Why I Love My White Slipcovered Dining Chairs
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Since I've received lots of inquiries regarding my dining chairs, I'm writing this to tell you everything you need to know about IKEA's HENRIKSDAL slipcovered dining chairs. In my opinion, the best thing about IKEA is that they have produced some very affordable products that are incredibly similar to other popular brands on the market but without the much higher price tags.
IKEA has come to my rescue on more than one occasion. My latest rescue happened after having my heart stolen by gorgeous white slip-covered dining chairs that ooze coastal elegance. After seeing these chairs in beautiful beach houses, I began pricing out what it would cost me to furnish my dining room with something similar. Aaaand yikes. I knew there was NO way I would be spending hundreds of dollars per chair, for EIGHT chairs, just to have someone drop part of their cheeseburger on it and not be able to get the stain out. (Insert mega eye roll.) Not to mention, we rarely even use our dining room, so it would be a gigantic waste of money to spend that much on furniture.
Options
When I finally found IKEA's slip-covered dining chairs a few years ago, they were priced at $89 each, which included the chair plus the long white cover. For someone like me, an affordable alternative to the styles I love sounded like the best way to go. You'd think that for the substantial price difference, the quality would be terrible or the chair would be miniature, or something would just be "off". But I'm here to attest that it just ain't so! There is literally nothing at all "off" about the HENRIKSDAL chair! It doesn't feel wobbly to sit on, it isn't too small, and the slipcover choices are incredibly affordable!
Pricing
I waited several months until one glorious day I received an IKEA Family email telling me that these chairs were now on sale for $74 each. (Yes, you should sign up to be an IKEA Family member if you haven't already.) I ordered 8 of them for our dining room, against my initial desire to have ghost chairs or something woven in the mix, but that will probably be a topic for another day. My husband wasn't a fan of the "non-matching" chairs at the dining room table so I just went ahead and ordered them all.
I am pretty sure that I purchased the "birch" frame option, but the most similar offering now is "oak". The chair and long white slipcover can be purchased together which gives you a slight discount, here. The drop down menus will allow you to select the frame finish of the chair, as well as the color of slipcover. You can find the rest of the HENRIKSDAL offerings here.
To give you other options, I was able to find a few really great deals on similar slipcovered parsons chairs online that are a little more expensive than my IKEA chairs. Click on the images below for details.
Assembly
Because our nearest IKEA hadn't been built yet, I had to order all 8 of my chairs online. Paying shipping kind of sucks, but it still ended up cheaper than any other chair I found at the time. So, be warned. It's a massive box that my husband opened demolished for me when I was done put the chairs together.
Putting them together gets easier by the chair. Because I'm crazy, I timed myself after about chair number two. I'm pretty sure I got the chair building down to under 5 minutes flat. I'm a self proclaimed Furniture Elf, so you should expect nothing less from me. (I put all of the furniture together at our house, so I'm kind of a pro.)
Eight chairs later, what I learned is that you should line them all up with the parts ready for each chair like it's an assembly line. If you have helpers, kudos to you. Mine only had paws, so I just went down the row from chair to chair. I guess she's just there for moral support. ;)
Slipcovers
The hardest part was putting on the slip covers. Do NOT put them in the dryer. Let them air dry and stretch them over the chair just as they are slightly damp. I can't stand rumples and wrinkles, so I stretched and stretched until I got the cover down all the way over the back of the chair. Be careful not to pull too hard at the seams. The fabric and stitching seem to be pretty tough, but it's just thread, after all, so alternate tugging at each side to get the cover on snugly. I did end up taking off the first slip cover after I saw that the skirt wrinkles looked awful. I ironed all of the slip covers, but I was in a hurry because I just wanted to see the completed look, and who likes ironing? I probably should have ironed the very bottom pleats on the covers twice, because there are still some visible wrinkles and it would drive me nuts if I let it! Again, please excuse these photos taken in the process, as it was turning into nighttime and I wasn't quitting until ALL of these chairs were assembled and ready to be used!
On a side note, because there are multiple kinds of covers for these chairs, I could also switch to something other than floor length covers if I wanted to. I kind of like that look, as well.
The only cleaning I've had to do to these chairs is taking the lint roller to them, occasionally. Dust is everywhere, so after a month or so, you may see a bit of fuzz on the top of the chairs. It wipes off very easily. If and when I get a stain on the covers, I'll certainly update this post and let you know how the washing goes. Honestly, though, I'm not at all concerned about it.
Durability
I mentioned earlier that they are deep, allowing for good back support and a comfortable dining experience! My husband is not a small guy, and he can totally fit comfortably on these chairs, too. You can try them out at the store before buying any, if you have an IKEA near you.
Here are some photos of my chairs now, with this room *almost* finished. :) Always a work in progress, right? You can probably tell that they are a creamy white, not a stark white. It actually works just fine in this space.
Below, you can find links to the products you see pictured in my dining room. The chandelier is a DIY that I'll be posting about at a later date. Stay tuned!
So, did I miss anything? If there is anything I haven't addressed in this post, please ask away in the comment section below! I'll be more than happy to answer any questions that I can!
For more details on my dining room decor through the seasons, click on the posts below. These chairs are so versatile, they go with almost any decor!
How to Care for an Indoor Majesty Palm
The Pink Palace Proposal
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