How To Choose A Recliner Slipcover

Comfort. Style. Durability. In short, with a recliner cover, you’re looking for:

• An upgrade in how soft or plush your recliner feels;
• Fabric that stands up to high traffic and repeated washings; and
• Beautiful color, patterns, or texture that look as good or better than the recliner itself in your unique space!

We’ll go through each of these topics in more detail below.

For a recliner cover, you want a durable yet soft and comfortable fabric. Here are a few textile options to consider:

• Quilting cotton: These are very thin fabrics that are soft and come in a wide variety of prints (think: cartoon characters, plaids, fashion prints, and more!).

• Silk, wool, velvet, or a blend: For a formal, luxe look in a low-traffic area, these can provide ultra-soft surfaces for premium comfort.

• Linen (or a linen-cotton blend): If you’re looking for a more natural feel, the light roughness of linen can provide depth and texture to both subtle prints and colors.

• Canvas, twill, or denim: Heavier-duty performance fabrics will last longer, wrinkle less, and provide a minimalistic backdrop for any decorative pillows you’d like to add to your recliner.

• Coated outdoor fabric: For the ultimate in easy-clean covers, consider something made out of fabric specifically treated to withstand outdoor elements. Your furniture will be virtually indestructible.

Wondering how to choose between all the available fabrics? Answer two questions to make the decision easier:

1. How often will your recliner be used? If your recliner’s in a high-traffic area (or if children will be using it), you may wish to consider a more performance-oriented fabric like one treated for exterior use or a canvas blend.

2. Does your recliner need to have a more formal or fashionable look? If your recliner is meant to be looked at as much as used, then you might choose a more design-oriented fabric such as a cotton, silk, or velvet for a high-end aesthetic for your furniture.

Consider your recliner cover a low-risk opportunity to invest in the look of your home. Whereas recliners themselves often come in natural, muted colors, recliner covers can be made of any fabric in the world!

Need some inspiration for a specific style? Here are a few ideas to help you figure out the recliner cover that will be best for you:

• Look around your home. Notice the dominant colors, textures, and patterns that you already have in your curated micro-environment. Write them down.
• Then, decide if you want your recliner to match the rest of the room, or stand out in order to be a focal point.
• If you want your recliner to match, picking a fabric that’s in a similar hue will likely work. Choose a unique pattern or a textured fabric: this will help your room seem multi-dimensional—which will elevate the monochrome look.
• If you’d like your recliner to stand out (power-clashing makes a serious statement!), turn to the color wheel. Orange looks fantastic with blue; yellow tones and purple-red colors cheerily balance each other out.

After you’ve decided the type of base fabric you’d like to cover your recliner with, you have another decision to make: Which kind of recliner cover you’d like. There are two basic types, and each has its pros and cons.

• Furniture Covers: These will offer partial coverage of your recliner. They often come with thick pads specifically on the seat, armrest, back, and head of the recliner to help add maximum cushions for comfort. These will allow the original pattern of your recliner to show through. Their basic function is to help protect the most-used zones of your recliner’s upholstery.

• Slipcovers: Think of slipcovers as fitted sheets for your recliners! Recliner slipcovers often come in several pieces so every inch of your recliner can be enveloped in a protective fabric covering. These offer complete coverage of your entire piece of furniture—which protects the original upholstery more, and allows you to change the look of your recliner seamlessly.

Which you choose depends on your priorities when you’re looking for a cover! If you don’t mind the original fabric showing through and you’d like a thick cushion for your cover, then a furniture cover may be best for you.

However, if one reason you’re covering your recliner is to completely change the look, choose a slipcover! Slipcovers are often made of thinner fabric, however, which means they may wear out more quickly.

If your recliner cover is too big or too small, it won’t look good—and it’ll keep moving around or falling off, completely negating the point of why you got the recliner cover in the first place! Luckily, with some quick measurements, you can make sure this doesn’t happen.

To accurately measure your recliner for a good fit:

• Put the recliner in an upright, non-reclining position.
• With a measuring tape, note the length of the back of the recliner – from the top edge to its base at the floor. Note that down
• Note the width of the recliner by stretching the measuring tape from the outermost edge of one arm rest to the other.
• Then, take the full length of the recliner by putting the recliner into its most reclined position and measuring from the edge of the footrest (if present) to the top.
• If there is an ottoman that goes with your recliner that you’d like to cover as well, simply measure its height, width, and depth.
• These dimensions – the recliner’s height, width, and depth – will be noted under the ‘weight and dimensions’ section of product details when you’re shopping. Look for a H x W x D that is very similar to the dimensions you measured for your slipcover. If you’re not able to find exact measurements, select a slipcover that’s just a little larger, rather than just a little smaller.

One common issue with recliner covers is that they are often difficult to keep in place. There are two simple fixes for this:

• Purchase inexpensive cover tacks or adhesives to keep the cover in place, or
• Tuck the cover in securely, and be prepared to do so often!