Apartment Challenge :: Replacing Sofa Legs :: part 1

Our sofa with its current wood block legs

I decided to jump on this project now, since it should be an easy one to tackle.  I am going to change out our sofa legs because I am tired of the standard wood block Ikea legs.  I want something a bit more sophisticated, and am planning on a tapered, midcentury-style leg, about the same height as the existing ones, and in a darker wood tone so that they stand out less visually.  Please kindly ignore the artwork hanging situation in the above photo.  That is my next project.

I found this helpful and inspiring article on the blog Honey Badger Home.  Love the name of the blog, and love the honey badger.  They went a step further than just replacing the legs and tufted the cushions for an even more midcentury look.  I am cool with the untufted cushions though.  Ours are getting pretty slouchy from over two years of use, but I like it that way.  Nice and casual.

Anyway.  I didn't really want to mess with Home Depot (have you been to an urban Home Depot?) and tools and metric/english conversions, so I just kept looking and looking and eventually found Uncle Bob's Workshop, who makes sofa legs that are explicitly billed as replacements for the Ikea Karlstad sofa.  You can order them in a variety of woods and finishes (or unfinished), and even with brass feet.  Here are some pics from their website:

A sofa with Uncle Bob's Workshop replacement sofa legs

A shot of just the sofa legs

I went ahead and ordered twelve replacement walnut legs for our sofa and ottoman and cannot wait for them to arrive.  Since I am picky about things, I emailed first to see how to get a matte finish (I'm thinking a glossy finish will reflect more light and draw more attention to the legs, plus I just personally prefer wood that has a more natural looking finish) and also to see if I can have them sent without the white protective pads on the bottom.  I plan to add my own, slightly smaller, black felt pads so that they won't be visible.  Uncle Bob emailed me back almost immediately with answers that were helpful, which was excellent.

I may try taping and dipping the feet in a gold metallic paint to get the brass feet look, or I might just leave them as is.  We shall see.  Check back soon for pics that show the replacement legs!

On a separate but somewhat related note, I sometimes am looking around at beautiful furniture and wanting to splurge on a really gorgeous sofa (or custom design one), but then something like this happens and I realize that this old Ikea thang with its washable, zip-off covers is really just perfect for us:

Oopsy! Did I do that?