Cosy Spring Update in My Sitting Room

Paid partnership with Bemz - all words are my own and I only work with brands I love and think you will too!

I thought I'd kick off with a question - where's the busiest place in your home? As a family of five, it's the sitting room, more specifically the sofa! There's always someone on it - whether that's my stepson watching football, Liv making her way through Gray's Anatomy, or Allie and her friends hanging out. On the rare occasion there's a free spot, Per and I might just get to squeeze in too! It's just how I imagine our sitting room to be - cosy, comfy and full of people! But it also means our sofa (the Söderhamn from IKEA which we've had for donkeys!) gets SO much wear. Do you find the same in your home?

As we bask in the spring light here in Sweden (no need to talk about the snow yesterday!), I realised it was time for a new cover (that's the beauty of Swedish brand Bemz - you can keep the IKEA sofa and update the cover - making it feel like an entirely new piece of furniture!). Here's what I chose for spring:

The fabric

I looked at a number of samples (it's always worth ordering a few samples so you can touch and feel the fabric and see what works best in your room) and went for the IKEA Söderhamn 3 Seater sofa cover Bouclé ivory and IKEA Söderhamn, Chaise long cover in Bouclé ivory. It's an elegant, classic textile with a lovely tactile feel, plus the wool-blend has lots of texture and added depth (you know me, obsessed with texture!). You can see how it looks when the light catches it below - so beautiful!

The legs

Incidentally, the Sergel Skinny Wooden Furniture legs are also from Bemz (I got rid the of the stainless steel IKEA original legs a loooong time ago!). For a lower sofa, the Märta oval wooden furniture legs in walnut are a beautiful choice.

You might notice a few other changes to our sitting room too...

Other items

We updated the gallery wall with some personal art. Some you might recognise from previous posts, others are new. My favourites are the ones by Helsingborg artist Pearl Wallin, a friend of my Mother-in-law's, I love her work. I picked up the rattan chair in a second hand shop a few weeks ago. And the glass table is on loan from a friend. I'm testing it out and can't decide if I should invest in a glass one or keep the wood bench here. What do you think?

There's something lighter and fresher about the glass, but will I be forever removing fingerprints and dust?

I hope you like this sitting room update as much as we do! If anyone's looking for the Brantmarks we'll be right here on the sofa - at least the children will be!

Got an IKEA sofa and feeling inspired to change the cover to something a little more special? My suggestion is to start with the free samples and then go from there.

If you'd like some more inspiration, here are few different looks I've gone for over the years:

My sitting room refresh 2017

My sitting room three different ways

My autumn sitting room make-over

I've also updated my bedroom and my Malmö studio with Bemz fabrics!

Wishing you a great start to the week!

Niki

Photography: Niki Brantmark / My Scandinavian Home

Styling: Helen Sturesson

This post is brought to you in paid collaboration with Bemz and contains affiliate links. However, all words are my own and I only ever work with brands I absolutely love and think you will too. Thank you for supporting the Nordic businesses that help bring fresh content to your mail box and make My Scandinavian Home possible.

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