IKEA Farlov Sofa – How It’s Holding Up 8 Months Later

By far, the question I am asked the most is if we like our IKEA Farlov. I get it. A sofa that looks like a sleek designer model that is ALSO slipcovered to withstand kids and pets and for $700 seems way too good to be true.

This isn’t a sponsored post or anything like that… pretty sure the peeps at IKEA don’t know I exist. (Really, for sponsored posts, I’m honest with you guys anyway.) This is just a question I thought I finally needed to address for all of y’all who have been wondering if the Farlov really is all it’s cracked up to be.

Bottom line for me: YASSS! Buuuut it’s probably not for everyone.

We’ve put it to the test for 8 months with a 5 year-old, a Yorkie Schnauzer, and a Goldendoodle puppy. Life has not been easy on our Farlov.

So here are the pros so far:

• Deep sitting-  I’m a leg-tucker when I sit on a sofa, so I love that I can curl up and our whole family (dogs included) can sprawl out on it with plenty of room. The bottom cushion is one long cushion (which is nice so no one is stuck sitting on a crack), and the size is about like a twin sized mattress.
• Easy to wash-  We went with a white sofa cover because I like being able to see when something is dirty. If we had a brown sofa or a dark gray sofa, it could have goodness-knows-what gross stuff on it, and we would be SITTING on that. True story: Stella, our pup, stepped in poop outside the other day and tracked it right in on our white sofa. So stinkin’ grody. I saw it immediately and ripped that slipcover right off and threw it in the wash and put my spare slipcover right in its place. No harm, no foul.

• Inexpensive to change the look-  We’ve only done white so far, but I’m really tempted to try out new colors and fabrics one day in the future. IKEA only carries three colors currently, but Bemz carries lots more options.
• You don’t have to be overly cautious-  With our last upholstered sofa, I had to keep a closer eye on Olivia if she had a sippy cup in her hand or magic markers. With this one, I figure pretty much anything can wash out, and so far it has. Robert accidentally spilled a cup of coffee all over it a few weeks ago, and it washed right out.

Update | May 2019: It’s been 2 years since we bought this sofa, and mostly it’s holding up well. Fair warning: the slipcover shrunk over time and our sofa basically looks like it’s wearing “high waters” because the skirt is 2 inches too short now despite following the washing recommendations. After 2 years of washing, the slipcover looks slightly gray-ish and there are a few stubborn spots that won’t come out.

• Easy to replace later-  At this stage in our lives, I know sofas won’t have a long lifespan, so in several years, if it starts to look kind of shabby, it won’t be as difficult to replace. We almost bought a $2,300 down blend sofa when we first moved into this house (because it was oh-so comfy and pretty), but I’m so glad we stuck with something more practical for our rough ‘n tough crew for now.

And the cons:

• On the firm side-  I really love a sofa that I can sink down into, which is why we almost went the pricey down-blend route before. The Farlov was very firm when we first bought it, but it softened up some after a month or so. It’s still a bit firm, but it’s more comfortable to us now than on Day 1.
• Rough texture slipcover-  I’ve gotten used to it now, but the white slipcover it came with from IKEA has almost a tweed-like texture. If you like a smooth canvas fabric or softer linen, you can still get slipcovers with those materials from Bemz, but they cost more.

UPDATE: We got new slipcovers from Bemz in July 2018. You can see how we chose our new custom slipcovers for our IKEA sofa here. That solved a lot of issues for us, but it was an extra expense, which makes it a tad bit of a bummer to spend more for a new sofa slipcover down the line when the old IKEA cover didn’t hold up so well.

• Low sitting- We have 8′ ceilings, so I feel like a low sitting sofa works for our space, and Robert and I are not majorly tall people anyway (both of us are 5’7″). But if you have tall ceilings or are over 6 feet tall, it might feel a bit squatty.

Tips to keep it looking good:  (Some affiliate links are provided below for convenience.)

• I usually wash our slipcovers about once a month, but if you don’t have a dog who loves to lick, a still-learning-to-house-train puppy, and a messy preschooler, you could definitely go much longer between washings.
• Spray the cover with Scotchgard while it’s still clean to keep it protected from dirt and grime longer.

• Spot clean with Tide pens between washings.
• Wash with OxiClean White Revive to keep the slipcover bright white.
• For hardcore stains like coffee, wine, etc., I like to pre-treat with an OxiClean Max Force Gel Stick. It gets out annnnyyyyything. Seriously.

• I air dry our slipcover on our breakfast nook chairs and our cushion cover on our laundry room drying rack. Put the slipcover back on the sofa when it’s just slightly damp to smooth out any wrinkles and help it stretch more easily.

• If you let it dry all the way and you end up with a super wrinkly cover (and you have company coming over because, let’s be honest, that’s the only time I care at all about wrinkles), I hit it with my Conair steamer for a few minutes.

All in all, we think this sofa still rocks. I hope that makes things easier for you, if you’re in the sofa shopping market right now.

Do you have any IKEA purchases that you’re absolutely in love with? (Or maybe just their cinnamon rolls and meatballs?) Sound off in the comments!