Read part one of our Ghost Sofa Hack. To recap, we’re trying to recreate the look of the ultra-premium Ghost Sofa on an Ikea Soderhamn corner sofa, because of reasons.
In case you forgot how the original from Ghost Sofa from Gervasoni looks like, here it is again:
This is the sofa frame we cobbled together consisting of 2 Soderhamn corner sofas, sans the original covers and back cushions.
Since we’re pretty experienced in creating custom slipcovers (even if I have to say so myself), I just whipped out my trusty dressmaker’s measuring tape and got to work. What we need here is a sofa frame cover and a zillion throw pillows.
Referring back to the Ghost sofa image again, there is one major difference – the seat cushion. The original Ghost 12 doesn’t have a separate seat cushion (similar to the Ikea Klippan) while the Ikea Soderhamn has 2 square, flat cushions. While I’m tempted to just discard the thin seat cushions to achieve the look, the Soderhamn’s frame does not have any foam or padding in there and would be horrible to sit on, which leaves us with either creating a slipcover that would go over the seat or sacrifice the smooth look for a little comfort and make cushion covers for the seat too.
I eventually opted for the latter because we want a beautiful sofa, but it has to be practical too! Also it turns out that there is the Ghost 13, a sofabed version which has a single flat seat cushion, so we’re forgiven 😉 Our fabric of choice is the famously wine-resistant Liege fabric in Eggshell, which is a lovely relaxed white linen-viscose blend.
Once the measurements had been submitted to our tailors, I waited for a couple of weeks of them to be finished off and delivered. Oh the suspense!
White on white and white may be a bit of an overkill, but it’s an absolute dream! The Soderhamn’s wide and deep seating is emphasised now that we aren’t using the original giant cushions, but it still looks fantastic and the linen makes it a perfect place for a nap on a warm afternoon.
In terms of comfort, it’s still pretty much like the original Soderhamn, with hard armrests that you won’t want to put your head on (and physically won’t be able to anyway due to the armrest height), but the deep seat depth gives you so much room to stretch out and lounge around. Currently the cushions are 42x42cm (or 16×16 inches) so if you wanted to try this yourself, you might want to get some that are larger for some height variation.
In terms of style though, I believe we did pretty well in keeping the original Ghost sofa style with the floor-length skirt and inverted or pinched seams emphasizing the clean outline of the sofa frame. I also opted to put two square seat cushions into one giant seat cushion cover hoping for a nice streamlined shape, and it worked! I also chose white linen because of the slight depth of tone that comes from the woven fibers, instead of a flat white fabric.
Price comparison:
2 Soderhamn corner sofas from Ikea: AU$700 or about US$540
Custom slipcover from Comfort Works in Liege Eggshell: US$807 (custom slipcover prices vary depending on the fabric selection and size)
Total cost: US$1347
That works out to about half the price of the Ghost 12, plus there’s the added bonus of the fun in the whole process, right? If you’re not up for it, we also offer slipcovers for the whole Ikea Soderhamn range, or else you can get a completely personalized sofa cover in the same style, just ask us!
Customised Soderhamn slipcovers
For those interested in some off-the-shelf alternatives, here are some from around the interwebs:
1) Basketweave Linen Carlier Slipcover Sofa from Anthropologie
2) Joe Deep Sofa with Arms from MCM House
3) Oasis Sofa from Crate and Barrel (possibly discontinued?)
4) Belgian Track Arm Slipcovered Sofa from Restoration Hardware
So that’s how we did it! We transformed the ever versatile Ikea Soderhamn into a fancy designer sofa, or is it not close enough? Let us know what you think in the comments.
16 Comments
by Jules
Quite close! Wish you had an option with a distressed linen!
by Chuck
We wished it too! It’s a bit tricky though as 100% linen fabrics aren’t the best for upholstery/furniture covers (not too durable) and if it were blended, the look wouldn’t be the same but we make do with what we have I suppose 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
by natalie
How would I go about getting exactly what you made there?
I’m in Florida.
Many thanks.
by Chuck
Hey Natalie!
Have you got the 2 soderhamn corner sections from IKEA already? All you have to do is send us a link to this, or a photo to info@comfortworks.com.au and what you’d like to get done and we’ll be able to help you out from there 🙂
Cheers!
by adam gruber
how did you connect both corner sections?
by Felicia
Hey Adam! We used two G-clamps (or C-clamps) underneath the frames to hold them together. Hope this helps 🙂
by Kylie
I have the Ozdesign Tatler lounge (https://www.ozdesignfurniture.com.au/tatler-3-seater-park-fabric-wheat) but want to transform it to a relaxed nordic-style lounge. I love the the seams and overall look of the ghost or even this Adairs lounge https://www.adairs.com.au/furniture/chairs/home-republic/stockholm-ottoman-silver-6dd12b1a/
Do you think it can be achieved with the Tatler lounge? Have you done anything similar?
by Chuck
Hey Kylie,
Do you have a reference photo or link as to the kind of results you wish to achieve with the Tatler lounge? We’ll be able to get a better idea of what we can or can’t do then :）
Hope to hear from you soon!
by Tani Klein
Hey Chuck can you tell me where you sourced the wooden trunk coffee table things from? I just LOVE this hack, its exactly what I am after, however I need it to be a sofa bed… now how to hack that?!
by Hema
Hey there Tani,
We’d actually gotten them from a pile of chopped up trees, brought them back with us and cleaned them up.
You can easily get it done DIY, like we did.