I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve never been a huge fan of furniture slipcovers. And I feel pretty justified in that, because in all honesty, a lot of them are pretty bad. To me they’ve always been what you do if your kids or pets make a mess on your nice, expensive sofa one too many times. But what if slipcovers could be something more? Something genuinely nice, not too noticeable, and maybe even – dare I say – a little bit stylish? Bailey Street took this new idea for furniture slipcovers and ran with it, offering a whole line of furniture that’s actually made to be re-covered. Now, you might be wondering, as a slipcover skeptic, why do I think this is so great? Simple!
Authentic Upholstery Look From A Slipcover
One of my biggest problems with slipcovers is that they tend to look baggy and formless, like a big winter coat instead of a well fitting suit. But Bailey Street’s Couture Covers furniture slipcovers are tailored to fit as snug and tight as any original upholstery. How do they manage that? By redesigning the whole concept of furniture slipcovers from the ground up, starting with the furniture that’s being covered. Bailey Street offers a whole line of chairs, ottomans, and bar chairs in about six basic shapes. The limited number of seat designs allows them to create a huge variety of slipcovers that will fit exactly and look just like original upholstery, not like you’ve thrown a sack over it. You just slip something like this Zaranoff Cover on over the white muslin base, and it’ll look like a whole new chair.
Flexibility Of Design
But Bailey Street’s Couture Covers collection isn’t limited to six basic chair shapes. Those chair backs can be seated on over 20 different styles of beautiful wooden legs, and in several different finishes. The type of legs, height of the chairs, and style of the seat backs and arms can all be customized to your needs. Plus, Bailey Street offers more than 250 different slipcover patterns, from simple solid colors to antique brocades to bold modern designs, allowing you to mix and match their base designs with your favorite materials to create something completely personalized to your tastes. That means that, rather than searching endlessly for the perfect chair, you can essentially design the one you want yourself. And because the furniture slipcovers are designed to match the chairs, you won’t have to worry that the fabric you love won’t quite fit. In the image above, you actually see exactly the same chair with the same legs, but six different covers: two Striped, one Zebra Print, one Floral, one Polka Dot, one Crushed Velvet, and one Skirted.
Easy To Redecorate
The subset of this – and my personal favorite thing about Bailey Street’s furniture slipcovers – is that not only is it easy to get a look you like on your first try, but also that you can change the style of your chair as often (and as dramatically!) as you want. Whether you want to have a special set of covers for special occasions, holiday themes, seasonal colors, or just the ability to swap up your interior design without having to buy new furniture, fitted slipcovers are an excellent way to inexpensively jazz up your home’s decor. Plus, because the furniture slipcovers fit so snug, it will look like you have a whole new set of chairs every time you change – not like you put a cover on for company. You can even have a different cover for every chair for a colorful, eclectic design like these mix-and-matched Shore and Willow covers.
Easy To Clean
Of course, we can’t forget the age old advantage of furniture slipcovers: they protect your existing upholstery from any spills, stains, or pet hair that might come its way. While this is slightly less important if you never intend for your base material to show, it’s still nice to have an easily removable shell that you can just toss in the wash whenever it needs it. Just peel off your Kenya Cover, toss it in the wash, and replace over the white muslin base when it’s done – much, much easier than tediously cleaning attached chair cushions. Plus, not having to worry about your cushions staining can probably lower your blood pressure at dinner parties! Even if your slipcovers do get worn, stained, or otherwise ruined, they’re much less expensive to replace than the whole piece.
Genuinely Impressive Variety
Worried this might be too good to be true? Don’t be – this is more than just the world’s greatest gimmick. Bailey Street’s Couture Covers collection is actually incredibly well designed and well thought out. It’s easy to say X number of shapes in Y number of fabrics! but they actually do a really good job of creating a wide breadth of style options in what is, in the grand scheme of things, a pretty small selection. When it comes to their base designs, what Bailey Street lacks in quantity of options, they make up in variety. There are only a few chair “shapes” (which is how this whole thing can work), but the legs run the gamut from elegantly Turned Legs and Queen Anne styles to rustic, rough-hewn Cabin-Style and trim Modern Legs. Combine that with the genuinely huge selection of fabrics, and you really can build a chair to fit any decor.
Quality Construction
Lest you think the quality ends with their design, all Bailey Street’s Couture Covers collection features base-model chairs made of solid hardwood framing with beautiful exposed wood legs, thick, comfortable foam padding, and a simple, durable white muslin upholstery designed to hold its own against rough treatment. The furniture slipcovers themselves are made out of a variety of materials, but can all either be washed or dry cleaned, and are guaranteed to fit snug and give the perfect, seamless upholstery finish every time, whether you choose the denimy Smirnoff or the subtly speckled Miera.
Are you the type that loves to redecorate? Have kids or pets that are rough on fabric? Or just want the ability to dress up your dining chairs? Bailey Street’s Couture Covers collection might be right for you. Ever had a bad experience with a slipcover? Or have any that are your particular favorites? Let me know in the comments!
