New sofa: IKEA Söderhamn review

One of the things I have learned the hard way is that it's wise to invest some money in a good sofa. For years I've had a red leather IKEA Klippan that was very comfortable. However, red is a colour that you get tired of after a while. When the leather started to fade and tear a little my boyfriend and I started our quest for a new sofa. We wanted a corner sofa (with a chaise longue) that was less than 2 meters wide -- a fact that eliminates a lot of couches. We ended up with an extremely budget-friendly cheap brand sofa and a year later we know why ;) Even with constant rearranging and whipping up the pillows some dents remain visible and you're constantly aware of where you should and shouldn't sit ;) When I was writing my thesis last month I spent a lot of time on the sofa with my laptop and my back started to protest after a while. 

With Oscar night coming up soon - when we always have a lot of people over to watch the ceremony all night long - until 8 o'clock in the morning! - we decided that maybe we should admit defeat and try our luck with another IKEA sofa. My all time favourite blogger home is the home by Jennifer Hagler from A Merry Mishap and I immediately fell in love with the IKEA Söderhamn sofa that she has in her home. She owns the chaise longue and the sofa (as seen in photo 3+5+6). I was also considering buying the IKEA Karlstad sofa that so many lovely interiorbloggers own (Ollie and Sebs Haus, That Nordic Feeling..), mainly because it was available in a lighter colour than the Söderhamn - and would thus make my home appear larger. My Instagram friend Tiene (make sure to follow this lovely lady here!) owns the IKEA Söderhamn sofa and was very helpful in helping me make a decision - as always! :) My boyfriend is very much a lounger, and I'm a person who works and studies sitting up, with my legs pulled up. The Söderhamn is a very deep sofa so it's perfect for the both of us - especially for the boyfriend, the one who has had to endure all the interior changes I've been making to our home in the past 3 years ;) 

Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely week. If you're curious; in the last photo you can see my old cheapy sofa -- after I've gone through some trouble whipping it up ;) 

UPDATE (2016): Since I get a lot of questions about this sofa and since many of you are visiting this page after searching for "Soderhamn review" I'll add a short review :-) It's been almost 3 years now and we are still very happy with our IKEA Soderhamn sofa purchase; it's comfortable and perfect for that secret afternoon nap as well. We added a matching pouf for my boyfriend because he likes to lie on a sofa, whereas I like to sit with my legs crossed, working on my laptop :-) For us it's the perfect sofa. Do take in mind that it may look rather large/bulky in your living room, it being a deep sofa in a dark colour. We solved that very first world problem by buying a light-coloured Bemz cover in light grey - that is magically still light grey after a few years and some spaghetti-oriented incidents ;-) I also bought wooden legs by PrettyPegs to customize my sofa. For more tips on how to pimp your IKEA furniture, click here :-)

What I also like about this sofa is that the covers come off and can be washed in a regular washing machine, no dry cleaning necessary! Another definite plus point is that there are still no bumps or lumps, which was an important issue for us since having our last horrible sofa. All you have to do is shake up the back pillows once in a while. If you're still not sure: just go to IKEA and try one :) For photo's of my Soderhamn (including the Bemz cover), see below :-) 

(PS this post was in no way sponsored ha ha :-))

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