Ikea Ektorp Sectional Saved My Family

Is that title too much?  I mean, can a sofa really save a family?  It’s just fabric and fluff and wood, right?  Inanimate objects don’t save families.  Or do they?  I think the Ikea Extorp Sectional just might have saved mine. Here’s the story.

Ikea Ektorp Sectional Saved My Family

I have a weird shaped living room. It’s long and narrow and furniture placement is a pain in the neck.  We had a regular sofa in there and a chair and a couple of chaise lounges that were all decent tv watching spots.  But none of it was cozy, ya know?  Here’s a before for you:

Just not a place to cuddle with the family, right?

I knew that a sectional sofa would save this room.  But, it’s not a lot of space between the fireplace and the wall with the window.  AND I knew I wanted something with just an L shape, no chaises sticking out on one end.  There just isn’t enough room for that.

I did some on-line shopping and found several that would have fit (you can see my small space sofa research here), but I couldn’t pull the trigger on something I wouldn’t be able to sit on first.  I went to every furniture store in my area and found lots of sectionals that I really liked, but even the smallest ones left, like, a millimeter of space on that wall.

Now, I live 7 minutes from an Ikea, but I had researched on line and knew that the only sofa that would fit in this space was the Ektorp sectional and I was not into it. It always seemed too small to me.  And it doesn’t look super comfy.  It also is a little traditional country to me, which is not my vibe.

I resisted the urge to go and sit on it until right before Christmas.  I really wanted to buy something before Christmas.  I went, I sat on it.  It still felt like it was too small, too country and too stiff to be comfy.  BUUUTTT, I really didn’t want to leave without something.

So I bought it anyway.

Guys, it’s the best purchase I’ve ever made.  It fits in the room PERFECTLY.  Anything bigger would definitely have been too big and I would not have been happy with it.  We can totally fit all four of us on it comfortably.  Except, it’s usually just three of us while my son jumps/dribbles/runs around the room.

We bought the dark gray slip cover.  It’s sort of a dark gray/slate blue. I love the color, I could not be happier with it.  I think it totally gives it a more modern vibe than if we had gone with the white. Which was my initial plan.  My husband vetoed white (thank God, can you imagine the amount of cleaning I would have to do to it??).

But the most important part?  It’s crazy comfortable.  I have a spot (which is totally mine because I put the entire sofa together myself, so I claimed the rights to the most comfortable spot for enternity) that I can sit in for way too long while tapping on the laptop, or watching tv.  It’s right here:

See that green pillow?  My head goes there, feet go down by that black and white pillow and I throw that pretty shimmery grey throw over me and I’m good for 5-6 hours.  The cushions come out of the box (yes, everything is in a box in true Ikea style) pretty stiff, but after a few sittings, they are well broken in without looking like they are broken in.

So it fits in the room, I like the style and it’s super comfortable.  But how did it save my family?  Well, let me tell you first what needed saving.

We had gotten into a bad habit.  We came home from school or work or wherever and we would all go to our separate spots.  I’d go to the kitchen, daughter would go to her room, son would go to his room and husband would go to the bedroom to watch tv.  NO ONE sat in the family room.  It just wasn’t comfy.  We’d all reconvene for dinner and then after whatever events were scheduled for the kids for the night, we all retreated again to our designated and separate chill zones.

Now, the sectional IS the chill zone.  There’s almost always at least one kid in there.  At night after the kids go to bed, my husband and I watch tv TOGETHER on the couch.  Some nights we even ALL SIT IN THERE AT THE SAME TIME.  It’s a miracle, people.  We’re spending more time together and it’s because of a couch.  The cozy throw blankets don’t hurt either, but mostly, it’s the Ikea Ektorp Sectional that we have to thank.  We do family movie night on the weekends in there.  I sit in my spot and work on the blog and my daughter might join me and watch tv while I work.  Or my husband, or my son.  We still all get our alone time in our separate spots (which I think is important, by the way, especially with tweens), but we have a place that we love that we can all be comfortable together.

So What’s Next?

As you can probably tell by the photo, the room is not nearly “done”.  That crazy glare coming in through the window is because I have no window coverings what so ever.  We definitely need some shades or something, but I’ve been struggling to find something I love.  The gallery wall above the sofa is getting dismantled.  I want to paint. I want to update the fireplace.  The other end of the room needs some seriously love, too.  Lucky for me I created the Ultimate DIY Guide to Decorating a Room.  If you’re in the process of redecorating a room, or if you’re just looking to liven a space up a bit, it will totally help get you organized.  Now I just need to follow my own advice and do the same, lol.

PS!  I’ve started working on a plan for the rest of the Famil Room:

Family Room Ideas

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