Like the mattress, bedding, and flat-pack furniture disruptors recently on the scene, a new crop of sofa companies are co-opting the direct-to-consumer model to offer affordability and, in some cases, new and improved designs. Here are our eight favorites.
1. Maiden Home
Above: Founded by Nidhi Kapur, Maiden Home offers nontoxic furniture handmade in North Carolina. Cutting out the middleman, Maiden Home’s four sofas start around $2,000 (shown here is The Ludlow). Each sofa can be configured as compact or 100-inch wide sofas or as sectionals, are made with a hardwood frame, springs, and poly-fiber fill, and are available in 40 fabric options and four wood finishes.
2. Common
Above: Scandi sofa disruptor Common recently launched three seating styles in collaboration with designers and architects (shown is the Mooner Sofa by Studio David Thulstrup; €2,900). The sofas are all available in the US (with a US showroom to come).
3. Article
Above: Article, a company formerly known as Bryght, offers a range of sofas (and other furniture) in the $1,000 to $3,000 price range. When Article (then Bryght) first launched, the company made claims of producing furniture in the same factory as B&B Italia and Knoll. As CEO Aamir Baig told the New York Times in 2015, it was the factory owners who asked the company to remove the mention. Shown is the Burrard, a midcentury-style sofa, for $1,199.
4. Campaign
Above: Campaign designs a flat pack sofa, loveseat, and chair each made in America from cold-rolled steel frames, wood legs, and recyclable fill. The Campaign Sofa, shown, is available in 16 different fabric options and with maple or mahogany-stained oak feet; prices start at $1,195.
5. Burrow
Above: University of Pennsylvania students Stephen Kuhl and Kabeer Chopra came up with the idea for furniture company Burrow as a project for an entrepreneurship class. They both were frustrated by the lack of options for a decent, low- to mid-range priced sofa, and drew up some sketches for modular, flat-pack seating. The company’s 3-Seater Sofa is available in five different fabric options, three different wood finishes, and with low or high armrests; starting at $1,095.
6. Interior Define
Above: Rob Royer spent a year abroad in China in search of the perfect factory to produce sofas for his startup Interior Define. The company offers customizable sofas, free shipping, a year-long full refund policy (minus a restocking fee). The smallest sofa starts at $1,000; shown here is the Harper fabric sofa, starting at $1,900.
7. Joybird
Above: Joybird is headed up by four former employees of Thrive, another furniture disruptor company. Two of the owners live in Los Angeles, where Joybird has its headquarters, and the other two live in Mexico to oversee production at the company’s own factory. Sofas, which hit in the $900 to $2,500 range, have customizable features and a lifetime warranty.
8. Benchmade Modern
Above: Founded by Pottery Barn alum Edgar Blazona, BenchMade Modern offers custom sofas made-to-order in their Los Angeles factory. The angel investor-backed company offers a range of tech solutions for the customer—from by-the-inch custom sizing, full-scale printouts, and the ability to track furniture as it’s made in the factory. Most of the sofas are in the $2,000 to $3,000 range.
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