I had been waiting for the perfect bargain couch to come along forever and it never did, so I bought an Ikea Sater. Despite hating the legs from the get-go, I figured it would be simple to find improved replacements, but after some research it became obvious that I would have to spend nearly as much as the couch itself to get some nice legs. One night I could no longer stand the shiny reflection of the legs on our wood floor, so I added a little something to warm up the look of the metal… socks, if you will. I used two items we already had in the house: yarn and double-sided tape. There’s no real skill required and its a simple idea, but in less than an hour I was able to achieve a subtle and effective change to the overall look of the sofa. Now, hopefully, our Sater sofa looks slightly less like it belongs at a tech start-up office lounge. We went with the yarn we had, but the possibilities of yarn sofa leg wrapping is endless. I did this over a month ago and the yarn has stayed perfectly in place despite quite a lot of use and overall construction going on in the same room.
Materials: Ikea Sater SOFA, double-sided TAPE, less than a ball of YARN
Tools: Scissors
Recommended: Turn Sater onto back for better access to legs.
Step 1: Wrap lengths of double-sided tape around leg where you plan to place the yarn.*
Step 2: Tie yarn in a knot around top of leg and shift this first loop down until sticks to top of tape line. Stick end of knot onto tape at underside of leg in order to hide the end as you wrap.
Step 3: Wrap yarn loops as you move down the taped leg. Try to cover up the tape evenly and try not to overlap yarn in layers in order to maintain an even leg. Don’t worry about making it look totally perfect and even.
Step 4: Tie knot at bottom of yarn. Cut and fray loose end to attach to tape near bottom of leg.
Repeat Steps 1-4 on each leg.
Step 5: Enjoy the warmth of your Sofa Socks!
*In hindsight, I wish I had covered a little more of the length of the leg with the yarn. I went up about 2.5″, but I would recommend going with 4″ of yarn to the base of the leg for better balance. I didn’t move the couch back up until I was done with all four legs, so I recommend experimenting with one leg and then moving the couch back to see if you like it first. Or, just go for it!