Imagine, what can you do with a Soderhamn Corner? More than you’d think; this is how we ‘hacked’ the Soderhamn Corner piece! Turns out, it’s a transformer in disguise 🙂
Take a minute here, the Soderhamn corner piece looks pretty much like this:
Square and sturdy, it comes with 2 lumbar cushions, 1 throw pillow, a side rest and a back rest. Unfortunately, the side rest and back rest are not quite symmetrical as IKEA believes the corner piece will only be used in the corner of a sectional. Little do they know.
1. One-seat section
Versatile? Not really, this piece isn’t so much a hack as a simple step of logic – a corner piece and 1 seat section share the same dimensions. The corner piece is $200, and the 1 seat is $229. The covers for the 1 seat section are $29. Simply purchase a single corner piece and the cover for the 1 seat section. Replace the frame cover of the corner piece with the frame cover from the 1 seat section, and do not attach side rest. You now have a 1-seat section. With spare side rest, and bonus back pillow!
2. Soderhamn Chair
Easy! Remember the previous one-seat section? Let’s say you want a chair to go with this. Purchase another corner piece for $200, and attach the spare side rest to this new corner piece. You will have to poke holes through the frame slipcover to do this, though, but it’s pretty easy as the frame comes with pre-drilled holes. Now you have an easy armchair as well as a one-seat section! And another bonus back pillow for you too 🙂
*the normal Soderhamn armrests will not cover the full length of the armchair like the side rests do, so if you’re after the same look, it would cost another US$100 for 1 pair of armrests.
3. Three-seat section
Right, just take 2 Soderhamn corner pieces. Press them together. Rotate the one on the right clockwise 90 degrees. Attach side and backrests appropriately. Clamp in the centre. Alternatively, you could simply swap the side rest from the middle to the right side. You may have to pierce through the fabric in this case. The only difference in approaches is how you would like the side rests to work, and where you’d like the gap between side rest and backrest to be.
Yes, this is what we did for the Herringbone Pebble slipcovered IKEA Soderhamn sofa pictured here:
4. A Soderhamn Sectional!
Don’t panic! Yes, you could make a whole sectional out of the corner piece if you wanted to. I ran the numbers on the 4 seat corner sectional, and the hacked together corner pieces would total $1000, compared to $1198 from IKEA. And you’d get all the extra back pillows as well 🙂
Anyway, this is but a small hint of the possibilities you could explore. Plus, if you like the modular sectional, you could finish your hack with a custom slipcover by Comfort Works! Long skirt Soderhamn, anyone?
Imagine that! Who on earth would do such a thing, that’s rubbish. Only some madman would play God like that, a madman by the name of Felicia perhaps 😉
42 Comments
by Enrique
Hello!
When you link together two corner sections, can you still sit in the middle of the sofa? I mean, is it comfortable despite of the wooden frame? I think the chaise longue comes with a cushined edge on that part but I don’t know if it goes the same for the corner section.
by Felicia
Hey Enrique,
The two corner sections are actually joined at the bottom with a G-Clamp/C-Clamp to keep them together. It’s comfortable to sit on for a short period of time, but I’d imagine that you’d start to feel it after watching three episodes of Game of Thrones back-to-back:P
by Thomas
Hi! Just wondering which fabric and color is used in the 2nd and 3rd picture? Thanks!
by Chuck
Hey Thomas,
That’s our Shire Coal wool fabrics 🙂
Check them out here: http://comfort-works.com/en/home/fabric-samples-24
Cheers!
by george andricopoulos
I need the side rest ( 99cm)- in dark grey. Can I buy this from you?
by Felicia
Hi George,
We can make just the armrest frame covers, however please note that our fabrics aren’t identical to Ikea’s so you might want to get some fabric samples to ensure you don’t end up with a mismatched sofa. Soderhamn Armrest Covers are available here: https://comfort-works.com/products/soderhamn-armrest-cover-pair
Hope this helps 🙂
by Jackie
Is it possible to use the sofa slipcover on the two corner sections put together to make the three seat section?
by Chuck
Hi Jackie,
Unfortunately – two corner sections don’t make the three-seat section as they are completely different products/sizes altogether.
If you have a three-seat section, it’s best to get slipcovers for the three-seat section.
Hope this makes sense!
by Jackie
Hi Chuck,
We actually went ahead a bought the two corner sections! My question was the other way around — can you put the cover for the three seat section on the two corner sections put together? Basically, is there a way to put the cover on so you don’t notice that it’s two pieces (so it looks just like the three seat section)? From the manual, It seems like the three seat section should be mostly the same as the two corner pieces put together (except maybe the arms?)
Thanks!
by Felicia
Hi Jackie
Looking at the measurements, 2 corner sections (93cm) placed side by side are the same width as the 3-seater (186cm). The main question here is whether the openings at the back would align together so you can attach the backrest securely, because the 2 corner backrests are also differently sizes and would align differently at the corners. The corner section has 2 “backrest” pieces, one is longer than the other and juts out slightly, so this may require quite a bit of DIY, or speak to someone at the Ikea showroom 🙂
by Kate
Hi – It looks like the single seat is 36 5/8″ wide, but the corner chair is 39″ wide. How does that work when you use the single seat frame cover on the corner seat?
by Felicia
Hi Kate,
The Soderhamn corner section’s base and the one seat’s base piece is the same size, and they’re both 36 5/8″ square. The additional 2″ is from the thickness of the separate backrest of the corner section, which we removed to mimic a one-seat. Hope this explains things!