Spice it Up! Klippan Sofa

Materials: RIT dye, salt, washing machine, Klippan sofa slipcover

Description: When I moved into my Lower Greenville apartment in Dallas, I had a limited budget to outfit an entire apartment. So, of course, I went to every budget-lover's dream store, IKEA! They didn't have the couches I originally picked out in stock (thank goodness, because they would have been horrible once I got a dog and boyfriend!), so I chose to invest in the Klippan Sofa. It retails for $229, and has a great shape and size for what I was looking for.

Yet I thought it lacked a little pizazz when it came to slipcovers. You can choose from black, white, natural, primary blue, creepy-quilted, crazy pixel birds, or denim. None of which matched the urban-chic I was going for.

So what's a gal to do? She goes to the drugstore and buys a few bottles of RIT dye! The process is amazingly simple. Soak your slipcover in the bathtub, start your washer and follow the directions on the bottle. I used a mixture of purple and fuchsia to come up with this eggplant color. It was absolute perfection. I adored my purple couches, and if you take a look at the RIT website, the options really are endless! They have a gorgeous honeysuckle rose, the perfect shade of aqua, and so much more.

When it was time to move out of my apartment and into a home with my husband, I gifted both couches to a friend of mine. Her decor didn't include purple, however, so she bought two natural slipcovers and did a little dyeing of her own. These are actually crimson in person, not orange.

As you can see, I didn't have my camera settings quite figured out six months ago! These slipcovers are a lot cheaper than their leather counterparts, and can be a ton more fun. I tried to talk her into the aqua, but she opted for red. If I ever invest in another IKEA slip-covered piece, you can bet your biscuits I'll be dying it something bright and fun!

See more of the dyed Klippan slipcovers.

~ Brooke, Lake Jackson, Texas