My Bemz

A couple years ago, I came across Bemz, a company that makes slip covers for a number of Ikea sofas and armchairs. Over the years I visited the Bemz site countless times and thought about ordering some covers to breathe new life into a couple of mismatched Ikea armchairs. I looked online for reviews and photos by people who had actually ordered the covers, but I mainly found write-ups by design blogs lauding Bemz’s concept and showing photos from the Bemz website.

In spite of the dearth of real-life reviews, I recently decided to take the plunge and I placed an order. In an effort to offer some real-world reviews for any potential buyers, here are some photos, along with my impressions.

I ordered covers for the Stockholm slipper chair and the ubiquitous Tullsta armchair. The Tullsta chair had been relegated to our storage space for years because Justin hates the fabric on it, but now we needed another armchair. Rather than spend money on a new one, I decided to try to revive the Tullsta. After much internal debate, I settled on  teal Panama cotton for both chairs. Since these two different chairs were now going to be in the same room, I thought putting the same fabric on each might help pull everything together. I also ordered two pillow covers in the same fabric.

The Bemz site says your order should arrive in four weeks and this proved to be true: the covers arrived almost four weeks to the day.  My first impression as I unpacked the covers was very positive. The color was rich and the fabric had a very nice feel.

Fit

I started with the Stockholm chair first. I had read a comment on ApartmentTherapy that the Bemz covers were “crazy hard” to get on. This was not an understatement. I spent about an hour getting the cover on the chair and trying to get it to fit perfectly. In the end I was moderately successful. Although I like the cover’s snug fit, I wonder if it is not a little too small. The seam where the back of the chair meets the seat of the chair seems is particularly tight and no amount of pulling and stretching got it to lay flat.  In addition, the fabric is so tight, it pulls the upholstery in too much and shows parts of the chair legs that shouldn’t be seen. In the last photo below, you can see what I mean on the side of the chair. My solution was to un-velcro the fabric and pull it out a bit to cover the wood, which you can also see on the front part of the chair on the last photo below.

Overall I would give this a 7.5 out of 10 for fit. Good color, good fabric, OK fit.

The Tullsta cover is a bit the opposite. It is quite loose and could afford to be a bit tighter. On the upside, the fact that it is so loose means it is much easier to put on. Also 7.5 out of 10 for the same reasons. (Pics coming soon.)

Use and look

After about four months of use, I am able to say that the stain-guarding on the fabric is very effective.  I have two small children, and all the spots left by sticky fingers, runny noses and even a chocolate-covered mouth have wiped off easily with just a damp cloth.

Do these covers look as good as the Ikea originals? Almost, but not quite. Do they look better than anything I could have rigged together myself, or better than a blanket throw cover? By a long shot! For the price I paid, I am pleased with the result. I think however, that if I had paid 175 euros (the price of the Stockholm cover in a Marimekko fabric), I would have been a bit disappointed.

The one thing I really didn’t like about the covers and the cushions was that they all came with a very prominent Bemz label sewn on, which you can see in the pics above. Perhaps with a different color fabric, the label would be less visible, but on my covers the white labels really stuck out. Who has labels like this on their furniture anyway!?  If the product is of a good quality, I will be happy to recommend it to people. As it is, I feel a bit like someone installed a billboard in my living room without asking my permission.

Conclusions

My two main goals  in recovering these chairs were to extend the life of a couple of tired, old chairs and to use two non-matching pieces of furniture side-by-side in the same room.  These two goals were definitely accomplished. Although the fit is not 100% perfect, in day-to-day use this has not been an issue. I think my biggest gripe remains the overly visible tags.

Although Bemz is not the cheapest solution (and depending on the fabric you choose and how much shipping you have to pay it can even become expensive), it worked out really well for us. I would definitely recommend the covers for someone looking to get a few more years of life out of some furniture they already own, or add a personal touch to the standard offerings from Ikea.