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We Saw, We Sat, We Reviewed: The Most Comfortable Sofas

There’s something interesting happening in the furniture world: a plentiful crop of online-only, direct-to-consumer retailers are popping up everywhere, offering incredibly good looking (and often much more competitively priced) merchandise with the caveat that you need to purchase sight unseen. With something as large of a commitment as a sofa, it might be easy to hesitate on taking the plunge, regardless of the upsides (quick shipping, generous return policies, modern styling, budget pricing). One of these companies (that you asked for enthusiastically in the comments of our introductory Sofa Squad post earlier this year) is Article.

Formerly Bryght, Article is an online-only, direct-to-consumer company that offers modern furniture for the living room, bedroom, dining room and beyond. They don’t have any showrooms, traditional sales associates or other middle men, so they can pass on the savings to the consumer. You’ll get a generous 30-day return policy, $49 flat rate shipping to your door and the ability to order swatches as needed.

Article’s been in the direct-to-consumer furniture business since 2013 with the goal of making high-quality pieces accessible to customers at affordable price points. In fact, it’d be easy to outfit your entire home in the brand’s stylishly-designed furniture and home decor options—from sofas to lounge chairs, full dining sets, bedroom furnishings, and more. The only catch? Unlike traditional retailers, the Canadian brand’s offerings are only available to shop online, meaning no showrooms or storefronts to assess options in-person before you buy.

The Sven is the brand’s most popular leather sofa—and it’s no surprise why. The classic silhouette is available in a wide range of colors and materials like fabric, leather, or velvet upholstery with or without a chaise sectional. Since I’ve always loved the look of a really worn-in leather couch (my Pinterest doesn’t lie!), I opted for the right side Sven sectional upholstered in navy blue leather.

What is the lead time for customization, manufacturing, and delivery?

Coordinating furniture delivery can be a hassle but Article takes as much of the guesswork out of the process as possible by using your zip code to estimate delivery date ranges for all its inventory. As a general rule of thumb, most in-stock orders are available to be shipped to your home in two weeks or less.

Before my Article fabric sofa arrived, I was contacted by the team via email to schedule a delivery date and time window. On the actual delivery day, the Article team called 30 minutes in advance of their arrival time to alert me they were on their way. In the interests of staying COVID-safe, I had the leather sofa delivered to my doorstep using contactless delivery, which Article offers for a flat rate of $49 on orders below $999 and comes free with orders over $999. If you live alone or you’re worried about carrying heavy weights, for $99, the brand offers in-room delivery to have your boxes brought to whatever room you’d like. In-room delivery and assembly is also available for $169, in which case the delivery team will bring the Article furniture into your home and assemble it on the spot.

What was the assembly process like? How long did it take and how many people?

The sectional sofa came disassembled in one large box (measuring 35 inches high, 50 inches wide, and 80 inches long). Inside, everything was neatly packed like a jigsaw puzzle—including a right arm-facing sectional chaise, a left arm-facing loveseat, two tufted leather seat cushions, three back cushions, and two round bolsters to accessorize each arm rest. I took each item into my home piece by piece (with help from a strong friend for the two large frame pieces), which was definitely the hardest part of the process because assembly was as simple as screwing on the solid wood legs (stored in handy zipper pockets underneath each frame piece), snapping the chaise and loveseat together, and putting the cushions in place.