Pet-Friendly and Easy-to-Assemble Burrow Sofas
A modular couch system that adapts to your moves
While we’re still waiting on Campaign to make its promised splash in the furniture world of urban dwellers, a newcomer has made its way into the market first. SF-based start-up Burrow offers a sofa that moves and grows with its customers—getting that initial foot through the door by providing hassle-free selection, delivery and set-up. Adding a sofa to the living room should be as painless as purchasing something on Amazon, and the company has come close to making it so.
Customers choose which size sofa they want. The smallest one-seater is $550; the four-seater is $1150. Two decisions remain: selecting one of the five colorways, and low or high arms. The limited options reduce the headache of choosing, and there’s a bonus: Burrow sofas are modular, meaning there’s flexibility for the future—or for restless redecorator-types. A four-seater and one-seater, for example, can be rearranged as a three-seater and two-seater. If you own a three-seater—you could keep a few of the pieces in storage, and use it as a two-seater (for more living room space) until the holidays, and lengthen it for the incoming rounds of guests. The restrictions to the modularity are that every sofa needs an “anchor module” as well its own set of arms (so an original three-seater couldn’t become a two-seater and a one-seater; but if you bought a two-seater and one-seater, you could merge them into a longer couch).
Stress-free delivery is probably Burrow’s biggest playing card: the sofa comes shipped in boxes, free. Each box weighs 50 pounds, so one person can move them all one at a time. It’s easy to set up a Burrow couch on your own as well. No tools are required for assembly. A latch, catch and lever system means you can also take it apart without tools and without affecting the integrity of the structure.
“We use all of the same materials of construction and craftsmanship [as major furniture brands], but have approached design and supply chain more intelligently and aggressively,” VP of Growth Alex Kubo tells CH. “Those $2K+ sofas that you see [from other brands] actually only cost them $300-$400 to make, but because they’re so big and bulky, the shipping and warehousing costs are tremendous, then you tack on the retail overhead and you end up paying a ridiculous premium for a product and end up waiting eight-12 weeks for it (they’ll make everything to order since warehousing is so expensive and difficult to manage for such bulky products). Ultimately, we provide the same quality product, for half the price, in a fraction of the time—and Burrow sofas move and grow with you. We could price at the same point and gobble all that margin, but that would be lazy and deceptive—two things that Burrow has never, and will never be.”
The sofa isn’t immune to pilling though—the signs are becoming apparent on our favorite side of the couch. (Burrow later announced they are switching to a new fabric supplier this month, so it will be of different quality). We later learned that not only are the cushions flippable (one side is tufted, the other is smooth), but the fabrics contain no formaldehyde, heavy metals, phenols, phthalates, or flame-retardant chemicals—and are naturally stain-resistant (rather than being treated with PFCs). It’s safe then to feel at ease when your precious pets make the Burrow their new designated nap castle.
Finally, the entire delivery process is akin to waiting for that Amazon package. The boxes can be left without a signature, ready for you to unbox and easily put together.
Blue sofa images by Cool Hunting, lifestyle images courtesy of Burrow
