Since the boys were born we’ve had quite a few friends and family remark that we’re ‘brave’ to have white sofas. I’m not sure if it’s brave or foolhardy but I’ve always loved pale coloured sofas. Plus, but I’ve got some top tips for keeping white sofas looking nice!
I love white sofas as they work well with most decorating schemes. They can be so easily styled to tie in with our home; particularly if I get bored of the colour-scheme and fancy a change.
We’ve always gone for loose covers though rather than the fully fitted.
Even though I absolutely love upholstered sofas because they look so smart. Not being able to shove the outer covers in the washing machine — when they’re a bit grubby — would drive me mad. So we’ve always avoided them.
In any case, I’ve always been quite good at looking after things. And my boys are also learning — from an early age — to take care of their surroundings too.
Sitting room furniture is generally a big investment.You don’t want to have to keep replacing it every couple of years. I say ‘generally’ as, actually, the sofas in our conservatory cost less than a tenner.
For the pair — from a well known auction site.
Yep. £9.99 for two perfectly good, Sofa Workshop, sofas.
I kid you not.
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Bagging A Bargain
I’ve always been a fan of bagging a bargain. Why pay full price when there’s a deal to be had?
I’m a bonafide, card carrying bargain hunter; eBay-queen and charity shop scavenger.
Although these days there are less true bargains to be had. A lot of things are listed as ‘vintage’ which automatically bumps the price up.
But it’s so worth it.
OK, our sofas may not be everyone’s cuppa — they may not be iconic, design-led pieces, maybe even a bit dated — but they work.
Plus they saved us around £1000 so that’s definitely a reason for us to love them!
For the last few years, our sitting room has been styled with chartreuse, yellow and a turquoise-teal shade.
My £9.99 sofas are covered in a variety of patterned and plain cushions. It’s so easy to alter the look and feel of the room simply by changing the covers and the rug.
Not For Best
These sofas have seen a lot of life since we’ve had them.
They’re not the largest sofas in the world — just 2 seaters — but they’re home to play, reading, telly watching, relaxing, wrestling, tickling, cuddling and sleeping.
They have cats and kids climbing on them.
They’ve been boats, rockets and all manner of other make-believe vehicles.
And to be honest, they’re perfect for the way we live now.
There’s a train of thought that suggests it’s tantamount to madness to have pale coloured sofas if you have kids but I don’t agree.
We have another — larger — sofa in the snug but that’s cream too. I think if you’re a bit mindful of your surroundings — and teach your littles to be too — there’s no reason why kids and white sofas shouldn’t mix.
Here are my top tips for keeping white sofas looking nice.
1. Choose sofas with loose, rather than fixed, covers. They may not be quite as contemporary but they offer greater flexibility as they can be washed if necessary.
If we were replacing our sofas, whilst the boys are little, I’d definitely go for loose covers again. The ability to pop them in the washing machine when needed has been the key to them continuing to look good.
2. Minor marks and stains can often be easily removed; with a damp cloth and a little bit of diluted washing up liquid. When we’ve had more ingrained stains, I’ve used Vanish before washing and that’s almost always done the trick. Even with red wine stains.
Yep. That *might* have been me (totally was).
Oops.
3. Use blankets or throws to cover your sofa. This is a fab way of keeping them clean, especially if you’ve gone for fixed covers.
4. It may seem obvious but we don’t allow certain food, paints or crayons in the sitting room. The twins do have snacks on the sofa; raisins or biscuits and water in sippy cups But no chocolate or sticky food or drinks. We’ve got a kitchen table for that.
Having this simple rule means that the sofas have managed to stay looking good. And our children are learning to take care of their surroundings too :)
Sofas are a bit like beds in that they get a lot of use. Choose wisely though and your investment should last a good few years; before you need to shell out any more of your hard earned cash.
Even if it is just £9.99.
Caro Davies is a former art-director turned writer and content-creator, and editor behind UK lifestyle blog The Listed Home. She writes about home-related topics, from interiors and DIY to food and craft. The Listed Home has been featured in various publications, including Ideal Home, Grazia, and Homes & Antiques magazines.
They look fab Caro, I must say although we have always had darker furniture the boys have always been pretty good and careful, it is Chris that is the problem ! x
Haha!! You should banish him to the kitchen!! ;)
What a bargain! Considering that kids get crayon, snot, food and other stuff all over stuff anyway, what’s the point in spending hundreds of quid when you can get something just as good by looking on somewhere like eBay!
Exactly. I love a bargain!
Ahh what a gorgeous room! We had a white sofa from IKEA for a while but as we are clumsy idiots we replaced it with a charcoal grey one. It looks as though your little ones are a lot more careful than we were!
#HomeEtc
Thanks lovely — I love Ebay. I really struggle to pay full price for anything when you can get such bargains on there!!
WOW that is an amazing bargain!! Brilliant. We are desperate to replace our sofa but at the moment it just gets too dirty so we are keeping it until the girls are a bit older. We do try and keep pens and mucky food in the kitchen but sometimes they sneak it in. There is a bit of babble wax ground into one of the cushions, very annoying!! But can I recommend plain popcorn as a brilliant snack – white, and easily swept up!! #Homeetc
Such a bargain!!! Gotta love Ebay! Loving the popcorn idea too Becky!! :)
Ooooh I love your white sofas and what a serious bargain!! I’m still paying for my sofas 3 years later!! Totally with you on only having certain snacks / drinks allowed in the living area, I’m the same! Also saves my cream carpet ;) #HomeEtc xxx
We did that with our first sofa. It was SO expensive, we bought it on HP. I swore that we’d never do it again so always buy large purchases like that second hand now! Love a secondhand bargain! :)
I cannot believe they were less than a tenner – BARGAIN! High fives to that x
It’s amazing isn’t it? I blooming love Ebay!! The things people get rid of is extraordinary!! :)
I am totally shocked that you got these sofas for £9.99 – ebay is amazing! I don’t think we could ever have white sofas, we are permanently eating on ours – plenty of choccies stains hehe. Definitely agree on the washable covers, it’s so nice when they are freshly washed x
#HomeEtc
Yep — not as shocked as me!! £9.99 for one would have been good, but for BOTH was amazing!! :)
Wow what a total bargain! We got ours off Ebay too but didn’t do quite as well as you! Ours are also cream, but unfortunately the covers are fixed so not so easy to clean. We get someone out to do them when they get too grubby which costs about £80 and is totally worth it. Other than that we do use a lot of throws since the dog has gradually worked his way up into the best seat on the sofa…I’m not sure how I let it happen to be honest but I find it so difficult to throw him off when he looks so snug! xx
They were SUCH a bargain — I still can’t quite believe it!! I think there are so many amazing buys like that to be had on Ebay. When people don’t list things very well — and there’s not a lot of interest — seems to be when you can get the best bargains!! xx
oh wow what an amazing bargain! Loving the cushions too – so lovely! x
Aah thanks so much treasure! xx
You are super brave having white sofas with those little ones running around! Your whole sun room there looks lovely x
Thanks so much Zoe :)