Any suggestions on how I make my recliner sofas look better?

[junipermarten]

We're moving house soon and I'm in full-on design mode as we're buying this one after renting for a long time.

I have 2 reclining high backed sofas, a 3 and a 2 seater, they're light in colour and we have 2 young kids and a pukey cat so you can imagine the state of them after almost 4.5 years hard labour. Cleaning them hasn't had the desired effect!

It is functional and comfy but I don't want to make my living room nice and have a tatty looking, stained sofa in it.

Do you think throws covering it could look okay? I'm thinking that might just look messy and will annoy me having to fix them all the time. When I google throws on sofas I'm shown artful draping of 1 throw over an arm etc which is not realistic with kids, or even a sofa that isn't used just for decoration, it also doesn't cover the areas I want covered!

Any suggestions?

Sell/donate and pick up something better from Freecycle that fits the new house more?

Or accept that no one has a show home straight away after buying a new house: the first year is an absolute money drain as you fix a million weird things the last owner did (there are never enough coat hooks or shelves or sockets), and new sofas will come to you in time. You may not even get round to the “make the sitting room nice” part for a while you’re so busy sorting everything else!

(I write this from my wood chip wallpaper-covered sitting room with its old sofa, still-unpacked moving boxes, 1980s gas fire and curtains that don’t quite fit. Nice will come but my attention lies with other house horrors!)

@stuntbubbles Ha. Good point! We will get a new sofa eventually but there are LOTS that need our finances first so a cheapish quick fix would be good until we can get a new one.

Funnily enough shelves and coat hooks won't be an issue. I've never seen so many shelves in my life as in this house. We'll be taking most of them down immediately so we can get some of our stuff in!

There isnt much that you can do to drape anything over them without impacting the recline mechanism.
What you could try, once they are as clean as you can get them, is fabric dye spray. You'll need to pack the kids off for a couple of days so it can dry but over the years we have had great success with fabric dye and leather rejuvenators. If the skeleton and springs are good it is worth the investment ahead of the expense of a full reupholster.

The amount you risk is entirely dependent on the quality of the item underneath. So if they are on their last legs anyway don't bother, but if it is just the covers maybe try. Also, did you use a professional cleaning company or clean it yourself? Spend on a professional before you spend on s throw.
Good luck!

I have throws on the sofas to prevent stains from kids. And me spilling tea on them. If we have grown up guests or special occasion I’ll take them off as they do look smarter without them. I also have a small upholstery/rug cleaner if anything gets past the throws. I bought if after a car vomit situation but has been amazing at keeping the sofa and rug clean too. I would be tempted to hold off for as long a possible on buying new sofas while the kids a small. Nice throws and cushions should do the trick for now.

I use a combination approach of those cheapy, stretchy slip on covers from amazon and throws. We’ve mismatched second hand furniture, and cats.

I found throes infuriating when we had them. I spent my life putting them back on properly. What about one of those upholstery cleaner machines you can rent - might clean up your sofa better than you can with a cloth?

Are they fabric or leather? If leather you can dye them.

They're fabric. I bought a (very expensive) carpet and upholstery cleaner instead of renting one but it didn't do a great job on the sofa. To be fair it was hard work so I probably didn't do as good a job as I could have done...

@SushiSuave This is my concern. I think it'll drive me nuts.

@Notjustabrunette I should have done this from the beginning but might need to do it the other way round now - nice throws for when we have visitors!

I've got leather Lay z boy sofas & I hate them, they won't stay connected & gather so much crap under them.

Yep. Things Designed By People Who Don‘t Have To Clean Them

When my children were young I bought two of the biggest throws and sewed them together to make one ginormous one and that meant they covered the sofa and stayed on without having to constantly be rearranged. I also made a spare.

Not sure if anyone's said this already but I bought a velvety sky blue sofa cover off Amazon. Cost about £50 I think and transformed my ugly leather reclining sofas. And they still recline.

Honestly one of the best things I ever bought. Isn't naff at all - genuinely looks nice.

@Nat6999 I hear you re the crap. Ours are the same and they weigh a ton. Things keeps disappearing into the black hole underneath them. Next sofa will have legs high enough that you can see completely under them. Although the ones I like look like painful toe-stubbers!

@RoxieLoxy I have seen these but I'm not sure if they'll drive me nuts too. I bought a stretchy cover for our bucket chair that had faux leather and the cat's claws took a shine to it. Looks amazing but no one is allowed to look at it let alone sit on it due to the cover moving/coming out.

I'm not a completely neurotic, I have low (ADHD) standards generally but I need things to not annoy me constantly!

@junipermarten the one i have doesn't move about but yep your cat might take a shine to it.

It was in several different parts so not just one big stretchy cover. That maybe helps it to not slide off as the back and arms are different pieces. Honestly it's so fab that I nearly bought another (I don't need another 😆).