Looking for some new living room furniture or style ideas? Today, I’m sharing an Article sofas review, first impressions, pros & cons, and my best cat-proofing tips!
(UPDATE: See my updated review of our Article Sofas (after 1+ years of use) and Lounge Chairs (after 2+ of years use) in this post HERE),
~This post contains affiliate links at no extra cost. Please see my disclosure policy here.~
If you’ve been following me on Instagram, then you know that our new sofas from Article furniture were dropped off a couple of weeks ago. So, this review is a ‘first impressions’ look at our new sofas.
The two I chose for our living room were the Burrard Sofa in the colour ‘sea salt gray’ and the Malsa Slipcover Sofa in ‘soft white.’
The two sofas were chosen to replace our well-loved and well-worn IKEA Ektorp sofas which have now been relocated to our off-grid cabin where they will get a lot of use 🙂
ARTICLE SOFAS REVIEW: PROS & CONS
BURRARD SOFA, PROS & CONS
Here are my first impressions – both pros & cons – of our Burrard Sofa.
PROS:
Size
The Burrard Sofa is 83.5 inches wide – and just a few inches shy of our old IKEA Ektorp sofa, so I knew it would be the perfect fit. In fact, with a few extra inches to spare, I’ll be on the lookout for a slender side table to place on one side, and our Christmas tree has a bit more room on the other. A win-win!
Removable Cushion Covers
Hubby and I eat in the living room often, so things can get a little messy! Being able to spot treat and even remove the covers on the cushions (back and seat cushions) was very important to me. While Article does NOT recommend throwing the covers in the wash, hand washing is the best option.
For stains, customer service suggested adding one “small cup of dishwasher detergent to a half cup of water,” shake well and use the suds to clean stains. Otherwise, for heavy stains, call a dry cleaner.
Of course, there are some great stain removers out there, too. I personally own the following:
Folex (carpet and upholstery spot remover)
Whip It! (all-purpose, non-toxic stain remover)
Style and Colour
While this is entirely personal, I chose the Burrard Sofa for its sleek lines, legs (a beautiful walnut colour), and soft gray colour.
The colour also complements our gray armchairs that sit directly opposite the sofa (pictured below in this photograph taken last year).
Overall, the gray tones match well with the soft, muted colours of the rest of our Great Room. Living in an open concept space means I have to take into account my dining room and kitchen furniture and accessories as well.
CONS:
Remembering to fluff!
Owning sofas with back cushions means that fluffing them is a must. Otherwise, they may deform permanently over time. Having IKEA sofas with back cushions has led me to appreciate the necessity of fluffing from time to time.
Stiffer seating
Again, this comes down to personal preference, but I know this is extremely important to many, so I wanted to mention it here. My husband prefers softer sofas while I prefer sofas that are a bit more stiff. For me, it feels better on my lower back to have a stiffer sofa that forces me to sit up, while hubby likes to lounge. That’s where pillows are great to have around to offer that soft touch. Plus, there is plenty of leg room!
Based on online reviews (of which I’ve read MANY), the sofa softens over time. And if my experience of Article’s Otio armchairs is any indication (I’ve owned mine for under a year now), this is an accurate evaluation of their other ‘stiffer’ furniture lines. These chairs were a bit more stiff to start, but have softened over time.
MALSA SLIPCOVER SOFA, PROS & CONS
Here are my first impressions – both pros & cons – of our new Malsa Slipcover Sofa:
PROS:
Size
The Malsa sofa – 90 inches wide – is a few inches wider than our IKEA sofa that once occupied that space, so I knew that it would fit into the space perfectly.
Washable Slipcovers
The entire sofa – including the seat cushion covers, back cushions covers and slipcovered body – can be thrown into your washing machine. I was pleasantly surprised to find such a beautiful and affordable sofa on Article’s website that had this feature.
Style & Colour
I chose this soft (ivory) white colour which was in keeping with the softer whites and creams found in the rest of our Great Room, including our kitchen cabinets (cream), our dining room chairs (milky white) and ivory dining room rug.
Overall, the sofa works well with the rest of our space, while also standing out a bit in our seating area – a win-win.
Softer Seating
For those who love a softer seat and back, you will likely enjoy the Malsa sofa. It feels a lot like our IKEA Ektorp couches and is even a bit softer. The seats are also deeper, making it a sofa for lounging!
CON:
Remembering to fluff!
Like the Burrard sofa, I’ll be fluffing as part of my regular cleaning routine. While the softness and comfort makes it a great lounger, my main concern at this point is permanent sagging. I may be a bit more cautious about this than some, but I’d prefer to play it safe.
Lint
As with most white/ivory sofas, lint shows more readily.
I’ve used both a regular lint roller and vacuum to remove lint and I can tell you that both methods work well on this sofa.
FOR THOSE WITH CATS
So, let’s talk about the elephant – or should I say, cats – in the room.
Cats are notorious for digging their claws into woven fabrics. While scratching and clawing and stretching out their claws on a daily basis is a healthy and valuable part of cat health and mobility, it can also wreak havoc on upholstered furniture.
I have learned the hard way (does anyone remember the state of our old armchairs?) that I need to be 100% vigilant in training our cats to focus their attention AWAY from the furniture.
CAT-PROOFING TIPS
Temporary Coverings: Cover parts of your furniture with some throws or faux fur rugs like these on Amazon. The rugs are decorative and effective at training the cats to see the chairs as comfortable places to sit, but not ‘scratch-worthy.’ This worked very well with our armchairs.
Negative Reinforcement: Verbally deterring them whenever they get the itch to scratch. “No, no, no!” I say, using my stern mommy voice! It definitely catches their attention.
Positive Reinforcement: Encouraging positive feedback when they are at the scratching posts which I place nearby (conveniently removed for those earlier photos of our sofas, but you can see them below in this photo 
)
BUT, it’s simply not enough to have a scratching post available. You need to encourage activity there. I even sing and play with the cats at the post with a song I made up called “the tower of fun!” Silly, but true. 🙂
Furniture Protectors: While faux fur rugs on the sofas are a great, decorative option, my goal is to have other options available so that I am not bound to covering the sofas at all times. After all, I love the look and shape of them as is.
I use a product from the Kohree brand of furniture protectors (an Amazon’s Choice product, by the way) and place them wherever the cats have tried to scratch our armchairs.
For a detailed exploration of cat-proofing tips that have worked for me, see: 20+ Edgy, Modern Accent Chairs (+ Cat-Proofing Our Latest Additions).
(If you are interested in learning more about the best fabrics for those who own cats, see this article from Emily Henderson’s site).
FINAL THOUGHTS
In the final analysis, I’m quite pleased with these sofas. I love the style, colour, feel and overall vibe of them in our space. Only now, my old shag area rug looks even older! It may be time for a change…
If you enjoyed this review, you may also like these other posts from A Pretty Fix:
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