"the klappsta armchair is a halfway-respectable looking chair, and very comfortable. you can buy heavy cotton slipcovers for it, which I highly recommend, since the upholstery only comes in unwashable off-white. unfortunately, the only color choices for slipcovers are white, navy blue, or tomato red. the knoppe footstool comes with a slipcover as well, in a similarly limited color range ... i think there might be four choices instead of three. since, at the time, navy blue and tomato red worked with pretty much NOTHING in my home, i went with the white.
white headache
so there i was, with two black cats. and white slipcovers. horrid. i eventually decided to throw the dice and try dyeing them. i used two tins of dylon hot water dye. as an apartment renter, i don't own my own washing machine, so i had to do the dyeing in a big rubbermaid storage bin in the bathtub! boiled water in every single pot and kettle i owned, and went for it, spending a full half hour stirring up the fabric (three pieces - chair cover, chair seat cushion cover, and footstool cover) with a bamboo pole. turns out, it's probably better to do this in a proper washer for reasons beyond the physical labor aspect.
the color i picked was called 'olive green' and i wound up with lime green instead. or maybe that's dylon's idea of olive green. or maybe i should have used one more tin to make it darker. regardless, i decided i liked the color (after my first initial fit of hysteria), and many friends have said my dye job has caused them to reconsider some ikea furniture they passed up previously!"
green envy
and now they lived happily in doodlebug's crafty jungle of a home.do sneak a peek. it's lovely in there. a snug little place bursting with plants, pizzazz and personality. check out her diy stuff like the bamboo mat headboard, bookshelf console, the brilliant kitchen makeover and oh yes, the mural (below). awesome, doodlebug. and lucky kitties. link.
other armchair slipcover hacks:
> customised ikea armchair slipcovers
> hate the fabric colour? just paint it!
> claire's quick chair cover up
tags: ikea, klappsta armchair, knoppe foolstool, dylon, fabric dye, doodlebug
That's actually a pretty good idea. I've been thinking about picking up a Klippan couch for my pad and might just look into dying.
ReplyDeletedaedal, go go go.
ReplyDeleteand send us pics when you do. ;P
Gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteas a person who dyes a lot of fabric for costumes, i know very well the rubbermaid-in-the-tub scenario.
couple of hints, do be sure to wash all of the pieces at the same time, otherwise they will leach a small amount of dye and over time start to look very different from one another.
another way to do this is with cold-water dye, this stuff is my favorite. soak the natural fiber in soda ash, then dye it, let it sit in plastic (sealed tub) over night, and voila! you do still need a rubbermaid to store over night, and a washer/dryer for the next AM, but it's the most permanent and least-messy.
and, very very very cool apartment!
I've died several Ikea items--curtains, duvet covers, Poang cushions. I've been happy with the results, but my colors always come out a shade lighter/brighter than the color pictured on the package. I have a pair of curtians in that same lime green, and they were supposed to be hunter. I think that's just a fact of life with fabric dye.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I used my washer, and discovered that red dyes stain the washer bad! The other dyes left no color residue whatsoever, but the red is still all over the place.
Were you able to fit the poang cushion in your washer? I am really loving this idea to get the poang in my dream color.
DeleteOops, guess that should have been "I've dyed several Ikea items..."
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI chanced upon your blog and have been looking for ideas and steps to dye my Ikea Ektorp Sofa covers.
Any help in how about going at it, would be really helpful. I am a newbie at this.
Thanks
Ikea sofa covers can be dyed, usually very successfully, you just have to watch out for shrinkage. One tip is to wash the cover before dyeing and check the fit (leave slightly damp) . If it fits after washing then it should fit after dyeing and the wash will help prepare the fabric for the dye. In the sofa cover has shrunk too much (only happens very rarely) then you've saved yourself the expense of dyeing it.
ReplyDeleteI got a free set of white covers when I purchased a couch, chair, loveseat, and ottoman from Ikea a few years ago. I would really like to dye them, but I have never dyed anything before. Does the fabric usually turn out the same color if you dye it in the same method but in different batches? If that is a risk, then I may purposefully chose different colors for the different pieces. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi, I have several old knoppe footstool slip covers in [faded] red. I have brand new red slip covers that make the footstool covers look orange, and not in a nice complimentary way. I'm wondering with dying - can you dye a faded one, or are you just asking for trouble? I could either try to dye it a red, though I doubt it would ever match, or maybe a black or dark blue? Can you do that?
ReplyDelete