Materials: TYLÖSAND sofa
Description:
Dear IKEAhackers,
Once my boyfriend and I were living on our new rented flat and the first time we sat on the ikea TYLÖSAND sofa (it's included on the apartment and we can't swap it) to watch a film we knew we have a problem because the sofa is placed on the middle of the living room with no wall behind it and it's not possible to rest the head unless you are practically lying down.
This problem becomes worst because my boyfriend is quite tall and also he has backache frequently, so we are been thinking about it for a month. What can we done in order to transform the TYLÖSAND sofa on a more ergonomic sofa?
Our first idea was to find or to order a new and bigger cushions but after we think cushions are very soft to rest the head and they will bend back as there is nothing hard holding them.
Now I'm thinking about to order a metal tube structure which can be placed between the original structure and the original cushions, but I don't have idea about how to do that, so, would you mind to help us to fix it? I miss the TV Sunday afternoons :(
Many many thanks in advance for your time and your help.
Best regards,
~ ana, Madrid, Spain
Go to the tool rental shop and get a electrical conduit bender. Buy some electrical conduit and bend it into a tall u-shape. Then, shape the open end of the u-shape so that, when turned upside down (opening of the u-shape at the bottom), the upright sections can weave between the rails of the sofa and support your heads. Cut slots in the end of the uprights so that they sit on top of the bottom rail of the couch. Fasten the closed end of the upside-down U shape to upholstered boards for headrests.
ReplyDeleteThanks dave. I think that solves mcuh of the problems that would arise and makes the process simpler.
DeleteFirst time I have an actual tip! I bought a neck pillow JUST like that for our sofa to solve the same problem. You shouldn't need to hack anything unless you really want to... it's a common enough addition that many sofa manufacturers sell. it looks like a normal neck pillow but it's attached to a steel frame that you wedge between the back and the back pillow. Something like this: http://preview.tinyurl.com/bg6j2mv
ReplyDeleteTre montanti Stolmen, sei accessori di fissaggio, quatto barre appendiabiti, poi fai due cuscini lunghi quanto il divano e li fissi agli appendiabiti.
ReplyDeleteGet a 30 cm wide plank/MDF. Cut it to the height of the actual back of the couch + 30 cm.
ReplyDeleteNail a half-round cushion to the top-front part; the cushion should be about 20-25 cm thick, 30-40 cm wide. Cover it all with a nice fabric.
Place the rigid part between the rails and the back-cushion; the headrest will stand out, just like in a car, and can be moved from side to side.
You can also make larger headrests that will be as wide as 1 back cushion.
Maybe you can try with some cylinder-shaped cushions fixed with velcro on top of the back-cushions. Velcro should be strong enough to support your heads... :)
ReplyDeletethe ones that they make for this unit I bought and hated. Flimsy, really didn't hit your neck. I like some of these ideas here much better!
ReplyDeleteI think you have several options:
ReplyDelete- First, you can talk with the flat owner the possibility to change the sofa. But maybe you have already did it...
- Another option is to change the furniture distribution of the room with the aim to get a wall behind the sofa...
- The third option is more laborious (yes, more laborious than change the furniture distributions of ALL the room XD... ). You can take advantage of the metallic rods of the sofa structure to hold some kind of board between the cushions and the rods. The board should be taller than the backside of the sofa so you can hold the head-cushions.
- The last option is as above, but more useful: you can get a shelving or something similar behind the sofa to hold the pillow.
Muji in Japan has a neck cushion in a similar style to your sofa with exposed metal.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.muji.net/store/cmdty/detail/4548718710157
what about something like this Karlstad hack:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ikeahackers.net/2012/04/box-o-karlstad.html
I agree with Moxi. Given that you don't have a solid backing behind the cushions, a solid board would work better. I was actually thinking something like a padded/fabric covered headboard, only not so padded. Make it as wide as your back cushions and as high as you want your head rest to be. You would need to attach it to the existing metal frame with some type of anchor, which shouldn't be too difficult. I hope that you let us know how you resolved the problem.
ReplyDeleteI see that your room is quite empty. Did you consider putting a room divider up behind the couch that you could lean cushions against? (e.g. an Expedit to keep it with Ikea)
ReplyDeleteNot that I have a problem with hacks but I think it will look hideous if you use a cloth that's just not quite the right color or if you install a metal rod that is not symmetrical (no idea how good you are at this). Also, if you want to lean against the headboard it has to support some weight, which means you have to fasten it thoroughly which could damage the sofa.
The neck support pillows (though simple) will not look good in such an open space either so though I like the hacks mentioned above, I don't think they are appropriate for someone with rented furniture.
I agree with you, anonymous!
Deletebecause you put your head on the wall when the sofa is next to it? ewww... are sofas supposed to have a head-resting function anyway? I usually keep my head on my shoulders ;)
ReplyDeleteI too do agree with Moxy; considering that you have enough room behind the sofa it would be a good idea to place a shelving unit or something like a middle height cupboard (i.e. Galant). I don't know exactly how the four "solid" cushions are secured to the sofa and if all do have the same dimensions, but, if you still have problems about their height, why don't you try to place three of them (the two original + one on the side) vertically? You can replace the side cushion with something else.
ReplyDeletewe have the 5x5 expedit behind our sofa as a room divider, it gets so many compliments from visitors! looks awesome and expensive, but it's not ;)
ReplyDeleteCould you get more height out of the back cushions by pushing the seat cushions all the way to the back and then placing the back cushions on them (so that they are not behind the seat cushions but instead on top of them)? Perhaps they won't have enough support though ...
ReplyDelete