Sabai Design Sofa Review
When we moved to Austin in March, I set aside a bit of money to purchase my first ever new couch. We bought our previous couch in 2010 from a waitress at a Greek restaurant just off Florida State University’s campus (remember Pitaria, anyone?)
The couch, a glorious green velvet, had belonged to her boyfriend and dated to the late 1970s. It had a few tears, cigarette stains, and splatters of white paint from a sloppy living room paint job.
Even so, it served us fine for over a decade. Part of my hesitation about getting a new couch was that I wanted something that was both sustainable and durable. I didn’t want to fall prey to a “fast fashion” type purchase on a trendy item that wasn’t well constructed. And I was also mindful of our specific needs as a multi-cat home.
I knew I wanted to: 1. still have a green couch, 2. keep the velvet to reduce visible cat scratch marks, and 3. find something that had washable or replaceable components for longevity.
Enter Sabai Design. It seemed too good to be true (turns out, it was). I’m sharing this review because I was only able to find positive reviews online. I hope this review will help you make a more informed decision.
Sabai Design is a new-ish furniture company that incorporates sustainability into every aspect of its business model. Made with 100% recycled and upcycled fabrics and FSC certified wood in the USA, it maintains high production standards.
But what really sold me – besides the claim that there’s no off-gassing – is that every component is replaceable. The couch cushions are slip-covered and can be cleaned or replaced. And each piece of the couch can be repurchased individually if it gets too worn down in time.
Of course, I thought to myself, there’s a bit of risk there given that Sabai Design is a start-up that may not survive long enough for me to order replacement parts.
Unfortunately, despite all the lovely claims and good intentions, my Sabai Design Essential Sofa (pictured above) has been a nightmare. Within one week, I already needed replacement parts.
Sabai Design Essential Sofa
Delivery and Assembly
I purchased the Essential Sofa in Seafoam Recycled Velvet during a sale for $1,408, including shipping. I received it just under a month later. Individual parts of the couch are flat-packed and assembly is left to the customer. Fine with me.
I meticulously followed the assembly video and, at first, everything seemed great. Though, you can see in the photo above that there was an issue with the front horizontal beam aligning with the sides from the get-go.
![close-up of issue on sabai design essential sofa](https://i0.wp.com/stylewise-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_9231.jpg?resize=840%2C1120&ssl=1)
Immediate Issues
I noticed that design flaw a few days later and emailed customer service. They suggested that it was an assembly issue, so I deconstructed the whole thing and tried again.
During the process of disassembling and reassembling, the piece that holds one of the feet completely fell out of the couch. I hammered it back in as a stop-gap, but now that foot is wobbly and not secured to the couch.
I also noticed that one of the screws holding the front beam in place had bent rather severely, presumably from sitting on it. Since we have never had more than two people sit on the couch, and never two people for more than an hour, this is concerning.
When I put the couch back together for the second time, it looked exactly the same as before. Customer service concluded it was an upholstery issue (seems a bit too severe to be an upholstery issue to me). But now the front beam is also leaning forward a bit on the left side, signifying an alignment problem.
Customer Service
Customer service has been very polite and timely (I have not been very timely due to a wild work schedule these days). They offered to replace one of the sides, the wonky screw, and the front rail.
But that doesn’t really seem like a solution. This couch is less than three months old (!) and has not even been put to the test in terms of use. And there are already numerous construction, upholstery, and durability issues. How can they guarantee that this won’t happen over and over again?
What now?
I should have known better than to trust a start-up. The premise is so, so good, but perhaps they’re cutting corners to keep costs competitive.
It is difficult to bring a product to market, especially a sustainable product. But, in my opinion, Sabai Design was not ready to go to market.
I have requested a full refund. We’ll see what happens.