Sofa Club Review: Is This ‘Sofa In A Box’ Brand Worth The Hype?

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There are many harsh realities we face as adults: cheese is actually really expensive; the worst person you know is probably being told by their therapist that they’re really reasonable; and that we are doomed to spend the rest of our lives forever trying to find the answer to ‘what’s for dinner?’.

But one I didn’t anticipate is just how difficult it is to buy a sofa.

I’ve spent the last six months renovating a 150 year old flat in Edinburgh and thanks to that being one endless stress, I officially only want to walk the path of least resistance where I can.

Unfortunately the road to getting a sofa is full of potholes. First of all you’ve got the time element. I don’t have it in me to assemble anything after spending all day stripping walls, replastering and wielding a sledgehammer around my 9-5. Spending hours in a showroom testing out sofas? Not so bloody likely.

Then there’s the logistical nightmare of actually getting the sofa into your home once you’ve made a choice. Some companies have lead times of over six months (something I don’t have the emotional bandwidth for) and when you’ve got a twisty turny stairwell leading to your flat, there’s the worry that it won’t ever actually make it INTO THE HOUSE.

But it turns out there is an incredibly straightforward answer to my couch conundrum – enter one of the UK’s fastest-growing online sofa retailers, Sofa Club.

Offering next day delivery (!!!) on the majority of their sofas, Sofa Club sends you your new seating in boxes. Yup, quite literally, they send you a sofa in a box.

The site offers over 400 different sofas to choose from but they’re all split into different shape and size categories – so you can get straight to the point without endless scrolling. Moreover, they all come in strictly neutral tones (think stones, greys, browns and sands), meaning there isn’t a living room out there your sofa won’t suit.

It almost sounds too good to be true, right? Well, the good folks at Sofa Club asked me to try out their service for myself to find out. It’s certainly a brave decision to let a frazzled, renovating-overloaded editor pass judgement on your furniture company, so team HuffPost were immediately impressed.

I opted for The Cloud Left Corner Sofa Bed with Chaise Storage – and it was an easy decision that took less than fifteen minutes. Sofa Club has a super interactive site (I was able to click and see what the sofa bed element looked like folded out, as well as the ottoman) with loads of images of each product and the option ‘to view the sofa in your space’ using your phone’s camera.

However, if you’re worried about what the fabric really looks like in person, you can get up to four free swatches delivered to your door the next day. Off white was a sensible choice as someone who at the time was yet to paint their walls, you can’t really go wrong with a neutral.

Depending on where you are in the UK you can also opt to go to one of Sofa Club’s six showrooms – but I felt completely confident in my choice. Decision fatigue? Gone. Now just to see one, if it really matched the onsite images and two, if the deliverers could actually get it in my home.

Price wise The Cloud is normally £1699 (all three metres of it, she’s a big’un!) – which when you consider the fact that Loaf’s most similar model comes in at £3995, is a fair price point.

True to their word, just 24 hours later my buzzer went, announcing the arrival of my brand new sofa and with a little bit of effort (and impressive pivoting) the two boxes were through the door and plonked in my living room.

Had the room not been covered in a wet undercoat of white paint at the time, the delivery people would have taken the packaging away and assembled it for me.

Now, despite the renovation I’m doing right now, if there’s one thing I’m categorically useless at, it’s assembling furniture. I am in fact so useless at it , IKEA fears me.

Fortunately The Cloud came in just two pieces (one for each box) and all I had to do was unwrap it, clip the two parts together and screw the feet on. If I can do it, anyone can.

The sofa was firm, but writing this three months on from its arrival (and with it having had many, many bottoms upon it), it’s softened into a delicious middle ground – not so soft I’m sinking, not so firm that I can’t lounge.

The sofa bed element has made me popular with all my guests (no sore backs in the morning here) and I love the fact I can whack all the bedding in the storage ottoman section.

The verdict? There couldn’t be an easier option when it comes to sofa buying than Sofa Club’s service – if only the rest of the renovation as straightforward.

You can view Sofa Club’s full range here.