IKEA Ektorp VS PB Basic sofa review – The classic sofa showdown

In this article, we’ll be discussing two very similar looking sofas with big differences! They are, of course, the Ektorp 3 seater and PB Basic sofa.

In the left corner, IKEA’s favourite and best selling sofa for many years. The Ektorp has a long pedigree, especially in terms of how affordable it is for everyone. The Ektorp stands a hefty 218 cm wide, which makes it truly a big one. The rest of the dimensions are below:

• Width: 218 cm
• Depth: 88 cm
• Height: 88 cm
• Seat depth: 49 cm
• Seat height: 45 cm

On the right, Pottery Barn’s PB Basic. With that classic round arms and elegant design, it’s no wonder this is also one of Pottery Barn’s signature sofa lines. Similarly to the Ektorp, it’s usually the first choice to enter the Pottery Barn world. The PB Basic sofa stands a rather leaner 209.5 cm wide compared to the Ektorp, and the rest of the dimensions are also below, with cm in brackets:

• Width: 82.5″ (209.5)
• Depth:  35.5″ (90)
• Height: 38″ (96.5)
• Seat width: 66″ (167.5)
• Seat depth: 20″ (50.8)
• Seat height: 22″ (55.8)

So the IKEA Ektorp sofa wins out on width at about 9 cm (3.3″) larger. But the PB Basic is taller by about the same amount. In terms of comfort – both sofas are pretty much the same from my personal and anecdotal experience, with PB Basic sofa having a slight edge of perhaps 10-15% extra comfyness especially if you opt for the down blend stuffing. Both sofas are also slipcoverable, with replacement slipcovers available from their respective manufacturers. The pleats, however, are the easiest visual indicator of which sofa is which as the PB Basic has boxed pleats (pleats on corner and centre of skirt). The Ektorp only has tailored pleats on the corners and not on the centre.

The biggest difference here lies in the hit your wallet will take. IKEA’s Ektorp sofa strides in with a strong $499, which is promptly dwarfed by Pottery Barn’s $2,088 ($1,648 if you opt for polyester stuffing). And the hits don’t stop there,  a slipcover for IKEA’s Ektorp sofa is 25% the price ($660) of Pottery Barn’s PB Basic slipcovers. Which also means that our own replacement PB Basic slipcovers are over 30% more affordable than the original covers!

Now, something we’ve heard before is, why don’t we use Ektorp slipcovers for the PB Basic as they’re so close in size? The simple truth is that it won’t look good. We’ve tried before, to be honest. Floppy, is the term my friend used to describe it, I believe. Because of the width and height differences, an Ektorp cover on the PB Basic is saggy on the sides/front and short on the length.

And that concludes the showdown. Value for money? Ektorp wins hands down, but for comfort, I’d have to go with the PB Basic. I hope this helps you decide between them!