IKEA Karlstad Couch Hack
Photo courtesy of Honey Badger Home
Matt and I have known for a while that we want a big sectional couch in our new living room. For us, there’s something about sectional couches that screams “comfort” and “family” and “relaxation.”
We started by pricing sectional couches at brick and mortar furniture stores in Austin and quickly realized 1) they were too expensive for us and/or 2) we didn’t like most styles. Stores like Crate and Barrel, West Elm, and Pottery Barn are pretty much always too expensive for us (although we often like the styles).
We quickly came to the conclusion that we needed to buy our next couch from IKEA (to replace the one I’ve had for 13 years). It helped that our internet mentors–John & Sherry–forged the path before us and also settled on the Karlstad IKEA sectional.
And then the debate about the legs began. Matt was fine with the chunky block legs (as long as we stained them); I preferred the sleeker metal legs because I like a more tapered look. But at the end of the day, neither of us was very happy with either option.
When I’m impatient about waiting for our house to be built, I try to channel my impatience into designing the interior. I kept googling “mid century modern couch legs,” and even found some. But I had no idea if they would hold up an entire couch.
And then I searched “Karlstad mid century modern” and stumbled upon a whole host of amazing people who have blazed this trail already (what did we ever do without the internet?). Unfortunately, many of them had skills (and power tools) superior to our own.
And then I waded through the comments section and learned about Uncle Bob’s Workshop and thirteencolonies on Etsy, both of whom make mid century replacement legs for the Karlstad. They literally screw in–no tools required.
Oh, joy! For approximately $70 more than we would have spent on the metal legs from IKEA, we can now transform our couch into a mid century masterpiece (or at least something that we like looking at). We ordered 12 unfinished legs so we can stain them ourselves. And along the way, Matt and I learned that we really like the look of tufted cushions, so we’re going to investigate inexpensive upholstering options.
5 Comments
Allison El Koubi
Hey Sara! It seems like you have already settled on which couch to get, but just wanted to suggest Z Gallerie, if you haven't ever looked there. I don't think it's quite as cheap as IKEA, but we've bought 2 couches from there. In the last round of couch-shopping, I feel like I went to every furniture store in Baton Rouge, and the one we ended up getting from Z Gallerie was about $800 cheaper than the one we would have wanted to order from Pottery Barn.
Maureen
It seems you're set on your couch, but for anyone else looking for a sectional, our huge, deep comfy sectional is from ZGallerie and was a fraction of the price of WestElm, Pottery Barn, Ethan Allen and the like. Walking in there you have to get past all of the weird decor and faux fur / mirrored stuff but it's worth it.
Anonymous
Hi,
Can you telll me which legs you decided to go with? The ones in the picture look much skinnier than the ones on unclebob and thirteencolonies. I like the way yours look and just wondering which one you used. Thanks!
pheobe22
Nice to see your work!! It’s really helpful for me.best leather sofas
Christopher Chiang
Hello, great article, do you know what’s the name of the grey your couch is? Thank you.