IKEA Vimle Sofa Review | Playroom Update

Inside: My full review of the IKEA Vimle Sofa with the sectional chaise; including how to assemble it, a review of the slipcover, and how to compares to the IKEA Ektorp.

Home stretch. HOME flippin’ stretch y’all!! I seriously have like maybe only six things left on the to do list before I can show you the full Playroom Reveal. But before the reveal, I wanted to write a full post dedicated to my review of the IKEA Vimle Sofa we bought for the space. My unabashed and totally honest review of the Vimle sectional sofa – because there are some really good things about this couch and some things that made me actually collapse in a heap and cry LOL (btw….if you want to start on Operation Playroom at the beginning, check out this page. It has all the posts and projects so far.) Also, if you’re interested in comparisons, check out my review of the Ektorp sofa we have in the living room.

Benefits of the IKEA Vimle Sofa

Winning attributes? Let’s start there.

The price. Y’all. For a sofa that I know is going to get destroyed by cats, dogs, tiny humans, husbands and possibly me, you can’t really beat the price of $1063 including taxes and local delivery. INCLUDING 15% tax and a $100 delivery charge. In other words, this sofa is very inexpensive.

We replaced our old work horse IKEA PS 2013 amazeballs couch with this one. I loved that beige couch. (Check it out in this post I wrote about the rug and coffee table) I bought it in 2013 from the exclusive, limited edition line because it was the only couch I could find at the time that would fit through the super small basement door. It is still in amazing shape and I’m happily passing it onto have a new life in someone else’s playroom!

Which brings me to the second winning aspect of the Vimle sofa – it also comes in small boxes which means it can be moved easily in small homes, condos, rooms and, in our case, through our unusually small basement door. We bought the sectional with chaise version of this particular couch, so it was an extra box.

Drawbacks of Assembling the Ikea Vimle Sofa

BUT the drawback is… you got it… it comes in A LOT OF BOXES. AND as you would think the instructions for putting it all together would be one booklet – NO, they are not. It’s like a scavenger hunt trying to figure out the correct order of the assembly instructions as you randomly open the boxes (which aren’t labeled in any order) and you have to figure out which goes first…

Maybe I was just super tired when we started putting this couch together (it was 7pm on a Wednesday) or maybe IKEA should just NUMBER THE INSTRUCTIONS so it’s clear where to start and which box to open first? For e.g. the instructions for attaching the chaise portion to the sofa portion were in with the instructions on how to put the slipcover onto the couch arm. I dunno. Didn’t make sense to my tired Mom brain LOL Ikea Vimle Sofa Review

Review of the Ikea Vimle Sofa Sectional

Speaking of the chaise connection? Ummm…. dudes. That was AWFUL. Like it doesn’t look like it should physically attach. The instructions make it look like it just slides together – but ummmm… neither Dan nor I could do it that easily. And I don’t think we’re building dummies… I mean, this isn’t our first IKEA Rodeo, but this was the first time I cursed, cried and almost gave up during an IKEA build.

The only way we finally got the couch to attach to the chaise was to get it about 80% attached and then Dan (honest to goodness) sat down really hard on the couch portion with a pillow under his butt… three times …and basically ‘jumped’ the couch into place.

Soooooo ya. If you buy this couch, be prepared for this step. It’s the final step and it’s mind numbingly difficult.

However, now that it’s together, and we’ve had it in the room for the last few days, we love it. It’s slightly longer than the old PS 2013 couch and the chaise part makes Netflix watching so cozy. I think in the end, we’ll erase the assembly experience from our brains and end up loving this couch for what it is. A navy blue, slipcovered, inexpensive piece that will last as long as it lasts and that we can cuddle on as a whole family.

How does the Vimle Sofa compare to the Ektorp Sofa

Ah. This is a great question because the Ektorp is also very affordable and comes with an easy to remove slipcover. We have had an Ektorp in our upstairs living room for about three years and I would say it’s about even in terms of how much I like each sofa.

They are both easy to clean (the Vimle wipes clean and the Ektorp slipcovers can be washed. Check out how I keep my white slipcovers clean here.)
The Ektorp is not as deep and is much less boxy and so works well in a more casual setting, whereas the Vimle’s straight lines seem to be more flexible in terms of style.
The Vimle’s cushions are a bit more stiff. The Ektorp cushions especially the backs are more cushy.