers and have to change your patterns. Oddly enough, the Henriksdal bar stool grew almost 3 inches which makes me question how much we really drink here in the good ole' US of A? So take that infamously famous European drinkers...either we drink more or we just require more comfort when we drink.


If you aren't sure which version of the chair or bar stool you have, measure the width of the seat at the widest point.

Here's a look at the bar stool slipcover in the new Sunshine Chevron fabric we will be making available very soon.

Until we get the chevron prints available on Knesting.com (there will be 4 colors), you can check out the chevron slipcover for an IKEA Henriksdal bar stool in our Etsy shop - FreshKnesting.

Prant boxes with panache

IKEA makes many wonderful storage solutions and most of the creative ideas I've seen incorporate the Expedit bookcases. But the Swedish IKEA site, Livet Hemma, has come up with a fun way to transform unfinished Prant boxes like these...

 

from IKEA-US

into a colorful, interesting, and useful storage option like this...

Livet Hemma

All it takes is a little planning, a small amount of paint and a box of binder clips. What a great use for those paint testers available in your local hardware or home improvement store.

Overlays for added interest

I recently stumbled upon another great product that sprung from the idea of jazzing up plain ole' IKEA furniture. O'verlays are fabulous decorative panels that fit many IKEA models and instantly turn your blah Malm dresser into a unique custom piece of furniture to be the envy of all your friends and family. Basically they are thin decorative pieces that can be painted and applied to create an absolutely endless array of looks. O'verlays come in many sizes that fit the IKEA Lack, Malm, Pax, and Expedit models. Check out their site http://www.myoverlays.com for more designs ideas!

Gallery Wall how-to

Do you see images of fabulous framed gallery walls and think, "I would love to do that!" Gallery displays can definitely add a lot of interest to a big boring wall and they also are a great way to add your personality to a space. It can be intimidating thinking about hanging all of those frames. And if you are like me, the thought of putting a bunch of holes in your walls doesn't help. But with a good design plan and some handy Command strips, gallery displays can be a fun project that is well worth the effort.

The first step in planning your gallery is to decide on a style. IKEA has created a really nice slideshow that helps provide ideas on how to orient or situate your display.

You can group within a framework, kind of boxes within a larger box...

Use ledges to create a flexible gallery that is easy to change out when the mood strikes...

Another idea is to create a collection of objects based on a common theme...









Once you settle on a design, it's time to get to work. I love to use IKEA frames because they are inexpensive and keep the project looking consistent without breaking the bank. You can also round up a variety of frames from a local thrift store and spray paint them for a uniform look.  If you have the time, you can cut newspaper pieces in the size of your frames and use masking tape to lay out your design on wall. I prefer to use the floor for laying out my designs. Once I settle on a plan, I snap a photo to refer back to while I'm working. And my single favorite item for hanging frames....Command hooks! They have a wonderful new product that is kind of like velcro and it lets you make those inevitable adjustments.